Opinion ID: 1441686
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The staggering of appointments to the New Mexico Tech Board of Regents

Text: (41) We believe that the intent and effect of the 1949 amendment to Article XII, Section 13 was to create a formal scheme of staggering. The amendment inaugurates the system by staggering the terms of the first five appointeeswith shortened two- and four-year terms, and one full six-year term. All subsequent appointees were intended to serve full six-year terms. The amended Article XII, Section 13 was most likely intended to be supplemented by Article XX, Section 5, discussed above, which specifies that vacancies are to be filled for the period of the unexpired term. Viewing these two constitutional provisions as a harmonious whole, it is apparent that they were intended to maintain a formal staggering scheme. Appointees would either serve full six-year terms or the remainder of vacated six-year terms. In summary, a law governing appointments will be deemed to require a formal system staggering of terms if it includes three elements: 1) shortened terms for initial appointees, 2) full terms for subsequent appointees, and 3) a requirement that vacancies be filled only for the remainder of the vacated term. Together Article XII, Section 13 and Article XX, Section 5 contain all three elements. (42) Denish and Kelly argue that Article XII, Section 13 does not expressly require staggering after the first five appointees. However, it is not necessary for a law to use the word stagger in order to establish staggered terms for appointed officials. Nor does the law need to require explicitly that the scheme be maintained in perpetuity. For example, Article XI, Section 2 of the New Mexico Constitution does not use the word stagger when it sets up a staggering scheme for the members of the Corporation Commission: The members of the commission shall be elected for the term of six years; provided, that those chosen at the first election for state officers shall immediately qualify and classify themselves by lot, so that one of them shall hold office until two years, one until four years and one until six years from and after January first, nineteen hundred and thirteen; and thereafter one commissioner shall be elected at each general election. N.M. Const. art. XI, § 2 (Repl.Pamp.1992). The requirement that thereafter one commissioner will be elected each year is only an implicit directive that the staggering scheme be maintained. However, like Article XII, Section 13, this provision works in tandem with Article XX, Section 5, so that vacancies are filled only for the remainder of the unexpired term. We found many other similar provisions. See, e.g., NMSA 1978, § 3-2-8(B) (Repl.Pamp.1995) (setting up staggered terms for members of a municipal governing body; does not use the word stagger); NMSA 1978, § 3-45-5(B) (Repl.Pamp.1995) (authorizes cities to create five-member housing authorities; does not use the word stagger); see also U.S. Const. art I, § 3 (setting up staggered terms for U.S. Senators; does not use the word stagger). The formal scheme seems to be the most common staggering system, and in practice it may be the only system used in New Mexico. However, we note that today we are addressing only the staggering system for boards of regents; we have no basis at this time to examine the propriety or use of an informal system for other appointments under New Mexico law. (43) We have found that in actual practice appointments to the Board of Regents of New Mexico Tech have followed this formal staggering scheme. We culled from New Mexico Tech records and the executive records of the Governors of New Mexico the appointments of every person who has served on the New Mexico Tech Board of Regents since this staggering scheme was initiated in 1951. The results of our research can be found in the chart in the Appendix to this opinion. We exercise our discretion to take judicial notice of the information we obtained from the Records of Appointment, Letters of Appointment, correspondence, and notes in the executive records of the Governors of New Mexico. SCRA 1986, 11-201(C) (Repl.1994) (A court may take judicial notice, whether requested or not.); SCRA 1986, 1-044(A)(3) (Repl.1992) (judicial notice of executive acts); see also Hartford Accident & Indem. Co. v. Beevers, 84 N.M. 159, 162, 500 P.2d 444, 447 (Ct.App.1972) (discussing judicial notice of public and private acts of the executive departments). The chart is the synthesis of that information. (44) We have determined that since 1951, the only deviations from a formal staggering scheme occurred when Denish and Kelly took office in 1992. As our chart demonstrates, every preceding appointment rigidly preserved the staggering system. Past Governors have always made their appointments effective for the first year of the six-year cycle, and only filled vacancies through the end of a six-year cycle. These guidelines should have defined the terms of Denish and Kelly.