Three years after the Santa Fe County Commission passed its DWI Vehicle Seizure Ordinance, deputies are ready to start impounding vehicles from repeat drunken drivers and, in the near future, to start selling the vehicles at auction.

Sgt. Joe McLaughlin, who runs the seizure and forfeiture program for the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department, said enforcement has been delayed because until last week the county had no place to put the vehicles.

Work was completed last week on an impound lot next to the Sheriff's Office on Camino Justicia, off N.M. 14, across from the jail. The 400-by-200-foot lot is surrounded by an 8-foot fence with privacy slats and topped with barbed wire.

The county has a lot for vehicles seized as evidence in criminal cases at its old warehouse and maintenance facility on Galisteo Street, but there is not enough room there to handle the anticipated seizure of up to 20 vehicles a month via the county ordinance.

Since May 8, deputies have been authorized to impound vehicles from anyone arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated who has two or more previous DWI convictions — regardless of whether the driver owns the vehicle. Vehicles also can be seized from those arrested for driving with a revoked driver's license if the revocation is the result of a prior DWI conviction.

"We haven't seized a vehicle yet," McLaughlin said Tuesday. "We're going to go back and look at the DWI arrests that have occurred this week just to make sure nobody missed anything, and if they did, I'm going to use that as a training tool to go back and educate our deputies."

McLaughlin said he also had to work up contracts for tow trucks and for a hearing officer for the program. Anyone whose vehicle is seized under the program may, for a $100 fee, request an administrative hearing to challenge the deputy's jurisdiction, probable cause for the traffic stop, probable cause for the arrest and prior DWI convictions.

If the administrative hearing officer upholds the seizure, a motion could be filed in state District Court seeking forfeiture of the vehicle. If the forfeiture is granted, the vehicles could be sold at an auction every six months to a year. McLaughlin said an option would be to piggyback on the annual state police auction of seized vehicles and other property.

The county ordinance also allows the registered owner of the seized vehicle to enter into an agreement with the county to immobilize the vehicle with a boot. Before the boot is removed, the owner would have to pay a $600 fee, have an ignition-interlock device installed and obtained an interlock-restricted driver's license.

Albuquerque and Las Cruces have had similar vehicle-seizure ordinances. Two years ago, the state Court of Appeals upheld Albuquerque's ordinance by overturning a state district judge's order that blocked enforcement. The appellate court ruled that the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, which challenged the law, did not have legal standing.

The city of Santa Fe passed its own vehicle-seizure ordinance in November 2006, about six months after the county enacted its, but the city has never enforced its ordinance because it also lacks an impound lot. McLaughlin said liability and "command and control" issues would prevent the city from sharing the county lot.

Aric Wheeler, the assistant city police chief, said there isn't enough room in the county lot for the city. "We already have identified land for one," he said. "We're in the process of gaining the funding to do the necessary improvements to the land and then we will go ahead and have it up and running, probably in the next couple of months."

Contact Tom Sharpe at 986-3080 or tsharpe@sfnewmexican.com.