Constitution of New Mexico (2025 publisher edition) — ARTICLE XX

Publisher edition notice: This collection preserves the complete Secretary of State's 2025 compilation, identifying amendments through 2024, including the publisher's source notes and annotations. Later amendments have not been independently verified.

ARTICLE XX

ARTICLE XX Miscellaneous Sec. 1. Oath of officer. 2. Tenure of office. 3. Date terms of office begin. 4. Vacancies in offices of district attorney or county commissioner. 5. Interim appointments. 6. Date of general elections. 7. Canvass of returns for officers elected by more than one county. 8. First national election. 9. State officers limited to salaries.

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180© 2025 State of New Mexico. New Mexico Compilation Commission. All rights reserved. Article XX – Miscellaneous Sec. 10. Child labor. 11. Women as public officers. 12. Publication of laws in English and Spanish. 13. Sacramental wines. 14. Public officers barred from using railroad passes. 15. Penitentiary to be reformatory and indus- trial school; labor by inmates. 16. Railroad's liability to employees. 18. Leasing of convict labor prohibited. 19. Eight- hour day in public employment. 20. Waiver of indictment; proceedings on in- formation. 21. Pollution control. 22. Public employees and educational retire- ment systems trust funds; expenditures and encumbrances prohibited; adminis- tration; vesting of property rights. Section 1. [Oath of officer.] Every person elected or appointed to any office shall, before entering upon his duties, take and subscribe to an oath or affirmation that he will support the constitution of the United States and the constitution and laws of this state, and that he will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of his office to the best of his ability.

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181© 2025 State of New Mexico. New Mexico Compilation Commission. All rights reserved. Article XX – Miscellaneous Sec. 2. [Tenure of office.] Every officer, unless removed, shall hold his office until his successor has duly qual- ified. Sec. 3. [Date terms of office begin.] A. The term of office of every state, county or district officer, except those elected to fill vacancies, shall commence on the first day of January next after the offi- cer's election. B. A state, county or district officer elected to fill a vacancy in office shall take office on the first day of January next after the officer's election to serve the remainder of the unexpired term for that office. C. The term of a state, county or dis- trict officer may be adjusted by law to align or stagger the election of officers for a particular state, county or district office throughout the state. Any such adjustment shall require a legislative finding that the adjustment is to provide for consistency in the timing of elections for that office or to balance the number of offices appearing on the ballot. The term of any officer affected by such adjustment shall not be shortened

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182© 2025 State of New Mexico. New Mexico Compilation Commission. All rights reserved. Article XX – Miscellaneous or extended by more than two years. An ex- tended term shall be counted as one term for the purposes of any limitation on the num- ber of terms an officer may serve. A short- ened term shall not be counted as a term and shall be disregarded for the purposes of any limitation on the number of terms an officer may serve. No statewide elective office may be adjusted pursuant to this subsection. (As amended November 3, 2020.) Sec. 4. [Vacancies in offices of district attorney or county commissioner.] If a vacancy occurs in the office of dis- trict attorney or county commissioner, the governor shall fill such vacancy by appoint- ment, and such appointee shall hold such office until the next general election. His successor shall be chosen at such election and shall hold his office until the expiration of the original term. (As amended Novem- ber 8, 1988.) Sec. 5. [Interim appointments.] If, while the senate is not in session, a vacancy occur in any office the incumbent of which was appointed by the governor by

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183© 2025 State of New Mexico. New Mexico Compilation Commission. All rights reserved. Article XX – Miscellaneous and with the advice and consent of the sen- ate, the governor shall appoint some qual- ified person to fill the same until the next session of the senate; and shall then appoint by and with the advice and consent of the senate some qualified person to fill said of- fice for the period of the unexpired term. Sec. 6. [Date of general elections.] General elections shall be held in the state on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November in each even-numbered year. Sec. 7. [Canvass of returns for officers elected by more than one county.] The returns of all elections for officers who are chosen by the electors of more than one county shall be canvassed by the county canvassing board of each county as to the vote within their respective counties. Said board shall immediately certify the num- ber of votes received by each candidate for such office within such county, to the state canvassing board herein established, which shall canvass and declare the result of the election.

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184© 2025 State of New Mexico. New Mexico Compilation Commission. All rights reserved. Article XX – Miscellaneous Sec. 8. [First national election.] In the event that New Mexico is admitted into the union as a state prior to the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November in the year nineteen hundred and twelve, and if no provision has been made by the state legislature therefor, an election shall be held in the state on the said Tuesday next after the first Monday in November, nine- teen hundred and twelve, for the election of presidential electors; and such election shall be held as herein provided for the election upon the ratification of this constitution, and the returns thereof made to, and canvassed and certified by, the state canvassing board as herein provided in case of the election of state officers. Sec. 9. [State officers limited to salaries.] No officer of the state who receives a sal- ary, shall accept or receive to his own use any compensation, fees, allowance or emol- uments for or on account of his office, in any form whatever, except the salary pro- vided by law.

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185© 2025 State of New Mexico. New Mexico Compilation Commission. All rights reserved. Article XX – Miscellaneous Sec. 10. [Child labor.] The legislature shall enact suitable laws for the regulation of the employment of children. Sec. 11. [Women as public officers.] Women may hold the office of notary public and such other appointive offices as may be provided by law. Sec. 12. [Publication of laws in English and Spanish.] For the first twenty years after this con- stitution goes into effect all laws passed by the legislature shall be published in both the English and Spanish languages and there- after such publication shall be made as the legislature may provide. Sec. 13. [Sacramental wines.] The use of wines solely for sacramen- tal purposes under church authority at any place within the state shall never be prohib- ited.

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186© 2025 State of New Mexico. New Mexico Compilation Commission. All rights reserved. Article XX – Miscellaneous Sec. 14. [Public officers barred from using railroad passes.] It shall not be lawful for the governor, any member of the state board of equalization, any member of the corporation commission [public regulation commission], any judge of the supreme or district court, any district attorney, any county commissioner or any county assessor, during his term of office to accept, hold or use any free pass; or pur- chase, receive or accept transportation over any railroad within this state for himself or his family upon terms not open to the gen- eral public; and any person violating the provisions hereof shall, upon conviction in a court of a competent jurisdiction, be pun- ished as provided in Sections Thirty-Seven and Forty of the article on Legislative De- partment in this constitution. Sec. 15. [Penitentiary to be reformatory and industrial school; labor by inmates.] The penitentiary is a reformatory and an industrial school, and all persons confined therein shall, so far as consistent with disci- pline and the public interest, be employed in some beneficial industry; and where a con-

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187© 2025 State of New Mexico. New Mexico Compilation Commission. All rights reserved. Article XX – Miscellaneous vict has a dependent family, his net earnings shall be paid to said family if necessary for their support. Sec. 16. [Railroad's liability to employees.] Every person, receiver or corporation owning or operating a railroad within this state shall be liable in damages for injury to, or the death of, any person in its employ, resulting from the negligence, in whole or in part, of said owner or operator, or of any of the officers, agents or employees thereof, or by reason of any defect or insufficiency, due to its negligence, in whole or in part, in its cars, engines, appliances, machinery, track, roadbed, works or other equipment. An action for negligently causing the death of an employee as above provided shall be maintained by the executor or administrator for the benefit of the em- ployee's surviving widow or husband and children; or if none, then his parents; or if none, then the next of kin dependent upon said deceased. The amount recovered may be distributed as provided by law. Any con- tract or agreement made in advance of such injury with any employee waiving or limit-

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188© 2025 State of New Mexico. New Mexico Compilation Commission. All rights reserved. Article XX – Miscellaneous ing any right to recover such damages shall be void. This provision shall not be construed to affect the provisions of Section Two of Ar- ticle Twenty- Two of this constitution, being the article upon Schedule. Sec. 18. [Leasing of convict labor prohibited.] The leasing of convict labor by the state is hereby prohibited. Sec. 19. [Eight-hour day in public employment.] Eight hours shall constitute a day's work in all cases of employment by and on behalf of the state or any county or municipality thereof. Sec. 20. [Waiver of indictment; proceedings on information.] Any person held by a committing mag- istrate to await the action of the grand jury on a charge of felony or other infamous crime, may in open court with the consent of the court and the district attorney, to be entered upon the record, waive indictment

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189© 2025 State of New Mexico. New Mexico Compilation Commission. All rights reserved. Article XX – Miscellaneous and plead to an information in the form of an indictment filed by the district attorney, and further proceedings shall then be had upon said information with like force and effect as though it were an indictment duly returned by the grand jury. Sec. 21. [Pollution control.] The protection of the state's beautiful and healthful environment is hereby declared to be of fundamental importance to the pub- lic interest, health, safety and the general welfare. The legislature shall provide for control of pollution and control of despoil- ment of the air, water and other natural re- sources of this state, consistent with the use and development of these resources for the maximum benefit of the people. (As added November 2, 1971.) Sec. 22. [Public employees and educational retirement systems trust funds; expenditures and encumbrances prohibited; administration; vesting of property rights.] A. All funds, assets, proceeds, income, contributions, gifts and payments from any source whatsoever paid into or held by a

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190© 2025 State of New Mexico. New Mexico Compilation Commission. All rights reserved. Article XX – Miscellaneous public employees retirement system or an educational retirement system created by the laws of this state shall be held by each respective system in a trust fund to be ad- ministered and invested by each respective system for the sole and exclusive benefit of the members, retirees and other beneficiaries of that system. Expenditures from a system trust fund shall only be made for the bene- fit of the trust beneficiaries and for expenses of administering the system. A system trust fund shall never be used, diverted, loaned, assigned, pledged, invested, encumbered or appropriated for any other purpose. To the extent consistent with the provisions of this section, each trust fund shall be invested and the systems administered as provided by law. B. The retirement board of the public employees retirement system and the board of the educational retirement system shall be the trustees for their respective systems and have the sole and exclusive fiduciary duty and responsibility for administration and investment of the trust fund held by their respective systems. C. A retirement board shall have the sole and exclusive power and authority to adopt actuarial assumptions for its system based upon the recommendations made by

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191© 2025 State of New Mexico. New Mexico Compilation Commission. All rights reserved. Article XXI – Compact with the United States an independent actuary with whom it con- tracts. The legislature shall not enact any law that increases the benefits paid by the system in any manner or changes the fund- ing formula for a retirement plan unless ad- equate funding is provided. D. Upon meeting the minimum service requirements of an applicable retirement plan created by law for employees of the state or any of its political subdivisions or institutions, a member of a plan shall acquire a vested property right with due process protections under the applicable provisions of the New Mexico and United States constitutions. E. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit modifications to re- tirement plans that enhance or preserve the actuarial soundness of an affected trust fund or individual retirement plan. (As added November 3, 1998.)