New Belen Magistrate Court opens; named for first judge

BELEN — After an idea was shared nearly seven years ago about a possible public partnership, it has now become a reality with the grand opening of the new Division II Magistrate Courthouse in Belen.

The $5.6 million, 11,100-square foot building is located directly east of Belen City Hall on Becker Avenue. Bradbury Stamm was hired by the New Mexico Administrative Office of the Courts to construct the new courthouse. The AOC is paying for the construction, while the city of Belen is acting as the fiscal agent for the project.

Judge John Chavez, who was first appointed to the bench in 2014, said he knew changes needed to be made the first time when he walked into the old courthouse on Castillo Avenue.

“When I retired from the Army, I walked into my new courthouse and there were cabinets in the hallways, and I was honestly frightened we were going to have a fire and someone was not going to be able to get out,” Chavez said during the grand opening ceremony last week. “When I saw what our public defenders and our district attorney’s office had to endure in terms of being on top of one another in a very small courtroom, they were very close to people who were in custody.”

Chavez said the old courthouse really wasn’t a case of neglect, but that the area had grown and so did the amount of cases coming through the court.

“We outgrew a courthouse that was designed for one judge and two clerks,” Chavez said. “Now, we have one judge and six clerks and ancillary staff that occupy the building. It’s a good news story that our community is growing in that way.”

Chavez recalls a conversation he had with former mayor Jerah Cordova in 2016, and brought up the idea of having a public partnership. He said they sold the idea to Artie Pepin, the director of the Administrative Office of the Courts, and the former council, and it was approved.

“We did something different — we broke the model,” the judge said. “We’re spending taxpayer money in support of public entities rather than giving money to a private landlord.”

Wanting to “properly name the building,” Chavez petitioned the city to name the building after the first magistrate judge to be elected in Valencia County, Gillie Sanchez. After two public hearings, the Belen City Council officially approved the name of the building as the “Gillie Sanchez Building.”

Sanchez, who owned Gil’s Bakery and served on the Belen Board of Education, was first elected to the Division II bench in 1969 and retired in 1994.

“It’s important that we retain our history,” Chavez said. “It’s important that we don’t forget where we come from … we don’t forget the people who laid the foundation for our own successes.”

Belen Mayor Robert Noblin read a proclamation for the naming of the building, which, in part, reads that Sanchez first learned his profession as a baker at Harrell’s Bakery, located at the corner of South Sixth Street and Becker Avenue.. He opened Gil’s Bakery on Main Street in 1947.

During the ceremony, Valencia County Bar Association members Deputy District Attorney Robyn Simms and Los Lunas attorney Greg Gaudette presented a plaque with a quote by Atticus Finch, a character in Harper Lee’s novel “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

AOC Deputy Director Karl Reifsteck told those in attendance at the grand opening ceremony last week that they are “pleased and thankful” to the city of Belen for partnering with them to building the courthouse.

“In addition to thanking the mayor, the current council and the past councilors, I want to thank Judge Chavez and all the staff who have put in a lot of sweat and hard work in making this court a reality today,” Reifsteck said. “We look forward to partnering with the city for the next 30 years and beyond to make sure we have excellent access to the courts.”

Chief 13th Judicial District Court Judge James Noel said the new courthouse is a model — technologically, structurally and how it came about — for others around the state.

“It’s a testament to the fact that Judge Chavez and those who work in this court that they are a part of this community,” Noel said. “It really warms my heart.”