Bernalillo County needs to install a new call button system at MDC before court deadline

Cathy Cook, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
·1 min read

Mar. 6—Bernalillo County needs to upgrade the call button system in the Metropolitan Detention Center by March 22, or the county will have to set aside $210,000 to make more safety and security improvements at MDC, which was discussed at Tuesday's Bernalillo County Commission meeting.

The requirement is part of the McClendon settlement — the result of a decades old class-action lawsuit alleging MDC and the county were violating inmate rights.

If the county fails to meet the March deadline, a court jail operational expert will recommend how the $210,000 should be spent, according to court documents.

Call buttons are in cells so that inmates can call for help in an emergency, County Attorney Ken Martinez said. The new call button system will also keep a record of the calls for at least 30 days.

County commissioners approved the court stipulated upgrade during their Tuesday meeting.

The project to upgrade the call button system started in 2022 and was supposed to be completed by Nov. 11, 2022. Bernalillo County maintains that the delays were unavoidable and unforeseeable. The plaintiffs disagree.

The March deadline is a compromise to avoid further litigation, Martinez said. For each day the upgraded call button system is not fully functional after March 22, the county will have to pay $2,000.

Find out what else Bernalillo County Commission did this week.