NOTICE OF RIGHT TO INSPECT PUBLIC RECORDS
By New Mexico law, under the Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA), every person has the right to inspect public records of the Office of Secretary of State. Compliance with requests to inspect public records is one of the duties of the employees of the Office of the Secretary of State.
Procedures for Requesting Inspection of Public Records
Requests to inspect public records that are related to Elections, Campaign Practices, Campaign Finance, Ethics or Administration of the Office of the Secretary of State should be submitted, in writing, to the records custodian for Elections and Administration:
Billy Velarde
Public Records Custodian
325 Don Gaspar, Suite 300
Santa Fe, NM 87501
Requests to inspect public records that are related to the Business Services Division of the Office of the Secretary of State should be submitted, in writing, to the records custodian:
Ken Ortiz
Public Records Custodian
325 Don Gaspar, Suite 300
Santa Fe, NM 87501
A person desiring to inspect public records may submit a request to one of the above-named custodians. The procedures and penalties prescribed by IPRA apply only to written requests. A request must contain the name, address and telephone number of the person making the request. Requests may be submitted in person, or sent via US Mail, email, or facsimile. The request must describe the records sought in sufficient detail to enable the records custodian to identify and locate the requested records.
The record sought must be made available immediately or as soon as practicable under the circumstances, but not later than 15 calendar days after the records custodian receives the inspection request. If inspection is not permitted within three business days, the person making the request will receive a written response explaining when the records will be available for inspection or when our office will be able to respond to the request. If any of the records sought are not available for public inspection, the person making the request is entitled to a written response from the records custodian explaining the reasons inspection has been denied. The written denial shall me delivered or mailed within 15 calendar days after he records custodian receives the request for inspection.
If a custodian determines that a request is excessively burdensome or broad, an additional reasonable period of time shall be allowed to comply with the request. The custodian shall provide written notification to the requester within fifteen day s of receipt of the request that additional time will be needed to respond to the written request.
Once a request has been received, and an individual has been notified that public records are available for inspection, an inspection of public records can be scheduled by appointment during regular business hours, 8:00 AM to Noon and 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday, except legal holidays.
Fees related to copies, downloading and transmission of documents under IPRA.
If a person requesting inspection would like copies of public records, a reasonable fee may be charged. The fee for 8½” x 11” copies is 25¢ per page. The fee for 8½” x 14” copies is 50¢ per page. The fee for printed documents 11” x 17” is $1.00 per page. The fee for downloading copies of public records to a computer disk or storage device is related to the actual costs of the computer disk or storage device and costs associated with downloading. The office may charge the requester the actual costs associated with transmitting copies of public records, whether by mail, electronic mail or facsimile. The records custodian may request that applicable fees for copying public records be paid in advance, before copies are made. A receipt that the fees have been paid will be provided upon request. Personnel time involved in the process of making and transmitting copies will be charged to the requester. As an example, if it takes an employee six minutes to make and transmit copies, and the employee earns $20 per hour, an additional $2.00 will be added to the charge for the copies. If 30 minutes are required, the additional charge for personnel time would be $10.00.
Fees for transactions with the Business Services Division. (Unrelated to IPRA):
Photocopies of records, per page: 25¢
Certification: $3.00 each
Filing official oath: $3.00 each
Search of records where another fee is not prescribed, per hour of search: $10.00
Duplicate commission of office or certificate: $3.00
Service of process where another fee is not prescribed: $25.00
Computer printout of Uniform Commercial Code records, per page: $1.00
Computer generated records other than voter registration records, per record: 10¢
Corporations and Limited Liability Company records requests (Unrelated to IPRA):
If a person would like to request records related to a corporation or limited liability company, please submit your request at http://www.sos.state.nm.us/uploads/files/Copy_Request_2(1).pdf and use the
Corporations Copy Request form located at that site.
Fees for Corporations records are as follows:
For a For-Profit Corporation or Limited Liability Company: $1.00 per page, but in no case less than $10.00 for each record. Certified copies, regardless of length, require an additional fee of $25.00.
For a Nonprofit Corporation: $1.00 per page, but in no case less than $5.00 for each record. Certified copies, regardless of length, require an additional fee of $10.00.