N.M. Stat. » Chapter 31 — Criminal Procedure
New Mexico Statutes

N.M. Stat. § 31-20-11 (2026)

Credit for time pending appellate review

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A person convicted of a felony in the district court and held in official confinement while awaiting the outcome of an appeal, writ of error to, or writ of certiorari from, a state or federal appellate court or prior to his release as a result of postconviction proceedings or habeas corpus, shall be given credit for the period spent in confinement against any sentence finally imposed for that offense.

History: 1953 Comp., § 40A-29-24, enacted by Laws 1967, ch. 221, § 1; and recompiled as 1953 Comp., § 40A-29-47, by Laws 1977, ch. 216, § 16.

ANNOTATIONS

Section operates prospectively. — This section was enacted in 1967 and operates prospectively only. Defendant's motion for retroactive application provided no grounds for post-conviction relief under Rule 1-093 NMRA. State v. Montoya, 1968-NMSC-113, 79 N.M. 353, 443 P.2d 743 (decided under prior law).

"Official confinement". — Official confinement, in this section, includes an electronic monitoring program (EMP) within a community custody program. State v. Frost, 2003- NMCA-002, 133 N.M. 45, 60 P.3d 492, cert. denied, 133 N.M. 126, 61 P.3d 835.

Judgment suspending firearm enhancement provision of original sentence void, and no credit accrued. — Since a judgment purporting to suspend a firearm enhancement provision of an original sentence is void, where the defendant is not sentenced to serve any time of official confinement, he cannot be said to have served any portion thereof and he cannot be held to have accrued a right to a credit against the enhanced portion of his sentence as later imposed. Double jeopardy does not attach, and a resentencing for the mandatory enhancement provision of Section 31-18-16 NMSA 1978 must stand. State v. Aguilar, 1982-NMCA-116, 98 N.M. 510, 650 P.2d 32, cert. denied, 98 N.M. 478, 649 P.2d 1391.

No credit allowed for void conviction when defendant convicted again. — Defendant discharged on writ of habeas corpus after his sentence was held void was not entitled to credit for time served for void conviction when he was convicted again for same crime. State v. Sedillo, 1968-NMSC-049, 79 N.M. 9, 439 P.2d 226.

Credit given for time served on original invalid conviction. — A prisoner, after being awarded a new trial and having again been convicted of the crime originally charged, is entitled to credit for time he spent in custody from the time of his first conviction. 1969 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 69-114.

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — Computation of incarceration time under work-release or "hardship" sentences, 28 A.L.R.4th 1265.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 8 cases, 1982–2010 · leading case: State v. Rivera, 2004-NMSC-001, 82 P.3d 939.
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State v. Rivera, 2004-NMSC-001, 82 P.3d 939. · cites it 4× “See NMSA 1978, § 31-20-11 (1977) (granting credit for time served for period spent in confinement during appellate review).”
State v. Frost, 2003-NMCA-002, 60 P.3d 492. · cites it 6× “{11} To evaluate the State’s position, we must look to the definition of confinement and how sentences are served.”
State v. Rivera, 2003-NMCA-059, 66 P.3d 344. · cites it 4× “Ramirez was decided before the enactment of NMSA 1978, § 31-20-11 (1977) and the defendant's intention was to get credit against the sentence while he was incarcerated pending appeal.”
Martinez v. State, 796 P.2d 250 (N.M. Ct. App. 1990). · cites it 4× “See NMSA 1978, § 31-20-11 (Repl.Pamp.1987). The dispositive issue in this matter is our jurisdiction.”
Martinez v. State, 796 P.2d 250 (N.M. Ct. App. 1990). · cites it 4× “We hold that (1) petitioner had the right to appeal, because we can construe his petition as a petition for a writ of mandamus; and (2) we must transfer this appeal to the supreme court pursuant to NMSA 1978, Section 34-5-10 (Repl.”
State v. Aguilar, 650 P.2d 32 (N.M. Ct. App. 1982). · cites it 2× “Section 31-20-11, N.M.S.A.1978 (Repl.1981).”
State v. Woods, 2010-NMCA-017, 230 P.3d 836. · cites it 2× “{22} A defendant is also entitled to post-conviction credit for time spent in confinement pending appeal under NMSA 1978, Section 31-20-11 (1977), which provides: A person convicted of a felony in the district court and held in official confinement while awaiting the outcome of…”
State v. Stanfil, No. 29,841 (N.M. Ct. App. Mar. 25, 2010). “See NMSA 1978, § 33-2-38 (1999) (stating that a defendant’s term of 11 incarceration “shall be computed from and include the day on which [the defendant’s] 12 sentence took effect” while noting that this section is not intended “to deprive a 13 prisoner of any reduction of time…”
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.