When someone lands in Farmington Municipal Court on a petty misdemeanor and is ordered into outpatient treatment, the hope is that the structure of that program will be enough. Sometimes it is. But for a meaningful number of people, it isn’t, and until now, when outpatient didn’t work, the options were limited.
That is beginning to change. San Juan County’s Alternative Sentencing Division (ASD) is launching a pilot program that creates a structured next step for individuals sentenced by Farmington Municipal Court to Presbyterian Medical Services’ Totah Behavioral Health Joint Intervention Program (JIP) who are unable to complete it. Under the new pilot, those individuals may now be referred directly into ASD’s existing 28-Day DWI Jail-Based Treatment Program, a proven, program that has served DWI offenders in San Juan County for years.
The pilot is the product of a three-way partnership among San Juan County, the City of Farmington, and Presbyterian Medical Services with each organization contributing a distinct and essential role without giving up its own authority or mission.

How the Partnership Works
Presbyterian Medical Services, through its Totah Behavioral Health program, continues to provide outpatient treatment through the Joint Intervention Program. Nothing about that program changes. What changes is what happens when someone doesn’t complete it. PMS’s documentation of that non-completion becomes the key that opens the referral pathway to ASD’s jail-based substance-use treatment program.
Farmington Municipal Court, for its part, continues to do what it has always done: adjudicate cases and sentence defendants. Now, for qualifying petty misdemeanor cases where JIP hasn’t been completed, the Court has a new tool available-a more intensive, structured setting that can meet individuals where outpatient couldn’t.
ASD retains complete discretion over who is admitted. Every person referred under this pilot goes through the same eligibility screening as any other potential program participant including medical and mental health review, criminal history check, and space availability assessment. DWI-convicted offenders remain the program’s priority population. The pilot simply opens a second, carefully guarded door.

Why It Matters
Substance use doesn’t fit neatly into a single level of care. For some people, an outpatient program is exactly the right intervention. For others, for example, those with more entrenched patterns, fewer community supports, or circumstances that make completing an outpatient schedule unrealistic, something more intensive is needed. Without a bridge between those two options, individuals who fall out of outpatient treatment often cycle back through the court system repeatedly, without their underlying needs being addressed.
This pilot is designed to interrupt that cycle. By connecting a structured, clinically grounded 28-day program to the municipal court system, San Juan County and its partners are creating an off-ramp that didn’t previously exist-and doing it without duplicating resources or displacing the populations each program was built to serve.
ASD will track outcome data for pilot participants throughout the year, and results will inform a decision by the Board of County Commissioners in mid-2027 about whether the pilot should continue, expand, or conclude.

About ASD’s 28-Day DWI Jail-Based Treatment Program
San Juan County’s Alternative Sentencing Division operates a 28-day, jail-based substance use treatment program for court-ordered misdemeanor DWI offenders. The program combines secure custody with structured clinical treatment, followed by case-managed aftercare and has served San Juan County residents for over two decades. ASD also operates the Axis Women’s Program, the Adult Misdemeanor Compliance Program, the RISE Program and ReEntry Support Services. For more information, visit sjcounty.net.

Data Centers are a hot topic in the world right now, and San Juan County Commission Chairman Sam Gonzales has written an open letter to the community with the current status of data center projects in the County. 

Read it here.

Smoke Watch

As we are experiencing wildfire smoke infiltrating the Four Corners from the Pacific Northwest and points closer, we are expecting intermittent decreases in air quality until upper-level winds carry the smoke elsewhere.

You don't have to live near an active wildfire to experience smoky conditions. Winds can carry smoke hundreds of miles, causing poor air quality across our region. Smoke contains fine particles that can irritate your eyes and throat and make it harder to breathe, especially for children, older adults, and those with asthma, COPD, or heart conditions.

When smoke is present:

• Limit outdoor activities, especially strenuous exercise.
• Keep doors and windows closed when air quality is poor.
• Run your air conditioner on recirculate if possible, and use a clean HVAC or portable HEPA filter.
• If you must be outdoors for extended periods during heavy smoke, a properly fitted N95 respirator offers better protection than a cloth or surgical mask.
• Check current air quality before planning outdoor activities.

Turn Around, Don't Drown

Monsoon storms can bring intense rainfall in a short amount of time. Dry ground, arroyos, low-water crossings, and areas near recent burn scars can flood rapidly with little warning. Flash floods are powerful, unpredictable, and can occur even when it's not raining where you are.

Stay safe by remembering these simple precautions:

• Never drive through flooded roads or low-water crossings. Turn Around, Don't Drown.
• Stay out of arroyos and drainage channels during storms, even if they appear dry.
• Have multiple ways to receive weather alerts, especially if you're camping, hiking, or recreating outdoors.
• Keep an eye on the weather!

Introducing our new command post! This command post was a group effort and is a testament to the collaboration and partnership of local agencies and state support! A special thank you to Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernandez for making this possible through state funding, the San Juan County Commission for providing additional funding needed to make the command post happen, and San Juan County Office of Emergency Management and San Juan County Fire & Rescue for partnering with us!