2023 New Mexico Statutes › Chapter 10 - Public Officers and Employees › Article 16F - Electronic Communications Privacy › Section 10-16F-4 - Warrant; emergency; government duties; notification.

A. Except as otherwise provided in this section, a government entity that executes a warrant or obtains electronic information in an emergency as provided in Section 10-16F-3 NMSA 1978 shall:
(1) serve upon or deliver, by registered or first-class mail, electronic mail or other means reasonably calculated to be effective, to the identified targets of the warrant or emergency request, a notice that informs the recipient that information about the recipient has been compelled or requested and that states with reasonable specificity the nature of the government investigation under which the information is sought;
(2) serve or deliver the notice:
(a) contemporaneously with the execution of a warrant; or
(b) in the case of an emergency, within three days after obtaining the electronic information; and
(3) include with the notice:
(a) a copy of the warrant; or
(b) a written statement setting forth the facts giving rise to the emergency.
B. When a government entity seeks a warrant or obtains electronic information in an emergency as provided in Section 10-16F-3 NMSA 1978, the government entity may request from a court an order delaying notification and prohibiting any party providing information from notifying any other party that information has been sought. The government entity shall support the request with a sworn affidavit. The court:
(1) shall issue the order if the court determines that there is reason to believe that notification may have an adverse result, but for no more than ninety days and only for the period that the court finds there is reason to believe that the notification may have that adverse result; and
(2) may grant one or more extensions of the delay of up to ninety days each on the grounds provided in Paragraph (1) of this subsection.
C. When the period of delay of a notification ordered by a court as provided in Subsection B of this section expires, the government entity that requested the order shall serve upon or deliver, by registered or first-class mail, electronic mail or other means reasonably calculated to be effective, as specified by the court issuing the order, to the identified targets of the warrant:
(1) a document that includes the information described in Subsection A of this section; and
(2) a copy of all electronic information obtained or a summary of that information, including, at a minimum:
(a) the number and types of records disclosed; and
(b) a statement of the grounds for the court's determination to grant a delay in notifying the targeted person.
D. If there is no identified target of a warrant or emergency request at the time of the warrant's or request's issuance, the government entity shall submit to the attorney general within three days after the execution of the warrant or request issuance the information described in Paragraph (1) of Subsection A of this section. If an order delaying notice is obtained under Subsection B of this section, the government entity shall submit to the attorney general when the period of delay of the notification expires the information described in Paragraph (2) of Subsection C of this section and the information required by this subsection. The attorney general shall publish all those reports on the attorney general's website as provided in Section 10-16F-6 NMSA 1978.
E. Except as otherwise provided in this section, nothing in the Electronic Communications Privacy Act prohibits or limits a service provider or any other party from disclosing information about a request or demand for electronic information.
History:
Laws 2019, ch. 39, § 4; 2020, ch. 41, § 2.
ANNOTATIONS
The 2020 amendment,
effective March 4, 2020, modified certain notification requirements for government entities that have obtained electronic information through the execution of a search warrant or in an emergency as provided by law, removed the requirement that the New Mexico attorney general publish reports related to emergency requests and warrants within ninety days, and made certain technical amendments; in Subsections A and B, changed "Section 3 of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act" to "10-16F-3 NMSA 1978"; in Subsection C, Paragraph (2), deleted "Subparagraph C(2)(b)" and redesignated former Subparagraph C(2)(c) as Subparagraph C(2)(b); and in Subsection D, after the first occurrence of "information described in", added "Paragraph (1) of", after the second occurrence of "information described in", added "Paragraph (2) of", after "Subsection C of this section", added "and the information required by this subsection", and after "attorney general's website", deleted "within ninety days after receipt. The attorney general shall redact names and other personal identifying information from the reports" and added "as provided in Section 10-16F-6 NMSA 1978".