2023 New Mexico Statutes › Chapter 14 - Records, Rules, Legal Notices, Oaths › Article 2 - Inspection of Public Records › Section 14-2-7 - Designation of custodian; duties.

Each public body shall designate at least one custodian of public records who shall:
A. receive requests, including electronic mail or facsimile, to inspect public records;
B. respond to requests in the same medium, electronic or paper, in which the request was made in addition to any other medium that the custodian deems appropriate;
C. provide proper and reasonable opportunities to inspect public records;
D. provide reasonable facilities to make or furnish copies of the public records during usual business hours; and
E. post in a conspicuous location at the administrative office and on the publicly accessible web site, if any, of each public body a notice describing:
(1) the right of a person to inspect a public body's records;
(2) procedures for requesting inspection of public records, including the contact information for the custodian of public records;
(3) procedures for requesting copies of public records;
(4) reasonable fees for copying public records; and
(5) the responsibility of a public body to make available public records for inspection.
History:
Laws 1993, ch. 258, § 4; 2001, ch. 204, § 1; 2011, ch. 182, § 2.
ANNOTATIONS
The 2011 amendment,
effective June 17, 2011, in Subsection A, after "receive requests" added "including electronic mail or facsimile"; added Subsection B and relettered succeeding subsections; in Subsection E, after "administrative office", added "and on the publicly accessible web site, if any"; and in Subsection E(2), added "including the contact information for the custodian of public records" at the end of the sentence.
The 2001 amendment,
effective June 15, 2001, added Subsection D.
Department of public safety failed to provide inmate a proper and reasonable opportunity to inspect public records.
— Where plaintiff, a prisoner at the New Mexico state penitentiary, sought to inspect department of public safety (DPS) records, pursuant to the Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA), §§ 14-2-1 through 14-2-12 NMSA 1978, connected to the investigation and prosecution that led to plaintiff's murder conviction, and where DPS first submitted a $90.00 invoice which requested payment prior to mailing the records, and, in a second response, informed plaintiff that physical inspection of the records was available at the DPS offices during business hours, and where plaintiff filed a complaint in district court, alleging that DPS unreasonably failed to make responsive documents available to plaintiff and thus violated IPRA, and where the district court granted summary judgment to DPS, finding that DPS's request for payment for copies did not violate IPRA, and that defendants provided reasonable access for physical inspection of public records by allowing physical inspection of the records at the DPS offices, the district court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of DPS, because, although charging a fee for copies was proper and in conformance with IPRA, the DPS's response that inspection was available at the DPS offices was unreasonable under the circumstances when DPS knew that plaintiff was incarcerated. An offer to an incarcerated person of an opportunity to visit a location outside the place of incarceration during business hours is not reasonable under the circumstances and does not align with the legislature's clearly asserted public police that to provide persons with such information is an essential function of a representative government and an integral part of the routine duties of public officers and employees.
Franklin v. Dep't of Pub. Safety
, 2022-NMCA-058.
Transferring duty as custodian prohibited.
— By reason of this section, the records of the director of the department of public health (now secretary of health) are, in some instances, not open to public inspection, and the duty of the custodian of those records, to wit, the director of public health (now secretary), in the maintenance of the secrecy of those records would prohibit him, the governor or any other person from transferring the duty as custodian of the records to any other person. 1954 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 54-5943.
Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references.
— 37A Am. Jur. 2d Freedom of Information Acts § 1 et seq.
What are "records" of agency which must be made available under Freedom of Information Act (5 USCA § 552(a)(3)), 153 A.L.R. Fed. 571.