N.M. Stat. § 34-6-23 (2026)

District judges and district court employees shall be allowed per diem and shall be
reimbursed for their necessary travel expenses incurred while absent from their
principal offices upon official business, at the same rates and under the same conditions
as prescribe by law or regulation of the state board of finance for other employees of the
state. These expenses shall be paid from the funds of the district court of the judicial
district for which the business is transacted.

History: 1953 Comp., § 16-3-10, enacted by Laws 1968, ch. 69, § 24.

                                      ANNOTATIONS

Cross references. — For principal office of judge being established at county seat by
rule, see 34-6-17 NMSA 1978.

For Per Diem and Mileage Act, see 10-8-1 NMSA 1978.

Repeals and reenactments. — Laws 1968, ch. 69, § 69, repealed former 16-3-10,
1953 Comp., relating to process and expenditures in the fifth judicial district.
Judge's and reporter's expenses must be paid from court funds. — Payment of the
expenses incurred by the district judge and court reporter from the funds of the district
court is mandatory. Read v. Western Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co., 1977-NMCA-039, 90
N.M. 369, 563 P.2d 1162.

Per diem and mileage may not be taxed as costs. — Costs are a creature of statute
and may not be imposed in the absence of clear legislative authorization, and thus since
no statute or rule of court imposes upon litigants in a civil case the burden of paying per
diem and travel expenses incurred by a district judge and court reporter, such expenses
could not be properly taxed as costs when plaintiff requested a continuance pending an
appeal of one defendant's summary judgment. Read v. Western Farm Bureau Mut. Ins.
Co., 1977-NMCA-039, 90 N.M. 369, 563 P.2d 1162.

Employees not entitled to additional compensation beyond expenses. — A district
court reporter and a juvenile probation officer, full-time employees of the district court,
are not entitled to additional compensation for services undertaken in magistrate court
during regular working hours, aside from per diem and travel expenses authorized in
this section. 1969 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 69-122.

Demanding illegal fees. — An individual illegally receiving compensation both as a full-
time district court reporter and as a deputy court clerk over the same period of time may
be guilty of a petty misdemeanor under 30-23-1 NMSA 1978, and liable for restitution
under 30-23-7 NMSA 1978. 1964 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 64-152.

Absence from principal office necessary for per diem or mileage. — This section
establishes, as a condition precedent to the payment of either per diem or mileage to
the district judge, that the district judge must be absent from the principal office. The
principal office of the district judge is the county seat of one of the counties in that
justice's judicial district. 1975 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 75-12.

For per diem, absence from duty post also necessary. — Per diem may be collected
by an employee only when away from home and away from designated post of duty on
official business. 1973 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 73-27.

Sole judge must select his duty station. — Where the sole district judge in a multi-
county judicial district resides in the county seat of one of the counties of the district and
approximately 60 to 80% of the judge's time as a district judge must be spent at the
county seat of the other county, with respect to per diem the judge must designate one
city as duty station. If judge must choose a courthouse where a substantial portion of
the duties are performed as the duty station, but a majority of that duty is not required at
a courthouse before the judge may choose it to be the duty station. 1973 Op. Att'y Gen.
No. 73-27.

Necessary travel away from home reimbursable. — If the judge selects a county
seat other than county of residence as principal office, when the judge is traveling to
and from the city which is away from home, if the travel is necessary to the discharge of
official duties, then the judge should be paid the mileage rate provided in the Per Diem
and Mileage Act. 1973 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 73-27.

Judge entitled to mileage traveling between principal office and office at
residence. — A district judge is entitled to mileage when traveling from the county seat
to an additional office in the city of residence in order to conduct official business in the
additional office and when the judge is present at the additional office on official
business and then travels from the additional office to the county seat. 1975 Op. Att'y
Gen. No. 75-12.

Per diem. — A judge cannot be eligible for per diem for travel between the city of
residence and the county seat which is the principal office, because such trips will not
take the judge away from home and principal office at the same time. 1975 Op. Att'y
Gen. No. 75-12.