Doña Ana County Sheriff Kim Stewart to seek a second term

Justin Garcia
Las Cruces Sun-News
Doña Ana County Sheriff Kim Stewart announces her intent to run for a second term on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022, during a news conference in the Village of Doña Ana. During her speech, she used a rubber band to illustrate how government agencies will snap back to their previous state just like a rubber band if not for leaders who ensure that reforms stick.

LAS CRUCES - Kim Stewart is ready for round two. 

The sheriff of Doña Ana County announced Thursday that she would seek a second term during a news conference in the Village of Doña Ana. 

The announcement stages a democratic primary showdown between two long-time police officers. Late last year, former New Mexico State Police Captian James Frietze announced he would seek the sheriff's office in the upcoming 2022 election.  

For Stewart, 69, running for a second term is about building up and overseeing the changes she put in place in her first three years, she told the Sun-News during an interview on Wednesday. 

If re-elected, Stewart said she wants to focus on cementing the roles, responsibilities, and organizational structure of the sheriff's office. When she inherited the position, she said it was a mess. 

"I spent the first year trying to clean up the problems of the past administration, trying to create an organization and a structure where, frankly, none existed," she said. 

Additionally, Stewart said she wanted to continue to expand training opportunities for deputies and work to maintain DASO's low rate of turnover. 

Unlike other departments in the state and across the country, DASO has not seen a significant decrease in police officers. Stewart attributes this fact to a work environment that prioritizes mental health and provides officers an opportunity for training and advancement. 

During her announcement speech Thursday, Stewart emphasized the role community partnerships have played in her term as sheriff so far, such as with the Village of Doña Ana.

She pointed to a tip that DASO deputies received from a Doña Ana resident last month. The tipster reported a suspicious vehicle parked in his neighborhood with a man inside. When deputies confronted the man, he rammed two DASO SUVs and led deputies on a chase out of Doña Ana and into Las Cruces

Doña Ana County Sheriff Kim Stewart announces her intent to run for a second term during a news conference Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022, in the Village of Doña Ana.

The man was subsequently arrested. He's facing state and federal charges. Stewart said that that sort of tip only comes when communities feel like they can work with law enforcement. 

"You know your community, you know what you need," she said during her speech. 

Winding path

Born in California, Stewart began her professional life as a wildland firefighter in Orange county. She graduated from the University of California Irvine in 1974 with a bachelor's degree in history. She told the Sun-News that she wanted to follow in her mother's footsteps and become a lawyer. 

But before going into a graduate or professional program, Stewart said she wanted to take some time away from school. 

"I was living in a remote canyon in California that was burned every other year," Stewart said. "I was constantly busy."

While working as a firefighter, Stewart said that an Orange County Sheriff's deputy planted the seed in her mind that she might one day become a police officer. Unlike many who become police officers, Stewart did not have immediate family in the profession. But she did have a mother who practiced law and she said that was her foot in the door to becoming interested in a career involving justice. 

Doña Ana County Sheriff Kim Stewart announces her intent to run for a second term during a news conference Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022, in the Village of Doña Ana.

Despite her interest in the field, Stewart said that sexist beliefs and policies could've prevented her from becoming a police officer. But after waves of lawsuits in the 1960s and 1970s, departments in California such as the Los Angles Police Department and Los Angels County Sherriff's department were forced by court order to hire more women and allow them to perform the same roles as men. 

"A lot of small agencies thought 'Well, you know, if LA sheriffs can be hit with a court order, we can too," Stewart said. "I thought, 'Well, let me try this out. Let me see how my personality jives with this.'"

The rest was history — literally. 

Throughout her career, Stewart often found herself as the first woman hired as a police officer in that department. Even in Doña Ana County, Stewart is the first and so far the only woman to ever hold the position of sheriff. 

More:Doña Ana County sheriff candidate helped link victims to Golden State Killer

Stewart was also involved as a plaintiff in multiple discrimination and civil rights violation lawsuits throughout her career, including in Doña Ana County in 2015. 

At the 2015 trial, she testified that before her firing in January 2011, she had been subjected to months of retaliation by county managers for investigating complaints of racial discrimination within the animal control and codes enforcement department.

Following the trial, a Doña Ana County jury found that county officials had violated Stewart's rights under the state's Human Rights Act and Whistleblowers Protection Act and awarded her slightly more than $1.2 million in emotional distress and lost wages and benefits.

In 2016, Stewart and the county signed off on a $1.59 million settlement, according to county records.

In 2018, Stewart ran for sheriff for the first time, ousting the incumbent Enrique "Kiki" Vigil in the Democratic primary and Republican Todd Garrison, who was sheriff for 10 years before Vigil, in the general election.

When she won, Stewart became the first woman elected sheriff in the history of Doña Ana County and the first openly gay sheriff in the history of New Mexico.

Since taking office, Stewart has come into conflict with the county's administration again. During a news conference in January, she slammed the county manager for not allowing DASO staff to work from home and promised to defy his orders from staff to keep working in the building. 

The running battle between sheriff and county manager is nothing new, Stewart said. As such, one of her priorities if re-elected would be to lobby the state legislature with the goal of convincing lawmakers to create clearer definitions of responsibilities between the managers and sheriffs. 

But before any of that can happen, she's got to hold on to her seat. The democratic primary is on June 7, 2022. 

Justin Garcia is a public safety reporter for the Las Cruces Sun-News. He can be reached at JEGarcia@lcsun-news.com or on Twitter @Just516garc.

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