New Mexico Statutes

N.M. Stat. § 4-41-8 (2026)

[Deputy sheriff; qualifications; character; revocation of

✓ current as of May 2026

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commission.]
   No person who may be under indictment or may be generally known as a notorious
bad character, or as a disturber of the peace shall be eligible to serve as a deputy
sheriff, and sheriffs are hereby prohibited from issuing commissions to such persons as
deputy sheriffs, and it is hereby made the duty of the judge of the district court upon
complaint being made that the provisions of this section have been violated to
investigate the same, and if found to be true, such judge of the district court is hereby
given authority to revoke any such commission given by any sheriff contrary to the
provisions of this section.

History: Laws 1905, ch. 120, § 1; Code 1915, § 1257; C.S. 1929, § 33-4413; 1941
Comp., § 15-3810; 1953 Comp., § 15-40-10.

                                    ANNOTATIONS

Cross references. — For additional qualifications pertaining to deputy sheriffs, see 4-
41-10 NMSA 1978.

For applicability of the Criminal Offender Employment Act to law enforcement agencies,
see 28-2-5 NMSA 1978.

Special deputy. — Sheriff can commission as special deputy sheriff a full-time law
enforcement officer employed by a municipality, the Navajo tribe or the federal
government. The applicants, of course, would have to secure the appointment from the
sheriff of the county in which they wish to act and qualify in accordance with this
section, 29-1-9 and 4-41-10 NMSA 1978, and any other statutes of the state of New
Mexico pertaining to the qualification of deputy sheriffs. 1957 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 57-83.

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 70 Am. Jur. 2d Sheriffs, Police, and
Constables § 10.

80 C.J.S. Sheriffs and Constables § 37.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 4 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 2005–2023 · leading case: Allender v. Scott, 379 F. Supp. 2d 1206 (D.N.M. 2005).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Allender v. Scott, 379 F. Supp. 2d 1206 (D.N.M. 2005). · cites it 4× “17 Pursuing the same theme, the USA points to a New Mexico statute, NMSA § 4-41-8, contending that it would preclude Officer Thomas from serving as a deputy sheriff.”

Loya v. Gutierrez, 2015 NMSC 017 (N.M. 2015). · cites it 2× “See NMSA 1978, § 4-41-5 (1975) 12 (“Deputy sheriffs; appointment and term; merit system”); NMSA 1978, § 4-41-8 13 (1905) (“Deputy sheriff; qualifications; character; revocation of commission”); and 14 NMSA 1978, § 4-41-9 (1855-56) (“Deputy sheriffs; powers and duties”).”

Loya v. Gutierrez, 2015 NMSC 17 (N.M. 2015). · cites it 2× “See NMSA 1978, § 4-41-5 (1975) (“Deputy sheriffs; appointment and term; merit system”); NMSA 1978, § 4-41-8 (1905) (“Deputy sheriff; qualifications; character; revocation of commission”); and NMSA 1978, § 4-41-9 (1855-56) (“Deputy sheriffs; powers and duties”).”

Brown v. State of New Mexico (D.N.M. 2023). “§ 4-41-8 (1978); 42 U.S.C. § 1983 ; 70 A.”

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.