2023 New Mexico Statutes › Chapter 15 - Administration of Government › Article 8 - Transportation Services › Section 15-8-6 - State vehicles; use; markings; state government plates.

A. The division shall adopt rules governing the use of vehicles used by state agencies or by other persons pursuant to Subsection I of this section, including driver requirements and responsibilities, under what circumstances someone can be assigned a state vehicle on a permanent or semipermanent basis and when custody of a state vehicle can be vested in another state agency.
B. The division may determine that it is impractical to retain custody of certain state vehicles, and it may provide that custody reside in another state agency in the following cases:
(1) the state vehicle is used for emergency or law enforcement purposes; or
(2) the state vehicle is a department of transportation, energy, minerals and natural resources department, department of game and fish or homeland security and emergency management department passenger vehicle, truck or tractor or heavy road equipment.
C. Except as provided in Subsections F, G and H of this section, all state vehicles shall be marked as state vehicles. Each side of the vehicle shall be marked, in letters not less than two inches in height, with the following designation of ownership: "State of New Mexico, ....... Department" or "State of New Mexico Department of ........." and naming the department using the vehicle.
D. Except as provided in Subsections F, G and H of this section, all state vehicles shall have specially designed government registration plates.
E. Except as provided in Subsections F, G and H of this section, all state vehicles owned or in the custody of state agencies that have law enforcement functions shall be marked and have state government registration plates.
F. State vehicles used for legitimate undercover law enforcement purposes are exempt from the requirements of Subsections C, D and E of this section and may be issued an undercover license plate when it is determined by the division that issuance of such a license plate is necessary to protect legitimate undercover law enforcement activities.
G. State vehicles used for sensitive activities other than legitimate undercover law enforcement purposes are exempt from the requirements of Subsections C, D and E of this section and may be issued a protective license plate when it is determined by the division that issuance of such a license plate is necessary to protect the health, safety or welfare of a state employee using a state-owned vehicle for sensitive activities. The standards for the issuance of a protective license plate pursuant to this subsection shall be determined by rule jointly promulgated by the division and the motor vehicle division of the taxation and revenue department.
H. A state agency may seek custody of state vehicles as an exception to Subsection B of this section or an exemption to the provisions of Subsection C of this section by making a written request to the director, specifying the reasons for the proposed custody or exemption. The director may approve the custody or exemption, in writing, indicating the duration and any conditions of the custody or exemption.
I. The division shall adopt rules permitting individuals enrolled in the state's adaptive driving program to use special-use state vehicles for evaluation and training purposes in that program.
History:
Laws 1994, ch. 119, § 6; 2007, ch. 29, § 5; 2009, ch. 8, § 1; 2009, ch. 129, § 1; 2009, ch. 250, § 6; 2013, ch. 66, § 2.
ANNOTATIONS
Cross references.
— For state government registration plates,
see
66-3-28 NMSA 1978.
The 2013 amendment,
effective June 14, 2013, authorized the issuance of protective and undercover license plates to state agencies; in Subsection C, in the first sentence, after "Except as provided in", changed "Subsections E and F" to "Subsections F, G and H"; in Subsection D, after "Except as provided in", changed "Subsections E and F" to "Subsections F, G and H"; in Subsection E, at the beginning of the sentence, delete "Only state vehicles used for legitimate undercover law enforcement purposes are exempt from the requirements of Subsections C and D of this section" and added "Except as provided in Subsections F, G and H of this section" and after "all", deleted "other"; and added Subsections F and G.
The 2009 amendment,
effective April 7, 2009, in Paragraph (2) of Subsection B, deleted "or" after "natural resources department", and after "game and fish", added "or homeland security and emergency management department".
The 2007 amendment,
effective July 1, 2007, in Subsection A, changed "state vehicles" to "vehicles used by state agencies"; deleted former Paragraph (2) of Subsection B, which provided that custody may reside in another state agency if the vehicle is of a special design or construction that effectively limits its use to a particular purpose; deleted former Paragraph (3) of Subsection B, which provided that custody may reside in another state agency if the money used to acquire the vehicle is subject to constitutional or trust limitations that prevent its use as part of the motor pool; deleted former Paragraph (4) of Subsection B, which provided that custody may reside in another state agency if the vehicle is not based in Santa Fe; in Paragraph (2), changed "state highway and transportation department" to "department of transportation" and added "energy, minerals and natural resources department or department of game and fish passenger vehicle"; deleted former Paragraph (6) of Subsection B, which provided that custody may reside in another state agency if the agency requires the use of a vehicle on a regular basis as defined by regulation of the division; in Subsection C, added "State of New Mexico Department of _________" as a state vehicle designation, added the qualification that the department designated by the marking be the department using the vehicle, and deleted the provision that if a department has more than one vehicle assigned for its use, each vehicle shall be conspicuously numbered in consecutive order and that the division include the words "State Motor Pool" and consecutive number of the vehicle on the designation for its vehicles; and added Subsection F.
An authorized driver of a state vehicle must be using the vehicle in furtherance of official state business.
— Where the New Mexico corrections department (department) treated state employees who were members of a union differently than a state employee who was not by allowing the non-union employee to use a state vehicle to attend the same department-called policy review meeting for which the union employees' request to use a state vehicle had been denied, the district court did not err in affirming the public employee labor relations board's decision that the union employees were acting in furtherance of official sate business by attending the policy review meeting and that the department committed a prohibited practice in violation of 10-7E-19(A) NMSA 1978 by prohibiting the union members from using a state vehicle, because the policy review meetings are a required step in the process of implementing operational changes at the department's facilities, and because the department cannot implement its proposed changes without first conferring with employee officials.
N.M. Corrections Dep't v. AFSCME
, 2018-NMCA-007, cert. denied.