Status: Enacted. Signed by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham (with targeted line-item vetoes) on April 11, 2025. New Mexico public school districts began drawing down the funds in the FY2026 cycle, with allocations distributed across all 89 districts as of late 2025.
Bill Number: New Mexico HB 450 (2025 Regular Session, 57th Legislature) — capital outlay appropriations
Jurisdiction: New Mexico
Category: K-12 School Safety Funding, AI Firearm Detection
Industries: K-12 Education, State and Local Government
Enacted Date: April 11, 2025
Effective Date: FY2026 appropriation cycle (funds distributed beginning fall 2025)
Summary: New Mexico HB 450 was the 2025 capital outlay package that, among many statewide projects, set aside roughly $50 million for school security, career technical education equipment, and school maintenance and repair — of which $35 million is dedicated to security upgrades. Majority Whip Sen. Michael Padilla (D-Albuquerque) advocated for the appropriation and described it explicitly as a way to add "an innovative approach to gun detection" on top of the surveillance cameras New Mexico districts have already deployed. The New Mexico Public Schools Facilities Authority distributes the money across all 89 public school districts in proportion to each district's proposed projects. This appropriation became the operative funding vehicle after a dedicated "firearm detection software fund" bill (SB 136) was postponed indefinitely earlier in the session — the money flows through capital outlay instead.
Key Provisions:
- $35 Million for Security Upgrades: Part of a roughly $50 million school capital outlay line in HB 450, with $35 million earmarked specifically for school security and safety improvements in FY2026.
- Statewide Eligibility: All 89 New Mexico public school districts are eligible, with funds distributed by the New Mexico Public Schools Facilities Authority in proportion to proposed projects so smaller districts are not crowded out by larger ones.
- Gun Detection and Camera Integration: The sponsor framed the appropriation around tying existing school camera systems together with gun detection technology to flag firearms entering school grounds — the procurement pattern AI software-overlay vendors serve.
- One-Time Appropriation: Lawmakers structured the funding as a one-time capital outlay rather than a recurring program, so districts are encouraged to deploy proactively within the FY2026 window.
Affected Entities: All 89 New Mexico public school districts. Gallup (~$5.9M) and Gadsden (~$4.1M) districts received the largest allocations; every district, including the smallest, is eligible to apply funds toward security technology.
Funding Outlook: The $35 million is a one-time FY2026 appropriation. Districts that exhaust their allocation or fall outside it can layer in federal Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) funds, COPS School Violence Prevention Program (SVPP) awards, and local capital budgets to extend deployments. Because New Mexico's earlier SB 136 firearm-detection-software fund (which carried an explicit DHS SAFETY Act designation requirement) stalled, districts evaluating compliant gun detection software should still treat federal SAFETY Act standing as a procurement best practice.
IntelliSee Relevance: High. HB 450's security funding is built around the exact pattern IntelliSee's AI weapon detection was designed to serve — gun detection that runs on the cameras a district already owns rather than requiring hardware scanners or pass-through screening lanes. New Mexico districts evaluating vendors should verify current DHS SAFETY Act designation status, documented detection performance, and the ability to deploy at scale across heterogeneous camera infrastructure. IntelliSee holds a DHS SAFETY Act Qualified Anti-Terrorism Technology (QATT) designation for its firearm detection analytics (approved November 2025) and uses no facial recognition or biometric identification, aligning with the privacy expectations New Mexico parents and school boards have raised around school surveillance.
Related Legislation & Resources
- Iowa School Firearm Detection Software Grant Program (HF 2586, 2024)
- Kansas School Firearm Detection Pilot Program (2025 Appropriations, $10M)
- Missouri School Firearm Detection Software Funding (FY2025 State Budget, $2.5M)
- Wisconsin School Gun Detection Software Grant Program (2025-2026 Session)
- Tennessee AI Weapons Detection in Schools Grant Pilot (SB 814 / HB 933)
- The DHS SAFETY Act in AI Security: Designation, Certification, and What It Actually Means
- IntelliSee AI Gun Detection
Sources: Source New Mexico — districts split $35M for school security | NM Political Report — $35M school security investment | New Mexico Legislature — HB 450 (2025) | Office of the Governor — budget bill signing