N.M. Stat. § 32A-2-29 (2026)

A. The municipal, magistrate or metropolitan court shall have original exclusive
jurisdiction over all Motor Vehicle Code [Chapter 66, Articles 1 through 8 NMSA 1978]
or municipal traffic code violations when the person alleged to have committed the
violation is a child, with the exception of those violations contained in Paragraph (1) of
Subsection A of Section 32A-2-3 NMSA 1978 and all traffic offenses alleged to have
been committed by the child arising out of the same occurrence pursuant to Subsection
B of this section.

   B. If the court acquires jurisdiction over a child pursuant to Section 32A-2-3 NMSA
1978, it shall have exclusive jurisdiction over all traffic offenses alleged to have been
committed by the child arising out of the same occurrence.

   C. Disposition as to any delinquent offenses shall be pursuant to the Delinquency
Act.

    D. Disposition as to a Motor Vehicle Code or municipal traffic code violation in which
jurisdiction is acquired as set forth in Subsection B of this section shall be pursuant to
the respective Motor Vehicle Code or municipal traffic code in the children's court's
discretion and to the extent that it neither conflicts with nor is inconsistent with the
dispositional provisions of the Children's Code.

    E. All traffic offenses that the child is found to have committed by the municipal,
magistrate or metropolitan court or for which the child is adjudicated delinquent by the
children's court shall be subject to the reporting requirements and the suspension and
revocation provisions of the Motor Vehicle Code and shall not be subject to the
confidentiality provisions of the Delinquency Act.

   F. Only the children's court may incarcerate a child who has been found guilty of
any Motor Vehicle Code or municipal traffic code violations.

History: 1978 Comp., § 32A-2-29, enacted by Laws 1993, ch. 77, § 58; 2003, ch. 225,
§ 14; 2009, ch. 239, § 27.

                                      ANNOTATIONS

The 2009 amendment, effective July 1, 2009, in Subsection B, after "child pursuant to",
deleted "any of those Motor Vehicle Code violations contained in Paragraph (1) of
Subsection A of", and before "jurisdiction", added "exclusive"; and added Subsections C
and D.

Applicability. — Laws 2009, ch. 239, § 71, provided that the provisions of this act apply
to all children who, on July 1, 2009, are on release or are otherwise eligible to be placed
on release as if the Juvenile Public Safety Advisory Board Act had been in effect at the
time they were placed on release or became eligible to be released.

The 2003 amendment, effective July 1, 2003, substituted "Section 32A-2-3" for
"Section 32-2-3" following "Subsection A of" in Subsections A and B; deleted
"children's" near the beginning of Subsection B; in Subsection D, substituted "Only the
children's court" for "No tribunal" at the beginning and deleted "without first securing the
approval of the children's court" at the end.

Decisions under prior law. — In light of the similarity of the provisions, annotations
decided under former Section 32-1-48 NMSA 1978 have been included in the
annotations to this section.

Failure of child-defendant to appear. — When a court has jurisdiction over violations
of the Motor Vehicle Code by a child, that court also has authority to issue an arrest
warrant pursuant to court rule when the child-defendant fails to appear as ordered. 1989
Op. Att'y Gen. No. 89-14.

Law reviews. — For comment, "The Freedom of the Press vs. The Confidentiality
Provisions in the New Mexico Children's Code," see 4 N.M.L. Rev. 119 (1973).