New Mexico Statutes

N.M. Stat. § 14-2-1.2 (2026)

Law enforcement records.

✓ current as of May 2026
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A. Law enforcement records are public records, except as provided by law and this
subsection, and provided that the presence of nonpublic information may be redacted
from a written record or digitally obscured in a visual or audio record, including:
       (1)   before charges are filed, names, addresses, contact information or
protected personal identifier information of individuals who are victims of or non-law-
enforcement witnesses to an alleged crime of:

       (a) assault with intent to commit a violent felony pursuant to Section 30-3-3
NMSA 1978 when the violent felony is criminal sexual penetration;

          (b) assault against a household member with intent to commit a violent felony
pursuant to Section 30-3-14 NMSA 1978 when the violent felony is criminal sexual
penetration;

             (c) stalking pursuant to Section 30-3A-3 NMSA 1978;

             (d) aggravated stalking pursuant to Section 30-3A-3.1 NMSA 1978;

             (e) criminal sexual penetration pursuant to Section 30-9-11 NMSA 1978;

             (f) criminal sexual contact pursuant to Section 30-9-12 NMSA 1978; or

             (g) sexual exploitation of children pursuant to Section 30-6A-3 NMSA 1978;

       (2)    before charges are filed, names, addresses, contact information or
protected personal identifier information of individuals who are accused but not charged
with a crime;

       (3)    visual depiction of a dead body, unless a law enforcement officer, acting in
that capacity, caused or is reasonably alleged or suspected to have caused the death;

      (4)     visual depiction of great bodily harm, as defined in Section 30-1-12 NMSA
1978, or acts of severe violence resulting in great bodily harm, unless a law
enforcement officer, acting in that capacity, caused or is reasonably alleged or
suspected to have caused the great bodily harm or act of severe violence;

       (5)    visual depiction of an individual's intimate body parts, including the
genitals, pubic area, anus or postpubescent female nipple, whether nude or visible
through less than opaque clothing;

       (6)  visual or audio depiction of the notification to a member of the public of a
family member's death;

       (7)      confidential sources, methods or information; or

       (8)    records pertaining to physical or mental examination and medical
treatment of persons unless the information could be relevant to a criminal investigation
or an investigation of misfeasance, malfeasance or other suspected violation of law
conducted by a person elected to or employed by a public body.
   B. A request for release of video or audio shall specify at least one of the following:

       (1)      the computer-aided dispatch record number;

       (2)      the police report number;

       (3)      the date or date range with reasonable specificity and at least one of the
following:

             (a) the name of a law enforcement officer or first responder;

             (b) the approximate time; or

             (c) the approximate location; or

         (4)   other criteria established and published by a law enforcement agency to
facilitate access to videos.

     C. Except for confidential sources, methods or information, a request to view video
or hear audio on-site of a public body is not subject to the restrictions in Subsections A
and B of this section. Any recording or copying of video or audio from such viewing or
listening is subject to the restrictions in this section.

    D. As used in this section, "law enforcement records" includes evidence in any form
received or compiled in connection with a criminal investigation or prosecution by a law
enforcement or prosecuting agency, including inactive matters or closed investigations
to the extent that they contain the information listed in this subsection; provided that the
presence of such information on a law enforcement record does not exempt the record
from inspection.

History: 1978 Comp., § 14-2-1.2, enacted by Laws 2023, ch. 67, § 3.

                                       ANNOTATIONS

Emergency clauses. — Laws 2023, ch. 67, § 5 contained an emergency clause and
was approved March 30, 2023.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 4 cases (4 in the last 5 years), 2024–2025 · leading case: T.H. v. Martinez (D.N.M. 2025).
T.H. v. Martinez (D.N.M. 2025). · cites it 7× “The problem is that this provision only protects Plaintiff’s identity from public disclosure through digitally obscuring her face in the video in the time period “before charges are filed.” Since charges have been filed against Defendant Martinez, and indeed he has already been…”
Regan v. Lowrey (N.M. Ct. App. 2025). · cites it 4× “The District Court Correctly Decided That IPRA’s Law Enforcement Exception to Disclosure Did Not Require the Court to Grant Respondent’s Motion to Quash {20} Respondent argues that the Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA), NMSA 1978, § 14-2-1.2(A)(1)(a) required the district…”
Silva v. City of Albuquerque (N.M. Ct. App. 2025). · cites it 3× “Section 14-2-1; see § 14-2-1.2 11 (describing law enforcement records exempted from disclosure under Section 14-2- 12 1(D)).”
State v. Lopez (N.M. Ct. App. 2024). · cites it 2× “” Section 14-2-1.2. However, because this amendment was not in force at the time of the proceedings below, we do not consider it in this opinion.”
— N.M. Stat. § 14-2-1.2(A) — 1 case
Silva v. City of Albuquerque (N.M. Ct. App. 2025). “Section 14-2-1; see § 14-2-1.2 11 (describing law enforcement records exempted from disclosure under Section 14-2- 12 1(D)).”
— N.M. Stat. § 14-2-1.2(A)(1)(a) — 1 case
Regan v. Lowrey (N.M. Ct. App. 2025). “The District Court Correctly Decided That IPRA’s Law Enforcement Exception to Disclosure Did Not Require the Court to Grant Respondent’s Motion to Quash {20} Respondent argues that the Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA), NMSA 1978, § 14-2-1.2(A)(1)(a) required the district…”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.