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A lifetime of hard work, courage, and defending others.
Ramona Martinez is running for District Attorney of Doña Ana County to restore accountability and fight for the voiceless. A daughter of rural New Mexico, Ramona has spent more than two decades helping everyday New Mexicans navigate the justice system and government.
Ramona comes from a family of ranchers and educators. Despite their modest beginnings, her parents’ hard work and sacrifices ensured a better life for Ramona and her sisters. Her late mother, Rose, instilled in her a sense of public service while her late father, Robert, taught her the value of hard work and humility.
Growing up, she always knew she wanted to go to college and to become a lawyer. But the road getting there wasn’t easy. She earned a scholarship to UNM and worked her way through school, eventually putting herself through law school as a single mom. She and her son often shared the kitchen table to do their homework - her with a laptop and him with his textbooks.
Her first job was helping New Mexicans get the services they need from the state government, and every job thereafter has focused on serving others. From working in the executive levels of state government and in the legislature, to serving public retirees and children, Ramona understands the diverse needs of New Mexicans. She has dedicated her legal career to serving indigent clients to ensure that they have fair access to justice. Ramona’s cooperative spirit in working with colleagues as well as criminal justice and community partners has helped lead the effort in criminal justice reform to address economic and racial disparities in the criminal and juvenile justice systems.
That’s why she’s running to make the District Attorney’s office represent the people first. With a belief in accountability and committed to upholding the values her late parents instilled in her, Ramona seeks to restore leadership, accountability, and ethical transparency to the District Attorney’s office.
As a District Attorney, she will represent our community with empathy and integrity, especially when dealing with victims and survivors of violent crime. She believes that addressing crime, drugs, and homelessness requires a concerted community effort.
Putting People First in the District Attorney’s Office
Some may distrust the criminal justice system because of the current prosecutorial response. When prosecutors fail to engage with the community, they come to view the people they serve simply as problems to be managed and cases to be processed. We deserve better. As District Attorney I will make every effort to restore community engagement to personalize our crime problem and I will invite the public to become active participants in the effort to build safer lives for themselves, their families, and friends. I will work on creating valuable relationships with our school systems, public housing authorities, healthcare providers, mental health providers, community-based organizations, and our university. I will work to eliminate power imbalances based on cultural differences and will work with those who advocate for the underrepresented (e.g., diverse racial, ethnic, and LGBTQ+ communities). I understand that community engagement promotes understanding and a spirit of cooperation and problem-solving and develops a shared vision to promote public safety.
Domestic Violence
I am running for DA because of my own personal life experiences with domestic violence. Victims of domestic violence deserve empathy and respect. Prosecutors have a professional duty as prosecutors, advocates, and legal staff to become well-versed in trauma. Survivors of domestic violence are more likely to engage throughout the investigation and court process if trauma-informed practices are implemented. As professionals and as a community, we need to recognize the widespread impact of trauma, the signs and symptoms of trauma, and learn about pathways to recovery. As District Attorney, I will ensure that trauma-informed practices are implemented in my office because victims of domestic violence and their experiences should be prioritized to effectively hold abusers accountable.
I will restore accountability and consequences to the criminal justice system in Doña Ana. Violent and repeat offenders will no longer be allowed to victimize the citizens of Dona Ana without consequence. I will use all resources and strategies at my disposal to reduce the harm visited on victims and their neighborhoods. However, it is important that we address violent crime by strategically identifying and collecting information to identify truly recurring violent crime problems in our community that demand our focused attention.
Violent and repeat offenders will be prioritized and held accountable through prosecution and deterrence. Resources for prosecution for these types of offenders will be prioritized. Swift revocation of plea deals and those out on conditions of release ensures there is increased accountability and an understanding for those who continue to offend that they will be held accountable for their actions.
District Attorneys have the unique ability to influence the cooperation of criminal justice professionals and community leaders in creating and implementing a coordinated, effective, and sustainable plan to reduce violent crime. I will ensure that community leadership and engagement is restored to the District Attorney’s office and create a dialogue, and work with all stakeholders to successfully plan and implement strategies for responding to violent crime and improving community safety demands.
I will restore trust and working relationships with all law enforcement agencies to ensure that we are working as a team and to ensure that each agency is supported through training and given the resources they need.
Violent Crime
Smart Criminal Justice Reform
We cannot lock up all our problems. Smart reform with evidence-based solutions is absolutely necessary to ensure that justice is fairly executed for all New Mexicans. The criminal justice system cannot fix all our problems, and it cannot solve all our problems on its own. We all know that drugs, mental illness, and homelessness correlate with crime, and the district attorney has the ability and the power to address those issues through its prosecutorial power.
Through my professional experience and legal practice, I recognize the interrelationship of the criminal justice system with other important community institutions, such as the healthcare system, schools, businesses, and social service agencies and organizations. I’ve seen first-hand how these institutions could work together to benefit and change a person’s life in the criminal justice system. I’ve also seen first-hand when these institutions fail to work with one another to the detriment of justice. Each of these institutions have a stake in community safety, and I will ensure that their interests and their contributions will be joined in my continued fight for smart criminal justice reform.
I will bring forth pretrial diversion programs as another tool to ensure accountability for criminal conduct, to protect the public by reducing rates of recidivism, to conserve prosecutive and judicial resources, and to provide opportunities for treatment, rehabilitation, and community correction.
Recruitment and Training
The most valuable resource in any prosecutor’s office is its staff — prosecutors, investigators, and victim-witness advocates, administrative and support staff. I will implement and identify training opportunities related to the investigation and prosecution of violent crime, mental health, and addiction issues, ensure that all prosecutors, investigators, and victim– witness advocates who work with victims of violent crime have had training in trauma-informed response. I will establish criteria to triage cases for the purpose of concentrating more resources on the most dangerous offenders and locate sources for recruitment of diverse candidates for prosecutor and investigator positions in my office.