New Mexico
Register / Volume XXXVI, Issue 21 / November 4, 2025
This is an amendment to
1.8.5 NMAC, Sections 8 and 10, effective 11/4/2025.
1.8.5.8 COMPLAINTS:
A. Any
person may submit a complaint against a notarial officer alleging an act or
omission that, if proven, would justify denial, revocation, suspension, or the
imposition of a condition on the notarial officer’s authority to perform
notarial acts. The complaint shall:
(1) provide the name and the address of the respondent who
is the subject of the complaint;
(2) attach any supporting documentation related to the
complaint’s allegations;
(3) be submitted on a form provided by the Commission or
on a substantially
equivalent form; and
(4) be submitted by electronic mail to
ethics.commission@sec.nm.gov or by U.S. mail to the Commission’s mailing
address.
B. Upon
receiving a properly submitted complaint, the director may share the complaint
with the Office of the Secretary of State and request the SOS to provide
records related to the respondent; provided that, if the complaint names a
respondent who is a judicial officer, the director shall refer the complaint to
the judicial standards commission and take no further action on the complaint.
C. After
receiving the respondent’s file from the Secretary of State, the director shall
determine whether the complaint is within the commission’s jurisdiction.
D. If
the director determines the commission does not have jurisdiction over a
complaint, the director shall inform the complainant of the reasons and close
the matter without further action.
E. If
the director determines the complaint is within the commission’s jurisdiction,
the director shall:
(1) send the complainant a
notification of receipt of the complaint;
(2) send the complaint to the respondent at every address and
electronic mail address that either the complainant provided to the commission
or the respondent provided to the Secretary of State; and
(3) request that the respondent submit a response in
writing within 30 days of the director’s sending a copy of the complaint
pursuant to paragraph 2 of this subsection.
[D]
F. If the respondent
fails to provide a response to the complaint, then the respondent’s failure to
provide a response will be construed as the respondent’s failure to maintain
address information with the Secretary of State, as required by Subsection E of
12.9.3.8 NMAC, and the Commission may take adverse action, up to and including
revocation of the respondent’s authority to perform notarial acts, on that
basis.
[E] G. After receiving the respondent’s response, the director
shall conduct an investigation and review the
complaint, the response, and any other relevant documents or material that the
director may obtain pursuant to an investigation. As part of an investigation,
the director may interview witnesses, request documents, and obtain and review
any other evidence reasonably related to the complaint.
[F] H. Failure by a
complainant or a respondent to participate in the investigation in good faith
is a basis for the Commission to draw an adverse inference.
[1.8.5.8 NMAC-N, 7/1/2023; A,
11/4/2025]
1.8.5.10 APPEALS
OF COMMISSION DECISIONS: A final decision by the Commission on a complaint may
be appealed by an aggrieved party pursuant to Rule 1-075 NMRA.
[1.8.5.10 NMAC-N, 7/1/2023; A,
11/4/2025]