2023 New Mexico Statutes › Chapter 10 - Public Officers and Employees › Article 16A - Financial Disclosures › Section 10-16A-6 - Investigations; fines; enforcement.

A. The state ethics commission may conduct thorough examinations of statements and initiate investigations to determine whether the Financial Disclosure Act has been violated. Any person who believes that act has been violated may file a written complaint with the state ethics commission. The commission shall adopt procedures for processing complaints and notifications of violations.
B. If the state ethics commission determines that a violation has occurred for which a penalty should be imposed, the commission shall so notify the person charged and impose the penalty.
C. Any person who files a statement or report after the deadline imposed by the Financial Disclosure Act is liable for and shall pay to the secretary of state, at or from the time initially required for the filing, fifty dollars ($50.00) per day for each regular working day after the time required for the filing of the statement or report until the complete report is filed, up to a maximum of five thousand dollars ($5,000).
D. The secretary of state may refer a matter to the state ethics commission, attorney general or a district attorney for a civil injunctive or other appropriate order or enforcement.
History:
Laws 1993, ch. 46, § 44; 1997, ch. 112, § 9; 2019, ch. 86, § 29; 2021, ch. 109, § 13.
ANNOTATIONS
The 2021 amendment,
effective July 1, 2021, revised administrative and enforcement duties of the state ethics commission and the secretary of state under the Financial Disclosure Act, and removed provisions related to binding arbitration following a notice that a violation has occurred for which a penalty should be imposed; in the section heading, deleted "binding arbitration"; in Subsection A, after "The state ethics commission", deleted "and the secretary of state"; in Subsection B, after "impose the penalty", deleted "If the person charged disputes the commission's determination, the person charged may request binding arbitration"; deleted former Subsections C and D and redesignated former Subsections E and F as Subsection C and D, respectively; and in Subsection C, after "Financial Disclosure Act" deleted "or any person who files a false or incomplete statement or report".
The 2019 amendment,
effective January 1, 2020, provided the state ethics commission, along with the secretary of state, the authority to initiate investigations to determine whether the Financial Disclosure Act has been violated, provided that complaints may be filed with the state ethics commission, and required the state ethics commission to adopt procedures for processing complaints and notifications of violations, and provided to the state ethics commission the procedures to follow when a violation of the Financial Disclosure Act has occurred; in Subsection A, after "The", added "state ethics commission and the", after "written complaint with the", deleted "secretary of", after "state", added "ethics commission", and after the next occurrence of "The", deleted "secretary of state" and added "commission"; in Subsection B, replaced each occurrence of "secretary" with "ethics commission" or "commission"; in Subsection C, after "provided by the", deleted "secretary of", and after "state", added "ethics commission"; in Subsection D, replaced each occurrence of "secretary" with "ethics commission"; and in Subsection F, after "a matter to the", added "state ethics commission".
The 1997 amendment,
effective June 20, 1997, rewrote Subsections C and D.