A. A person holding a legislative or statewide office shall file with the secretary of state a financial disclosure statement during the month of January every year that the person holds public office.
B. A candidate for legislative or statewide office who has not already filed a financial disclosure statement with the secretary of state in the same calendar year shall file with the proper filing officer, as defined in the Election Code [Chapter 1 NMSA 1978], a financial disclosure statement at the time of filing a declaration of candidacy. If the proper filing officer is not the secretary of state, the proper filing officer shall forward a copy of the financial disclosure statement to the secretary of state within three days.
C. A state agency head, an official whose appointment to a board or commission is subject to confirmation by the senate, a member of the insurance nominating committee or a member of the state ethics commission shall file with the secretary of state a financial disclosure statement within thirty days of appointment and during the month of January every year thereafter that the person holds public office.
D. The financial disclosure statement shall include for any person identified in Subsection A, B or C of this section and the person's spouse the following information for the prior calendar year:
(1) the full name, mailing address and residence address of each person covered in the disclosure statement, except the address of the spouse need not be disclosed; the name and address of the person's and spouse's employer and the title or position held; and a brief description of the nature of the business or occupation;
(2) all sources of gross income of more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) to each person covered in the disclosure statement, identified by general category descriptions that disclose the nature of the income source, in the following broad categories: law practice or consulting operation or similar business, finance and banking, farming and ranching, medicine and health care, insurance (as a business and not as payment on an insurance claim), oil and gas, transportation, utilities, general stock market holdings, bonds, government, education, manufacturing, real estate, consumer goods sales with a general description of the consumer goods and the category "other", with direction that the income source be similarly described. In describing a law practice, consulting operation or similar business of the person or spouse, the major areas of specialization or income sources shall be described, and if the spouse or a person in the reporting person's or spouse's law firm, consulting operation or similar business is or was during the reporting calendar year or the prior calendar year a registered lobbyist under the Lobbyist Regulation Act [Chapter 2, Article 11 NMSA 1978], the names and addresses of all clients represented for lobbying purposes during those two years shall be disclosed;
(3) a general description of the type of real estate owned in New Mexico, other than a personal residence, and the county where it is located;
(4) all other New Mexico business interests not otherwise listed of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or more in a New Mexico business or entity, including any position held and a general statement of purpose of the business or entity;
(5) all memberships held by the reporting individual and the individual's spouse on boards of for-profit businesses in New Mexico;
(6) all New Mexico professional licenses held;
(7) each state agency that was sold goods or services in excess of five thousand dollars ($5,000) during the prior calendar year by a person covered in the disclosure statement; and
(8) each state agency, other than a court, before which a person covered in the disclosure statement represented or assisted clients in the course of the person's employment during the prior calendar year.
E. A complete financial disclosure statement shall be filed every year. The secretary of state shall deliver to each elected official required to file a financial disclosure statement a copy of any statement the person filed the previous year.
F. The financial disclosure statements filed pursuant to this section are public records open to public inspection during regular office hours and shall be retained by the state for five years from the date of filing.
G. A person who files a financial disclosure statement may file an amended statement at any time to reflect significant changed circumstances that occurred since the last statement was filed.
H. A person who files to be a candidate for a legislative or statewide office who fails or refuses to file a financial disclosure statement required by this section before the final date for qualification of the person as a candidate as provided for in the Election Code shall not be qualified by the proper filing officer as a candidate.
I. For a state agency head, an official whose appointment to a board or commission is subject to confirmation by the senate, a member of the insurance nominating committee or a member of the state ethics commission, the filing of the financial disclosure statement required by this section is a condition of entering upon and continuing in state employment or holding an appointed position.
History: Laws 1993, ch. 46, § 41; 1995, ch. 153, § 24; 1997, ch. 112, § 8; 2015, ch. 11, § 1; 2019, ch. 212, § 214; 2021, ch. 109, § 12.
The 2021 amendment, effective July 1, 2021, included members of the state ethics commission in an existing provision requiring certain state officials to file with the secretary of state a financial disclosure statement within thirty days of appointment and during the month of January every year thereafter that the person holds office, and included members of the state ethics commission in an existing provision that provides that the filing of the financial disclosure statement is a condition of entering upon and continuing in state employment or holding an appointed position; and after each occurrence of "member of the insurance nominating committee", added "or a member of the state ethics commission".
The 2019 amendment, effective April 3, 2019, revised the provisions related to financial disclosures for certain candidates and public officers; in Subsection A, after the subsection designation, deleted "At the time of filing a declaration of candidacy or nominating petition" and added the remainder of the subsection; added new subsection designation "B." and redesignated former Subsections B through H as Subsections C through I, respectively; in Subsection B, after "statewide office", added "who has not already filed a financial disclosure statement with the secretary of state in the same calendar year", after "as defined in", deleted "Section 1-8-25 NMSA 1978" and added "the Election Code", after the next occurrence of "financial disclosure statement", deleted "on a prescribed form. In addition, each year thereafter during the month of January, a legislator and a person holding a statewide office shall file with the proper filing officer a financial disclosure statement" and added "at the time of filing a declaration of candidacy", and after "secretary of state within", deleted "seventy-two hours" and added "three days"; in Subsection D, in the introductory clause, after "Subsection A,", deleted "or" and after "B", added "or C", and deleted former Paragraph D(9); in Subsection E, after "state shall", deleted "mail" and added "deliver to"; and in Subsection H, after "A", added "person who files to be a", after "final date for", deleted "the withdrawal of candidates" and added "qualification of the person as a candidate as", and after "Election Code shall not", deleted "have the candidate's name printed on the election ballot" and added "be qualified by the proper filing officer as a candidate".
The 2015 amendment, effective June 19, 2015, provided for required financial disclosure statements from members of the insurance nominating committee; in Subsection B, after "agency head,", deleted "or" and added "an", after "senate", added "or a member of the insurance nominating committee", and after "thereafter that", deleted "he" and added "the person"; in Subsection C, Paragraph (5), after "individual and", deleted "his" and added "the individual's"; in Subsection C, Paragraph (8), after "course of", deleted "his" and added "the person's"; in Subsection G, deleted "Any" preceding "candidate" and added "A", and after "shall not have", deleted "his" and added "the candidate's"; and in Subsection H, after "agency head", deleted "or", and after "senate", added "or a member of the insurance nominating committee".
The 1997 amendment, effective June 20, 1997, in the second sentence of Subsection D, changed "mail each person" to "mail each elected official".
The 1995 amendment, effective June 1, 1995, in Subsection A, inserted "or nominating petition" and "on a prescribed form" in the first sentence, deleted the language beginning with "or a subsequent" and ending with "this section" in the second sentence, and substituted "within seventy-two hours" for "promptly" in the last sentence; at the end of Subsection B, added "that he holds public office"; in Subsection C(2), inserted "law practice or consulting operation or similar business" following "categories:"; rewrote Subsection D; in Subsection F, substituted "statement" for "report"; in Subsection G, inserted "provided for in the Election Code"; and made stylistic changes throughout the section.
"State agency" and "state agency head" construed. — Under the Financial Disclosure Act, a "state agency" is a state entity that has the legally authorized powers to alter the rights, duties, or privileges of others and that receives public funding, and a "state agency head" is the person or persons who are ultimately responsible for exercising the powers of a state agency's official acts or for expending the agency's appropriated funds. 2021 Op. Ethics Comm'n No. 2021-10.
A state employee who also receives a monthly salary from a political campaign committee does not necessarily violate state ethics laws. — Although the Gift Act, 10-16B-1 to 10-16B-4 NMSA 1978, the Governmental Conduct Act, 10-16-1 to 10-16-18 NMSA 1978, the Financial Disclosure Act, 10-16A-1 to 10-16A-8 NMSA 1978, the Campaign Reporting Act, 1-19-25 to 1-19-36 NMSA 1978, and the State Ethics Commission Act, 10-16G-1 to 10-16G-16 NMSA 1978, impose certain duties on state employees and regulate certain state employees' conduct, the limited set of facts presented in this request, that a state employee, while employed and performing regular public duties, is also receiving a monthly salary from a political campaign committee or political organization, do not establish a violation of any of the foregoing statutes. 2020 Op. Ethics Comm'n No. 2020-01.
Structure 2021 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 10 - Public Officers and Employees
Article 16A - Financial Disclosures
Section 10-16A-1 - Short title; Financial Disclosure Act.
Section 10-16A-2 - Definitions.
Section 10-16A-5 - Education and voluntary compliance.
Section 10-16A-6 - Investigations; fines; enforcement.
Section 10-16A-7 - Criminal penalties.