Justice stations aim to improve court access in New Mexico

Jonathan Fjeld | KOB

GALLUP, N.M. — Four “justice stations” are now in place in northwestern New Mexico, and four more are coming by the end of December, to improve court access.

The stations provide virtual access to court hearings. Officials say this will lessen the need for people to travel to a courthouse.

Each justice station consists of a computer set up to allow people to appear remotely for a hearing. This applies to magistrate court hearings in San Juan and McKinley counties.

The court designed the justice stations to connect to a hearing with a single touch on the screen or a click of the mouse. Users will still need to know when their hearing is and who the judge is.

People can use the station for all proceedings in traffic cases and pretrial hearings in misdemeanor and civil cases in the two counties. That includes misdemeanor cases, such as DWI.

The justice stations aren’t available for domestic violence cases or hearings outside of the two counties.

The stations are currently in the:

Open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed during noon hour

Open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 10 a.m.; Wednesday at 11 a.m.

Open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Can be used to appear in a remote hearing in another magistrate court in the district

By the end of December, they hope to open stations in the: