New
Mexico Register / Volume XXXVI, Issue 19 / October 7, 2025
This is an amendment to 1.10.37 NMAC,
Sections 3, 7, 8, and 9 effective 10/7/2025.
1.10.37.3 STATUTORY
AUTHORITY: Section 1-2-1 NMSA 1978; Section 10-16A-9 NMSA 1978; [Chapter 39 of
New Mexico Laws of 2023] Section 1-1-27.1 NMSA 1978.
[1.10.37.3 NMAC - N, 7/1/2023, A, 10/7/2025]
1.10.37.7 DEFINITIONS:
A. “Election-related disclosures” means records
pertaining to a public official for campaign or election purposes and include
nominating petitions, candidacy declarations, designations of confidential home
address forms and voter registration forms.
B. “Financial-related disclosures” means records
filed with a county clerk or secretary of state and includes disclosures
pursuant to the Financial Disclosure Act, Chapter 10, Article 16A NMSA 1978,
and the Campaign Reporting Act, Chapter 1, Article 19 NMSA 1978.
C. “Public official” means a person elected or appointed to a federal, state, county or
local office or a candidate thereof or a person appointed to a federal, state,
county or local government position.
D. “Designated confidential address” means the address
specified by a public official for non-disclosure on the designation of
confidential home address form prescribed by the secretary of state, provided
that the zip code of the address remains publicly available.
E. “Judicial proceeding” means a
legal matter over which a judicial officer presides and includes, but is not
limited to, challenges brought pursuant to the Election Code.
[1.10.37.7 NMAC - N, 7/1/2023; A, 10/7/2025]
1.10.37.8 CONFIDENTIAL
HOME ADDRESS DESIGNATION:
A. A public official may submit a
request for designation of confidential home address using a form prescribed by
the secretary of state. A copy of the
form shall be forwarded to the county clerk of the county in which the official
is registered to vote within seven business days of submission.
B. After the initial request, a public
official with designated confidential home addresses shall resubmit a
confidential home address form every two years by February 1 of that calendar
year to the secretary of state in order to maintain a
confidential designation. A copy of the
form shall be forwarded to the county clerk of the county in which the official
is registered to vote within seven business days of submission.
C. Using a form prescribed by the
secretary of state, a candidate for state, county or local office may file a
designation of confidential home address with the proper filing officer when
filing a declaration of candidacy. In cases where the county clerk is the
proper filing officer, the county clerk shall update the candidate’s voter
registration record, marking the address as “confidential,” and send a copy
of the designation to the secretary of state within one business day of the
filing. In cases where the secretary of
state is the proper filing officer, the secretary of state shall send a copy of
the designation to the county clerk of the county where the candidate is
registered to vote within one business day of the filing.
D. A designation of confidential home
address for a public official shall be void upon failure to be elected or
appointed to a federal, state, county or local office. The county
clerk shall review the list of voters with designated confidential addresses in
their county every six months to determine if the designation should remain
active. In the event a voter is found to no longer be a public official, the
county clerk shall update the voter record by removing the “Confidential Public
Official” designation.
E. Upon submission of a request for
designation of confidential home address, the public official shall provide a
mailing address other than the confidential home address which shall be
substituted on all election- and financial - related disclosures.
F. The secretary of state shall
maintain a list of public officials who have designated confidential addresses,
and the list shall be accessible by county clerks.
G. The home address of the public
official shall not be publicly disclosed or published on a governmental website
so long as a current request for designation of confidential home address has
been filed and the public official maintains their status as a public official,
or unless such request for designation is otherwise withdrawn in writing by the
public official on a form prescribed by the secretary of state.
[1.10.37.8 NMAC - N, 7/1/2023; A, 10/7/2025]
1.10.37.9 PRESERVATION
OF ORIGINAL RECORDS:
A. Original election- and financial-
disclosures that contain a designated confidential address shall be preserved
by the secretary of state and county clerks for the purposes of [any
potential judicial review] a judicial proceeding.
B. Original election- and financial-
disclosures that contain a designated confidential address shall not be
redacted. When such records are
requested by the public, a copy shall be provided, and the confidential address
shall be redacted, except for the zip code, on the copy of the disclosure unless
the requestor completes a form prescribed by the secretary of state that
unredacted copies are being requested for the purposes of a judicial proceeding
and that any address designated as confidential shall not be used or shared for
any other purpose.
[1.10.37.8 NMAC - N, 7/1/2023; A, 10/7/2025]