Opinion ID: 891708
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: mandamus is appropriate only when the duty at issue is clear and indisputable

Text: {95} Although a writ of prohibition cannot lie against a state official, see State ex rel. Bird v. Apodaca, 91 N.M. 279, 281-82, 573 P.2d 213, 215-16 (1977) (Prohibition, by its very nature, will not lie against state officers.), mandamus can be used in a prohibitory manner to prohibit unlawful or unconstitutional official action. See Kiddy v. Bd. of Cnty. Comm'rs of Eddy Cnty., 57 N.M. 145, 152, 255 P.2d 678, 683 (1953) (Public functionaries may be restrained by mandamus from doing what they know is an illegal act.). In considering whether to issue a prohibitory mandamus, we do not assess the wisdom of the public official's act, we determine whether that act goes beyond the bounds established by the New Mexico Constitution. State ex rel. Clark v. Johnson, 120 N.M. 562, 570, 904 P.2d 11, 19 (1995). {96} The Constitution and laws of New Mexico define the limits of authority for each branch of government. In 1904, the limits of our authority to issue a writ of mandamus were defined by the Territorial Supreme Court when it wrote [i]t is said by the highest judicial tribunal in the land that, `mandamus lies to compel the performance of a statutory duty only when it is clear and indisputable.' Vaughn, 12 N.M. at 342-43, 78 P. at 53 (quoting Bayard v. United States ex rel. White, 127 U.S. 246, 250, 8 S.Ct. 1223, 32 L.Ed. 116 (1888)). We have never abandoned the requirement of a clear and indisputable duty as essential for the issuance of a writ of mandamus. Johnson v. Vigil-Giron, 2006-NMSC-051, ¶ 22, 140 N.M. 667, 146 P.3d 312. Instead, because it is such an extraordinary writ that must be issued only in extraordinary circumstances, we have carefully defined its limits. Mandamus is a drastic remedy to be invoked only in extraordinary circumstances. The writ shall not issue in any case where there is a plain, speedy and adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law. It shall issue on the information of the party beneficially interested. [A] writ of mandamus is available only to one who has a clear legal right to the performance sought; it is available only in limited circumstances to achieve limited purposes. State ex rel. Coll v. Johnson, 1999-NMSC-036, ¶ 12, 128 N.M. 154, 990 P.2d 1277 (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). While mandamus will not lie to correct or control the judgment or discretion of a public officer in matters committed to his care in the ordinary discharge of his duties, it is nevertheless well established that mandamus will lie to compel the performance of mere ministerial acts or duties imposed by law upon a public officer to do a particular act or thing upon the existence of certain facts or conditions being shown, even though the officer be required to exercise judgment before acting. State ex rel. Four Corners Exploration Co. v. Walker, 60 N.M. 459, 463, 292 P.2d 329, 331-32 (1956) (citations omitted). A ministerial act is an act which an officer performs under a given state of facts, in a prescribed manner, in obedience to a mandate of legal authority, without regard to the exercise of his own judgment upon the propriety of the act being done. State ex rel. Perea v. Bd. of Comm'rs ofDe Baca Cnty., 25 N.M. 338, 340, 182 P. 865, 866 (1919). Therefore, our jurisprudence instructs that before we are empowered to issue a writ of mandamus, (1) the boundaries of the duty at issue must be clear and indisputable, (2) the public official must not have discretion in the performance of the duty, and (3) there must not exist another plain, speedy, and adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law. {97} In this case, despite notice to the public as required by the Land Commissioner's rules, 19.2.21.9(D) NMAC, only one bid was received, and no members of the public objected to the bid process. The Attorney General has not filed this mandamus proceeding on behalf of any specific beneficiary who contends that the Land Commissioner breached his fiduciary duty to them by engaging in the subject land exchanges. The Attorney General does not contend that the Land Commissioner failed to comply with the Enabling Act's public notice requirements; failed to open the bidding to all members of the public; engaged in an exchange of trust lands for a value that was less than the true appraised value of the trust lands; or that the exchange will not serve the best interests of the trust beneficiaries by making management of the trust corpus more efficient and economical. Instead, the Attorney General contends that the Land Commissioner did not comply with the public auction requirements because the Commissioner required competing bidders to offer, at a minimum, land with at least the same value as the trust land, and only for all of the trust land the Commissioner proposed to dispose of. These bid requirements, argues the Attorney General, substantially constrained the public auction to achieve a predetermined result. In other words, the Attorney General wants this Court to hold that the Land Commissioner must allow a bidder to bid for trust land in cash, land, other items of value or a combination thereof, and the bidder may also bid on a portion of the land being offered at auction. {98} Thus, the question before us is whether the Land Commissioner has a clear and indisputable duty to allow bidders to offer any and all forms of consideration and on any portion of the land the Commissioner seeks to dispose of in a public auction. As will be discussed, this duty is not clear and indisputable. The Land Commissioner has the discretion to establish the terms of the auction that are in the best interests of the trust beneficiaries. In addition, there are adequate remedies, including the remedy given in Section 10 of the Enabling Act, that authorize an action to enforce the provisions of the Enabling Act and render null and void any sale, lease, conveyance or contract of or concerning any of the [trust] lands which are not made in substantial conformity with the provisions of [the Enabling] act. Enabling Act § 10. {99} Despite the Attorney General's narrow complaints, the majority has raised its own concerns with the auction process and would preclude the Land Commissioner from having any discussions with a potential bidder before the auction and from considering any criteria other than financial criteria. I do not agree that such discussions are precluded. Instead, such discussions will aid the Land Commissioner in defining the best interests of the trust beneficiaries, thus defining a bid's minimum requirements. Any member of the public is still invited to meet or exceed the minimum bid requirement. The Land Commissioner may still be called to answer whether such a bid exceeded the true appraised value of the trust land and whether the bid was in the trust beneficiaries' best interests. When evaluating which is the highest and best bid that is consistent with the trust beneficiaries' best interests, immediate revenue is not the only consideration.