Charles Anthony Franco (born 1955) is an American

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. He was a

game warden A conservation officer is a law enforcement officer who protects wildlife and the environment. A conservation officer may also be referred to as an environmental technician/technologist, game warden, park ranger, forest watcher, forest guar ...

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

Undersheriff An undersheriff (or under-sheriff) is an office derived from ancient Kingdom of England, English custom that remains in, among other places, England and Wales and the United States, though performing different functions. United States In Policing ...

for

Doña Ana County The terms Don (in Spanish and Italian), Dom (in Portuguese), and Domn (in Romanian), are honorific prefixes derived from the Latin ''Dominus'', meaning "lord" or "owner". The honorific is commonly used in Spain, Portugal, and Italy, as well a ...

Judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

on the Dona Ana County Magistrate Court, and the First Gentleman of New Mexico.

Early life and education

Franco was born and raised in Las Cruces,

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, graduating from

Las Cruces High School Las Cruces High School is a public high school in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. LCHS was established in 1918 and is the oldest public high school in Las Cruces. As of the 2021–22 school year, it serves 1,830 students from grades 9–12. ...

and earning a degree in

criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...

from

New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public, land-grant, research university in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1888, it is the state's oldest public institution of higher education, and was the original land-g ...

. He has an older brother and younger sister.

Personal life

From 1991 to 2019, Franco was married to former

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Susana Martínez Susana Martinez (born July 14, 1959) is an American politician and attorney who served as 31st governor of New Mexico from 2011 to 2019. A Republican, she served as chair of the Republican Governors Association (RGA) from 2015 to 2016. She was ...

. Through Franco's job as an undercover investigator, he met Martinez while she was an assistant district attorney. The two married in 1991. Franco has one son, Carlo, who served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

. Franco is an advocate fo
Horses for Heroes
and th
Youth Diagnostic Development Center in Albuquerque
" Franco is a longtime supporter of th

program of the Community Capacity Development Office. Franco is a hunter and fisherman. In 1995, Martinez and he changed their affiliation from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party.

Career

Franco graduated from the

police academy A police academy, also known as a law enforcement training center, police college, or police university, is a training school for police cadets, designed to prepare them for the law enforcement agency they will be joining upon graduation, or to o ...

in 1978. Franco has been a

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...

officer for more than 30 years, and served as the

. Franco began working in law enforcement, starting as a

. In 1996, Franco ran for a position as Magistrate judge in Doña Ana County. He won, and served for three years. During his career, Franco has worked for "the

Las Cruces Police Department The Las Cruces Police Department (LCPD) is the principal law enforcement agency responsible for protecting the City of Las Cruces, New Mexico. LCPD, established in 1928, currently has an authorized strength of 200 officers and 83 civilian position ...

, the city's Weed and Seed program and th
New Mexico State University Police Department
" Franco was a

police detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...

when the Las Cruces Bowling Alley massacre occurred. "As part of the investigation, he had to videotape the scene." In 1992, Martínez was fired by then

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

Greg Valdez. Valdez stated that Martínez brought in a case that Franco was working on. "A potential

conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple wikt:interest#Noun, interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates t ...

between Martínez and Franco was an issue in the late 1990s, when she first became district attorney. Franco was a magistrate judge, and some cases being prosecuted by the district attorney's office were assigned to him. Franco was running for re-election in 1996, the same year Martínez first ran for DA. His Democratic opponent and others said there would be a conflict if both were elected. But Franco and Martinez said Franco would

recuse Recusal is the legal process by which a judge, juror, or other adjudicator steps aside from participating in a case due to potential bias, conflict of interest, or appearance of impropriety. This practice is fundamental to ensuring fairness and ...

himself from all cases involving the DA's office." Franco's relationship with Martinez was twice raised as a concern when, as District Attorney, "she had to decide whether officer-involved shootings were justified." Franco was a member of Martínez' search team for members of the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department. Presently, Franco is a retired career cop. From January 1, 2011, to January 1, 2019, he served in the role of First Gentleman of New Mexico. In October 2018 Franco took a job with the Doña Ana County Assessor's office in Las Cruces.

New Mexico Coalition for Literacy

Adult literacy Adult education, distinct from child education, is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained educating activities in order to gain new knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values. Merriam, Sharan B. & Brockett, Ralph G. ''The Pr ...

is one of three main causes to which Franco has decided to dedicate his time
New Mexico Coalition for Literacy
is "a cause close to his heart from his work in Las Cruces under the federally funded Weed and Seed program to help at-risk youths. There he saw firsthand how improving reading skills helped kids succeed in school." Franco stated that "'supporting the New Mexico Coalition for Literacy also complements Gov. Susana Martinez' push to improve K-12 education in the state'" Franco observed, while working with troubled youth, "that their issues ran beyond behavioral problems. Having parents at home who couldn't read was one of them."
/ref>

References

External links

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Meet the first gentleman, Chuck Franco
{{DEFAULTSORT:Franco, Chuck 1955 births Living people American deputy sheriffs First ladies and gentlemen of New Mexico People from Las Cruces, New Mexico New Mexico Democrats New Mexico Republicans New Mexico State University alumni