The Sheriff’s Office Advisory Review Board (SORB) voted unanimously to include new language in its draft 2025 annual report asking the League of Women Voters of New Mexico to host a public candidate forum in anticipation of the 2026 sheriff election. Mr. Wismer moved the language and the board approved the motion by roll-call vote.

The approved wording says the SORB "will once again ask the League of Women Voters of New Mexico to host a candidate forum for the public," that board members may attend but the forum will be hosted and run by the League, and that Board member Diane Layden has agreed to coordinate the effort with the League. Chair Matthew Ray said the approved sentence will be added to the "looking ahead to 2026" section of the draft annual report and circulated electronically for inclusion in the updated draft.

Board members debated whether the draft annual report should include a one-page submission from the Administration, Personnel and Budget (APB) committee that Dr. Diane Layden had circulated. The annual report committee had judged Layden’s submission to be largely a list of questions for the sheriff rather than a conventional annual-report summary; several members said that format was not appropriate for the board’s annual report and that the ordinance requires the board to seek the sheriff’s input before issuing recommendations.

After the initial motion to attach the APB committee’s one-page report failed for lack of a second, the board adopted a compromise. Mr. Wismer moved — and Dr. Layden seconded — a proposal giving the APB committee (Layden, Jim Stewart and Natalie Ann Mason) 48 hours to agree on and submit a short paragraph summarizing the committee’s work and planned follow-up. That motion passed unanimously. Chair Matthew Ray said if the committee reaches consensus and submits the language, he will support its inclusion in the draft and the board will review and vote on the final annual report at its regular meeting on Dec. 12.

Legal counsel Daniel Roberson advised members that a committee member coordinating with the League is permissible if the League hosts and runs the forum and the board is not itself conducting political activity. Members also raised concerns about the Open Meetings Act and the risk of a "rolling quorum" when committees circulate drafts by email; Roberson summarized how email chains can create quorum risks and advised caution.

The draft report’s substantive recommendations already reflect work SORB discussed this year with Sheriff Allen, including the establishment of a compliance officer position, questions about use of artificial intelligence and drones, and other oversight topics. The board emphasized that final recommendations requiring public or formal action will follow the board’s procedures for seeking input from the sheriff and for full-board approval.

The board asked Mr. Wismer to send the approved League-of-Women-Voters language electronically to the annual-report committee and vice chair so it could be integrated into the updated draft. Members were reminded the regular meeting on Dec. 12 is when the board expects to vote on the final annual report.