State yanks victims' names from Web

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Transparency left her nowhere to hide.

A state employee was alarmed when she was informed in December that her name, salary and where she works would be added to New Mexico's Sunshine Portal, a state website designed to make available public information about how their taxpayer dollars are being spent, along with the names of all other state employees.

The employee, whom News 13 will call "Rebecca," was concerned for her safety because she is a victim of domestic violence who has been beaten and stalked by her ex-husband.  

"I've had a knife at my throat, a gun at my head," said Rebecca, who has a restraining order against the man. "I'm easily now open to him finding out where I work." 

Rebecca works for the Department of Taxation and Revenue and is worried her ex-husband could use that information to hurt her again.

"He could stalk me again and find out where I live," she said. "With somebody who went to that extreme before you don't know where I'll end up."

She had been trying to get it removed for weeks, but without any luck until News 13 placed calls to the governor's office.

"She's off," said Demesia Padilla, New Mexico's Secretary of Taxation and Revenue. "We called, made the phone call and said please remove her immediately."

The Sunshine Portal listing for Rebecca was removed sometime Tuesday afternoon, and state policies about publishing information of other victims were changed at the direction of Gov. Susana Martinez's office.

In a statement, the governor's communications director Scott Darnell said Martinez has directed her cabinet secretaries to work internally to find and remove names of other domestic violence victims who request it from the Sunshine Portal.

"In no way do I want to put anybody in that kind of a position," said Padilla. "It's just a very sensitive matter, a very personal matter, and so we wanted to make sure we protect all victims of domestic violence."

Padilla said her department and others are working to find long-term solutions to prevent employees from having to make the same request repeatedly if they transferred within state government.

A Senate bill pre-filed by Sen. Sander Rue, R-Albuquerque, would provide a permanent change to remove the names of any employee with a protective order from the Sunshine Portal.

The bill will be up for consideration when the Legislature convenes for a 30-day session on Tuesday.

Although Rebecca was removed from the Sunshine Portal Tuesday, Padilla said her information was released with the rest of the department's employees following a public records request and is currently published in another database.

Padilla was unsure Tuesday whether Rebecca's name would be released if a similar public records request were made now.