New Mexico Statutes
Article 1 - General Provisions
Section 49-1-11 - Sale or mortgage of common lands; restrictions.

A. A conveyance of a portion or of all of the common lands of a land grant-merced shall be effective only if:
(1) the conveyance is made in accordance with the land grant-merced bylaws and this section;
(2) the conveyance is made for the benefit of the land grant-merced;
(3) the board of trustees of the land grant-merced has approved a resolution to make the conveyance at a regular meeting held in accordance with Sections 49-1-9 and 49-1-12 NMSA 1978;
(4) the board of trustees has petitioned for an order affirming the board's resolution from the district court of the district in which the property is located; and
(5) the district court has issued an order affirming the board of trustees' resolution pursuant to Subsection E of this section.
B. An heir may file a written protest of a conveyance with the board of trustees of the land grant-merced and the district court within thirty days of the date that the resolution approving the conveyance is passed by the board. The board shall address and make a decision on the protest at a special meeting held in accordance with Sections 49-1-9 and 49-1-12 NMSA 1978 within thirty days of receiving the protest.
C. An heir dissatisfied with a decision of the board of trustees may appeal to the district court of the county in which property is located in the following manner:
(1) appeals to the district court shall be taken by serving a notice of appeal upon the board within thirty days of the decision. If an appeal is not timely taken, the action of the board is conclusive;
(2) the notice of appeal may be served in the same manner as a summons in civil actions brought before the district court or by publication in a newspaper printed in the county in which the property is located, once per week for four consecutive weeks. The last publication shall be at least twenty days prior to the date the appeal may be heard. Proof of service of the notice of appeal shall be made in the same manner as in actions brought in the district court and shall be filed in the district court within thirty days after service is complete. At the time of filing the proof of service and upon payment by the appellant of the civil docket fee, the clerk of the district court shall docket the appeal;
(3) costs shall be taxed in the same manner as in cases brought in the district court and bond for costs may be required upon proper application; and
(4) the proceeding upon appeal shall be de novo as cases originally docketed in the district court. Evidence taken in a hearing before the board may be considered as original evidence subject to legal objection, the same as if the evidence was originally offered in the district court. The court shall allow all amendments that may be necessary in furtherance of justice and may submit any question of fact to a jury or to one or more referees at its discretion.
D. If the district court finds that all requirements of this section have been satisfied and that all protests and appeals are concluded, the court shall issue its order affirming the board of trustees' resolution conveying the property.
E. After the district court issues its order, the board of trustees shall execute the necessary documents in the name and under the seal of the land grant-merced, and all heirs shall be bound by the board's conveyance.
History: Laws 1907, ch. 42, § 11; 1913, ch. 58, § 2; Code 1915, § 809; C.S. 1929, § 29-111; 1941 Comp., § 9-111; Laws 1951, ch. 152, § 1; 1953 Comp., § 8-1-11; 2004, ch. 124, § 12.
Cross references. — For sale of community lands by corporation, see 49-2-7 NMSA 1978 et seq.
For disposal of lots in townsites, see 19-4-7 NMSA 1978.
For sale or lease of state lands, see 19-7-1 NMSA 1978 et seq.
The 2004 amendment, effective July 1, 2004, deleted the former section and replaced it with new Subsections A to E.
I. GENERAL CONSIDERATION.
Section mandatory. — The words of this section suggest that the legislature intended this provision to be mandatory. Bibo v. Town of Cubero Land Grant, 1958-NMSC-137, 65 N.M. 103, 332 P.2d 1020.
Persons dealing with quasi-municipal corporations, as well as municipal corporations, are required, at their peril, to ascertain whether statutory requirements relating to the subject of the transaction have been complied with. Bibo v. Town of Cubero Land Grant, 1958-NMSC-137, 65 N.M. 103, 332 P.2d 1020.
Grant lands which are subject to taxation cannot be sold without approval of the board except in proceedings to enforce the payment of taxes. Cebolleta Land Grant ex rel. Bd. of Trustees v. Romero, 1982-NMSC-043, 98 N.M. 1, 644 P.2d 515.
Noncomplying lease void. — A written lease of a portion of the common lands of the grant for a period of five years with an option to renew for five more years was void in the absence of compliance with the provisions of this section. Bibo v. Town of Cubero Land Grant, 1958-NMSC-137, 65 N.M. 103, 332 P.2d 1020.
II. DISTRICT COURT APPROVAL.
Purpose of 1913 amendment. — The history of this section reveals that the 1913 amendment to the original provision substituted the requirement of the approval of the district court for that of the approval of a majority of the qualified voters of such grant, the purpose no doubt being for the protection of the owners of common interests in the land grant against fraud, collusion, mistake or inequities, as well as for the convenience of the board in carrying on business for the grant owners. Bibo v. Town of Cubero Land Grant, 1958-NMSC-137, 65 N.M. 103, 332 P.2d 1020.
District court's duties. — This section authorizes the district judge to make certain that a board of trustees complies with the formalities of issuance of a lease it has authorized and to require the board to apply its standards in a uniform and nondiscriminatory manner. Maestas v. Board of Trustees, 1985-NMSC-068, 103 N.M. 77, 703 P.2d 174.
Approval of district court is essential to the validity of a transaction coming within this provision just as the approval of a majority of the qualified voters would have been under the old provision. Bibo v. Town of Cubero Land Grant, 1958-NMSC-137, 65 N.M. 103, 332 P.2d 1020.
Approval contemplated in section does not extend to anything more than the final act of the trustees, and in no way to the manner in which they arrived there. There is no indication in the statute that the district judge is to do anything more than to see that the formalities of issuance are observed. The requirement for approval does not extend to an approval of the matters and considerations leading up to the execution of the lease by the trustees, nor to standards, nor to rental. The action of the district court is on leases already issued, and not as to the rejection of applications to lease. Mondragon v. Tenorio, 554 F.2d 423 (10th Cir.), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 905, 98 S. Ct. 305, 54 L. Ed. 2d 193 (1977).
Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 63A Am. Jur. 2d Public Lands §§ 113 to 121.
73A C.J.S. Public Lands § 178.