Governor appoints new McKinley County district attorney amid office crisis

McKinley County’s district attorney’s office changed hands amid a crisis that left more than 500 cases waiting and victims stuck in limbo. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham appointed John William Bernitz as district attorney on April 1, putting the veteran prosecutor in charge of an office that has been battered by resignations, failed prosecutions and months of turmoil in Gallup.

Bernitz, who had served as chief deputy district attorney since October 2025, took over immediately. His appointment was set to run until the next general election in November 2026, with his term ending Dec. 31. He had worked in the Eleventh Judicial District Attorney’s Office since 2007, ran a private law office in Gallup from 2021 to 2023, and earlier served as an assistant district attorney in Hidalgo County and Otero County, as well as an assistant public defender in Gallup.

The vacancy followed Bernadine Martin’s resignation on Feb. 26, effective Feb. 25, before a New Mexico Supreme Court removal proceeding could go forward. That proceeding grew out of a petition filed by Attorney General Raúl Torrez on Aug. 18, 2025, seeking her removal. The filing accused the office of a hostile workplace, witness-preparation failures, procurement-law violations, improper reliance on contract attorneys and private legal practice while Martin was serving as district attorney.

The petition said at least 48 employees resigned or were terminated during Martin’s tenure, based on 14 interviews. In a separate move on Aug. 29, 2025, the attorney general’s office took over two violent-crime cases after Martin dismissed them without referring them to another prosecutor. One case involved allegations of criminal sexual penetration and DWI from October 2023; the other involved a murder allegation from December 2022.

By mid-February, one report said Martin was personally handling more than 500 cases. After her resignation, court and media accounts said the office still had a backlog of more than 500 cases, and state leaders were left figuring out how to catch up on the work. The dysfunction had already cost Martin’s office its budget control during the 2025 fiscal year, when state lawmakers transferred that authority to another district attorney’s office.

Bernitz now faces the harder test: whether he can stabilize staffing, clear the backlog and get violent cases moving again. The first 30, 60 and 90 days will show whether the office can rebuild enough to give victims updates, support police investigations and restore basic prosecution capacity in McKinley County.