N.M. Stat. § 7-38-4 (2026)

A. Except as specifically authorized in this section or as otherwise provided by law,
it is unlawful for the secretary, any employee or any former employee of the department
to reveal to any person other than the secretary, an employee of the department, a
county assessor or an employee of a county assessor any information gained during his
employment about a specific property or a property taxpayer gained as a result of a
report or information furnished the department or a county assessor by a taxpayer or as
a result of an examination of property or records of a taxpayer. Except as specifically
authorized in this section or as otherwise provided by law, it is unlawful for any county
assessor or any employee or former employee of a county assessor to reveal to any
person other than county assessors or their employees or the secretary or an employee
of the department any information furnished by the department about a specific property
or property owner or any other information gained during that person's employment
about a specific property or a property taxpayer gained as a result of a report or
information furnished the department or a county assessor by a taxpayer or as a result
of an examination of property or records of a taxpayer. Information described in this
subsection may be released:

      (1)     that is limited to the information contained in those valuation records that
are public records and the identity of the owner or person in possession of the property;

       (2)    to an authorized representative of another state; provided that the
receiving state has entered into a written agreement with the department to use the
information for tax purposes only;
       (3)   to a state district or appellate court or a federal court or county valuation
protests board:

            (a) in response to an order made in an action relating to taxation in which the
state or a governmental unit is a party and in which the information is material to the
inquiry; or

           (b) in any action in which the department or a county is attempting to enforce
the provisions of the Property Tax Code or to collect a property tax or in any matter in
which the taxpayer has put the taxpayer's own property valuation or liability for taxes at
issue;

      (4)    to the property owner or a representative authorized in writing by the
owner to obtain the information;

        (5)     if used for statistical purposes in a way that the information revealed is not
identified or identifiable as applicable to any property owner or person in possession of
the property;

      (6)    to a representative of the secretary of the treasury or the secretary's
delegate pursuant to the terms of a reciprocal agreement entered into with the federal
government for exchange of such information; or

       (7)     to the multistate tax commission or its authorized representative; provided
that the information is used for tax purposes only and is disclosed by the multistate tax
commission only to states which have met the requirements of Paragraph (2) of this
subsection.

    B. The secretary, any employee or any former employee of the department or any
other person subject to the provisions of this section who willfully releases information in
violation of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not more than one
thousand dollars ($1,000) or imprisoned for a definite term of less than one year or both.
Any person convicted of a violation of this section shall not be employed by the state for
a period of five years after the date of conviction.

History: 1953 Comp., § 72-31-4, enacted by Laws 1973, ch. 258, § 44; 1977, ch. 249, §
61; 1982, ch. 28, § 7; 1986, ch. 20, § 113; 1990, ch. 22, § 2; 1991, ch. 166, § 7.

                                      ANNOTATIONS

The 1991 amendment, effective June 14, 1991, in Subsection A, rewrote the second
sentence which read "Except as specifically authorized in this section or as otherwise
provided by law, it is unlawful for county assessors and their employees and former
employees to reveal to any person other than county assessors or their employees any
information furnished by the department about a specific property or property owner"
and, in Paragraph (1), inserted "that are public records" and made a minor stylistic
change.

The 1990 amendment, effective May 16, 1990, in Paragraph (3) of Subsection A,
added the Subparagraph designation "(a)" and added Subparagraph (b).

Nondisclosure held proper. — Board did not err in failing to sanction assessor who
refused to comply with taxpayers' discovery request, where the assessor showed that
such discovery might have compromised confidential data about other property owners,
and where it did not appear that taxpayers' protest proceedings were prejudiced by
assessor's refusal to grant them access to the information. Hannahs v. Anderson, 1998-
NMCA-152, 126 N.M. 1, 966 P.2d 168, cert. denied, 126 N.M. 532, 972 P.2d 351.

Remedy for denial of access to assessment records. — Taxpayers who believed
that assessor wrongfully denied them access to public records should have pursued the
remedies provided in this section. Hannahs v. Anderson, 1998-NMCA-152, 126 N.M. 1,
966 P.2d 168, cert. denied, 126 N.M. 532, 972 P.2d 351.