New Mexico District Judge Shannon Bacon

New Mexico video: AG raises embezzlement allegations against firm

March 13, 2019 // 0 Comments

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on Feb 1, 2019. It provides a description of how this embezzlement of New Mexico’s poorest was discovered. People familiar with New Mexico’s guardianship player’s may recognize some familiar names. Chris Ramirez February 01, 2019 06:26 PM ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The attorney general is accusing the CEO of Guardian Angels Representative Payees of stealing more than $50,000 from her clients. There are 247 alleged victims in the case, [- more...]

New Mexico: Courts are unable to state whether ward is dead or alive – since 2010

March 25, 2018 // 0 Comments

By Colleen Heild / Journal Investigative Reporter Sunday, March 25th, 2018 at 12:05am What’s become of Elizabeth Hamel? There’s no indication as to whether she is dead or alive, or if the guardianship/conservatorship has been revoked. Hamel is among dozens of people placed under a legal guardianship or conservator in southern New Mexico over the past 20 years whose welfare is unknown – at least according to state district court records. The scant court records available to the public [- more...]

New Mexico: State auditor says Office of Guardianship fails to oversee firms

September 23, 2017 // 0 Comments

From the Albuquerque Journal By Colleen Heild / Journal Investigative Reporter Thursday, September 21st, 2017 at 11:43pm State Auditor Tim Keller’s office on Thursday issued an “emergency risk” advisory for the state Office of Guardianship based on an initial review that showed the agency has failed to properly oversee more than 20 private companies that are paid by the state to provide guardian services for vulnerable, indigent New Mexicans. The Guardianship Office, which has about 900 [- more...]

New Mexico: Court scrambles to replace Ayudando guardians

July 31, 2017 // 0 Comments

By Colleen Heild / Journal Investigative Reporter State district judges in Albuquerque have identified 176 people, many of them indigent and all of them incapacitated in some way, who relied on Ayudando Guardians for help with everything from living arrangements to ensuring their funds, however meager, were safe. Chief District Judge Nan Nash and Chief Civil Division Judge Shannon Bacon in Bernalillo County said in an interview Friday that the courts are faced with having to quickly find [- more...]