Mérida, Yucatán — Despite ranking among Mexico’s safest states, Yucatán’s prosecutor’s office operates with severe constraints in staffing and funding that could undermine its long-term effectiveness, according to the 2026 State Prosecutor Performance Index published by Impunidad Cero.
The report, which evaluates state prosecutor’s offices based on structure, operations, and results, found that Yucatán registered the second-lowest rate of investigations initiated in 2025, with just 213 cases per 100,000 residents — only ahead of Chiapas and Tlaxcala. Its intentional homicide rate, including homicides and femicides, stood at 3.2 per 100,000, one of the lowest nationally and far below states like Colima, Morelos, or Sinaloa.
However, the index highlights significant institutional shortfalls. Yucatán has only 18.5 substantive personnel per 100,000 residents — including prosecutors, investigative police, and crime analysts — placing it among the five states with the lowest specialized staffing and well below the national average of 35.5.
Budget constraints are equally stark. The state spends just 228 pesos per capita on criminal justice, roughly half the national average of 448 pesos, making it one of the three lowest spenders. In contrast, Mexico City, Quintana Roo, and Chihuahua allocate three to four times more per person.
On digital transformation, Yucatán scored 56 points, a middling performance far behind states with more technological modernization.
Despite these limitations, Yucatán had the lowest caseload in the country in 2024, with just nine investigations per prosecutor — a figure the report attributes largely to low crime rates. Impunidad Cero warns that this low caseload should not substitute for institutional investment, emphasizing that strengthening personnel, budgets, and technology is essential to ensure timely investigations and prevent impunity from becoming a structural problem.
