A. A victim of domestic abuse may petition the court under the Family Violence
Protection Act for an order of protection.
B. The petition shall be made under oath or shall be accompanied by a sworn
affidavit setting out specific facts showing the alleged domestic abuse.
C. The petition shall state whether any other domestic action is pending between
the petitioner and the respondent.
D. If any other domestic action is pending between the petitioner and the
respondent, the parties shall not be compelled to mediate any aspect of the case arising
from the Family Violence Protection Act unless the court finds that appropriate
safeguards exist to protect each of the parties and that both parties can fairly mediate
with such safeguards.
E. An action brought under the Family Violence Protection Act is independent of any
proceeding for annulment, separation or divorce between the parties.
F. Remedies granted pursuant to the Family Violence Protection Act are in addition
to and shall not limit other civil or criminal remedies available to the parties.
G. Standard simplified petition forms with instructions for completion shall be
available to all parties. Law enforcement agencies shall keep such forms and make
them available upon request to alleged victims of domestic abuse.
History: Laws 1987, ch. 286, § 3; 1993, ch. 109, § 2; 2008, ch. 40, § 3.
ANNOTATIONS
The 2008 amendment, effective July 1, 2008, deleted former Subsection G that
authorized the court to permit a petitioner to proceed as an indigent.
The 1993 amendment, effective June 18, 1993, in Subsection C, deleted the following
language which formerly appeared at the beginning of the subsection: "No petitioner is
required to file for annulment, separation or divorce as a prerequisite to obtaining an
order of protection. However, the", inserted "The" at the beginning of the subsection,
and deleted the former last sentence which read "If an action is pending, the petition
shall be filed in the court which has jurisdiction over the pending action"; added
Subsections D, E, and F and redesignated the remaining subsections accordingly; and
substituted "respondent" for "alleged perpetrator of the domestic abuse" in the second
sentence of Subsection G.
Availability of simple forms for victims. — Because the legislature has recognized
that many people who are the victims of domestic violence are unable to obtain counsel,
it has mandated that simplified forms be available for such people to use. Lujan v.
Casados-Lujan, 2004-NMCA-036, 135 N.M. 285, 87 P.3d 1067, cert. denied, 2004-
NMCERT-003 135 N.M. 319, 88 P.3d 261.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
16
cases (
5 in the last 5 years), 1997–2025 · leading case:
Nguyen v. Bui, 536 P.3d 482 (N.M. 2023).
Nguyen v. Bui, 536 P.3d 482 (N.M. 2023).
· cites it 2× “Section 40-13-3(A). Domestic abuse, as relevant to this case, is “stalking or sexual assault whether committed by a household member or not.”
Best v. Marino, 2017-NMCA-073.
· cites it 2× “Section 40-13-3(A) confers jurisdiction to the district court in the judicial district in which an alleged victim of domestic abuse lives.”
State v. Ramos, 2013-NMSC-031, 305 P.3d 921.
· cites it 2× “Once a party has violated an order of protection, Section 40-13-6(D) states that “[a] peace officer shall arrest without a warrant and take into custody a restrained party whom the peace officer has probable cause to believe has violated an order of protection that is issued…”
Lujan ex rel. Lujan v. Casados-Lujan, 2004-NMCA-036, 87 P.3d 1067.
· cites it 2× “NMSA 1978, § 40-13-3 (1993). Our Supreme Court has agreed with the legislature and has approved a whole set of simplified forms to be used for these purposes.”
State v. McGee, 2004-NMCA-014, 84 P.3d 690.
· cites it 2× “Section 40-13-3(A). Third, upon finding that “domestic abuse” has occurred, the court must enter an order of protection ordering the respondent to refrain from abusing the petitioner, and “[t]he court shall specifically describe the acts the court has ordered the respondent to…”
Lucero v. Pino, 1997-NMCA-089, 946 P.2d 232.
“See §§ 40-13-3 and -5. Among other possible actions a court can take when a petition is filed under the Protection Act, the court may enter a temporary award of child custody.”
State v. Lyster (N.M. Ct. App. 2020).
· cites it 3× “]” (alteration, emphasis, internal quotation marks, and citation omitted)); Best, 2017-NMCA-073, ¶ 21 (providing that “Section 40-13-3(A) confers jurisdiction to the district court in the judicial district in which an alleged victim of domestic abuse lives”); see also §§…”
Best v. Marino, No. 34,680 (N.M. Ct. App. June 29, 2017).
· cites it 2× “Section 40-13-3(A) confers jurisdiction to the district court in 5 the judicial district in which an alleged victim of domestic abuse lives.”
Nguyen v. Bui (N.M. 2023).
· cites it 2× “Section 40-13-3(A). Domestic abuse, 15 as relevant to this case, is “stalking or sexual assault whether committed by a 16 household member or not.”
State v. Miranda-Aguirre (N.M. Ct. App. 2021).
· cites it 2× “” NMSA 1978, § 40-13-3(B) (2008). Both the petition and affidavit necessarily must identify the person against whom a protection order is sought.”
Ryan v. Garrison, No. A-1-CA-40792 (N.M. Ct. App. July 23, 2024).
· cites it 2× “The district court held that Section 40-13-3(A), (B), (C), (E), and (F), when read together, “limit the contents of the petition to ‘facts showing the alleged domestic abuse’” and “clearly separate a FVPA action from any other judicial proceeding and clearly state that remedies…”
Regan v. Lowrey, No. A-1-CA-42284 (N.M. Ct. App. Aug. 6, 2025).
· cites it 2× “” Section 40-13-3(B). That requirement was satisfied here.”
N.M. Stat. § 40-13-3(A): 7 cases
Nguyen v. Bui, 536 P.3d 482 (N.M. 2023).
“Section 40-13-3(A). Domestic abuse, as relevant to this case, is “stalking or sexual assault whether committed by a household member or not.”
Best v. Marino, 2017-NMCA-073.
“Section 40-13-3(A) confers jurisdiction to the district court in the judicial district in which an alleged victim of domestic abuse lives.”
State v. McGee, 2004-NMCA-014, 84 P.3d 690.
“Section 40-13-3(A). Third, upon finding that “domestic abuse” has occurred, the court must enter an order of protection ordering the respondent to refrain from abusing the petitioner, and “[t]he court shall specifically describe the acts the court has ordered the respondent to…”
State v. Lyster (N.M. Ct. App. 2020).
“]” (alteration, emphasis, internal quotation marks, and citation omitted)); Best, 2017-NMCA-073, ¶ 21 (providing that “Section 40-13-3(A) confers jurisdiction to the district court in the judicial district in which an alleged victim of domestic abuse lives”); see also §§…”
Best v. Marino, No. 34,680 (N.M. Ct. App. June 29, 2017).
“Section 40-13-3(A) confers jurisdiction to the district court in 5 the judicial district in which an alleged victim of domestic abuse lives.”
N.M. Stat. § 40-13-3(B): 2 cases
State v. Miranda-Aguirre (N.M. Ct. App. 2021).
“” NMSA 1978, § 40-13-3(B) (2008). Both the petition and affidavit necessarily must identify the person against whom a protection order is sought.”
Regan v. Lowrey, No. A-1-CA-42284 (N.M. Ct. App. Aug. 6, 2025).
“” Section 40-13-3(B). That requirement was satisfied here.”
N.M. Stat. § 40-13-3(G): 1 case
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.