Public Regulation Commission chairman Pat Lyons may not be crazy about the move made by the city of Las Cruces to shut off the utilities of people who are overdue in paying off tickets they received for violations spotted by the town’s red-light cameras, but said the PRC can’t get involved.

“We discussed it with our attorney,” Lyons told Capitol Report New Mexico after commissioners held their Tuesday meeting in Santa Fe, “and there’s nothing we can do … It’s a municipal system [that Las Cruces has to maintain services such as sewage and water] and they can do what they want.”

When told of the Las Cruces program aimed at collecting some $2 million in fines on Monday (April 30), Lyons was alarmed, saying that the PRC — which oversees utility rates in the state — should look into the matter.

“I still think they [Las Cruces city officials] should settle these things through the traffic code,” Lyons said Tuesday.

For background on the story and the controversy it’s generated, click here.