New Mexico Statutes
Article 1 - Motor Transportation
Section 65-1-11 - Ports of entry.

The department of transportation shall designate the main highways upon which motor carriers shall enter and leave the state and shall designate stations or establish places, either temporary or permanent, where inspection, registration and permit services shall be maintained and shall provide the necessary right of way, approach roads, ramps and other road facilities required for ports of entry.
History: 1953 Comp., § 64-34-13, enacted by Laws 1967, ch. 97, § 13; 1977, ch. 250, § 109; 1987, ch. 268, § 15; 1992, ch. 106, § 5; 2021, ch. 59, § 6.
Cross references. — For vehicles entering or leaving state, to stop at registration places, see 65-5-1 to 65-5-3 NMSA 1978.
The 2021 amendment, effective June 18, 2021, made conforming changes due to the transfer of certain authority from the department of public safety to the department of transportation; and after "department", added "of transportation", after "maintained", deleted "The state highway and transportation", and after "required", deleted "by the department for places established after June 17, 1967" and added "for ports of entry".
The 1992 amendment, effective July 1, 1992, twice substituted "department" for "division"; and substituted "June 17, 1967" for "the effective date of this section, unless the governor certifies in writing that the location selected will result in an intolerable traffic hazard" at the end of the second sentence.
Legal stop ripening into illegal arrest. — Although initial stop of commercial truck was legal under New Mexico's inspection statutes, the stop ripened into an unlawful de facto arrest when, without probable cause, officer required the driver to wait an hour; the illegality of the arrest vitiated driver's subsequent consent to the search of his truck, and rendered stolen motorcycles which were found inadmissible under the exclusionary rule. State v. Jutte, 1998-NMCA-150, 126 N.M. 244, 968 P.2d 334, cert. denied, 126 N.M. 533, 972 P.2d 352.
Invalid stopping of vehicles. — Motor transportation division officer's stop of a rental truck was not made at a port of entry and was invalid, where the officer had not set out any signs or other indication to vehicle drivers that they would be required to stop, had stopped vehicles randomly and at his own discretion, and had chosen his own schedule of where to patrol, as opposed to his supervisor making the decision. State v. Clark, 1991-NMCA-082, 112 N.M. 500, 816 P.2d 1122.

Structure New Mexico Statutes