LAS CRUCES, N.M. — Kimberly Ann Skaggs, treasurer of the Republican Party of New Mexico (RPNM) and former chair of the Doña Ana County Republican Party, was booked into the Doña Ana County Detention Center on Wednesday, June 24, 2026, facing two felony charges, according to county booking records.

The Charges

Per Booking Report No. 2600005088, Skaggs, 54, was arrested by the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office at 3:21 p.m. on June 24 at 845 N. Motel Blvd. in Las Cruces and booked at the detention center roughly 20 minutes later. She faces:

• Leaving the Scene of a Crime  (Statute 58AA) — felony

• Tampering With Evidence (Statute 51A) — felony

Court records list the case as M-14-FR-2026-00662 in Doña Ana Magistrate Court. No bond amount had been set as of the booking report, with bond type listed as “no bond.” No further case details were publicly available at the time of this report.

Political Background

Skaggs has held several roles in New Mexico Republican politics over the past decade. She previously served as chair of the Doña Ana County Republican Party and ran twice for the New Mexico House of Representatives’ District 36 seat against incumbent Democrat Nathan Small, losing both bids, most recently in 2024.

She currently serves as treasurer of the state party, the Republican Party of New Mexico. That role has put her at the center of an ongoing internal RPNM leadership dispute. A state district judge’s temporary injunction — issued amid litigation over control of the party — barred Skaggs, RPNM Chair Amy Barela, and RNC Committeeman Sen. Jim Townsend from publicly supporting any Republican candidate in a contested primary, under threat of criminal contempt. The order also appeared to direct Barela to hand the chairmanship to the party’s First Vice Chair, though its scope and duration remain disputed; the RPNM has said it would comply while appealing.

As of this report there is no public statement from the RPNM, Skaggs, nor her attorney. This arrest comes at a critical time for the Republican Party of New Mexico with a SCC meeting scheduled in Belen for Saturday to potentially select a new party chair.  This also sure to be topic of conversation and potential action. Stay tuned to 2nd Life Media partners for updates…

Update 11:30 pm Charging Documents Detail Fatal Hit-and-Run
Charging documents reported by the Albuquerque Journal Algernon D’Ammassa, describe a fatal hit-and-run behind the felony counts. According to the Journal’s account of a deputy’s affidavit, Doña Ana County Sheriff’s deputies responded Monday afternoon to a crash in the Fairacres community just west of Las Cruces, where a 40-year-old man was struck and killed while crossing Fairacres Road by a vehicle headed north. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

https://www.abqjournal.com/news/state-gop-officer-kim-skaggs-charged-after-fatal-crash/3069873

A witness told investigators she saw — and photographed — a woman driving away from the scene in a Cadillac Escalade, the affidavit states. Detectives recovered vehicle debris and measured roughly 208 feet of skid marks, and surveillance footage from a nearby business reportedly helped them trace the vehicle, which they linked to Skaggs and to a citation she received last September for exhibition driving.
Deputies located the vehicle at a property Skaggs owns a few miles from the crash site and obtained a search warrant Tuesday. The affidavit reportedly describes front-end damage, tread marks on the bumper consistent with a bicycle tire, and a flat front tire bearing traces of bicycle-tire sealant and blood near the wheel well. The two counts — leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, and tampering with evidence — are both fourth-degree felonies; the Journal reported that the specific basis for the tampering charge was not spelled out in the charging document.

As of Wednesday night, Skaggs remained in custody without an attorney, and no court appearance had yet been scheduled, according to the Journal report.

Booking record: DAC JCMS Inmates Online — Booking No. 2600005088
Sources: Doña Ana County DAC JCMS Inmates Online booking records; 2nd Life Media Alamogordo Town News

More News from Alamogordo

• Sidney Paul Gordon Shooting Range Courts National Guard, Eyes 45-Acre Expansion in Busy May Eyes expansion…
• The Irony in Rardin’s Public Debt Callout: His Own Unpaid Balance Was Written Off by the City He Serves Rardin allows write of of $1630.71 of a debt he owed the city of Alamogordo…