New Mexico 2025 Regular Session

New Mexico House Bill HB253 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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28	28	HOUSE BILL 253
29	29	57
30	30	TH LEGISLATURE
31	31	-
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33	33	STATE
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35	35	OF
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37	37	NEW
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39	39	MEXICO
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41	41	-
42	42	FIRST SESSION
43	43	,
44	44
45	45	2025
46	46	INTRODUCED BY
47	47	Andrea Romero and Angelica Rubio and Kristina Ortez
48	48	AN ACT
49	49	RELATING TO COURT RECORDS; REQUIRING THE SEALING OF CERTAIN
50	50	COURT RECORDS PERTAINING TO AN EVICTION; PROVIDING PROCEDURES
51	51	FOR A PETITION TO SEAL A COURT RECORD; PROVIDING A PROCESS FOR
52	52	PETITIONING FOR THE UNSEALING OF A COURT RECORD.
53	53	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
54	54	SECTION 1. A new Section 47-8B-1 NMSA 1978 is enacted to
55	55	read:
56	56	"47-8B-1. [NEW MATERIAL ] EVICTION RECORDS--SEALED COURT
57	57	RECORDS--PROCEDURES--PETITION TO UNSEAL COURT RECORDS.--
58	58	A. As used in this section:
59	59	(1) "authorized attorney" means an attorney
60	60	who has access to sealed eviction court records as determined
61	61	by a policy adopted by the administrative office of the courts;
62	62	(2) "court record" means any information
63	63	.228686.5 underscored material = new
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90	90	contained in a docket, including the court docket, pleadings
91	91	and orders;
92	92	(3) "eviction" means an action initiated by an
93	93	owner to regain possession of a dwelling unit and use of the
94	94	premises from a resident pursuant to the Uniform Owner-Resident
95	95	Relations Act and includes actions by the owner or management
96	96	of a mobile home park, trailer park or park to regain
97	97	possession and use of a mobile home, mobile home space, space,
98	98	mobile home lot or lot pursuant to the Mobile Home Park Act;
99	99	(4) "owner" means one or more persons, jointly
100	100	or severally, in whom is vested all or part of the legal title
101	101	to property or all or part of the beneficial ownership and a
102	102	right to present use and enjoyment of the premises and agents
103	103	thereof; "owner" includes a mortgagee in possession and the
104	104	lessors and landlords or managers of a mobile home park
105	105	pursuant to the Mobile Home Park Act, but does not include a
106	106	person or persons, jointly or severally, who as owner leases
107	107	the entire premises to a lessee of vacant land for apartment
108	108	use;
109	109	(5) "resident" means a person entitled under a
110	110	rental agreement to occupy a dwelling unit in peaceful
111	111	possession to the exclusion of others and includes the owner of
112	112	a mobile home renting premises, lot or parcel in a mobile home
113	113	park for use as a site for the location of the mobile home; and
114	114	(6) "seal" means to limit access of a court
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143	143	record to:
144	144	(a) judges;
145	145	(b) court staff;
146	146	(c) authorized staff of the judicial
147	147	department of the state;
148	148	(d) a party to the case and, if
149	149	represented, the party's attorney;
150	150	(e) authorized attorneys; and
151	151	(f) a person with a valid court order or
152	152	directive from the judicial technology council authorizing
153	153	access to the court record.
154	154	B. Upon the commencement of an eviction, the court
155	155	record shall be sealed.
156	156	C. When an order granting an owner possession of
157	157	the premises is entered in an eviction, the court record shall
158	158	be:
159	159	(1) unsealed no less than fifteen days after
160	160	the date of the order, unless:
161	161	(a) the parties agree and the court
162	162	orders that the court record should remain sealed;
163	163	(b) the resident files an appeal,
164	164	wherein the court record shall remain sealed through the
165	165	pendency of the appeal; or
166	166	(c) the order is later set aside by the
167	167	court, wherein the court shall as soon as practicable seal the
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196	196	court record; and
197	197	(2) available to the public; provided that the
198	198	court shall seal the court record no less than and as close to
199	199	three years as possible after the date on which the court
200	200	record was made available to the public.
201	201	D. The names of the parties included in a sealed
202	202	court record pursuant to this section may be used by the court
203	203	for administrative purposes, but the court shall not publish
204	204	the names of the parties online or sell or release a sealed
205	205	court record as part of a bulk or individual records transfer
206	206	to a third party; such bulk record request shall be subject to
207	207	the provisions of Subsection G of this section.
208	208	E. A resident who is a party to an eviction in
209	209	which a court record is sealed pursuant to this section shall
210	210	not be liable for failing to disclose the eviction in response
211	211	to any inquiry from a third party.
212	212	F. If a sealed court record is made available to
213	213	the public pursuant to Paragraph (2) of Subsection C of this
214	214	section, the court record shall be sealed again upon a
215	215	resident's petition indicating that:
216	216	(1) sealing the court record would be in the
217	217	interests of justice; and
218	218	(2) those interests are not outweighed by the
219	219	public's interest in access to the records.
220	220	G. A court record sealed pursuant to this section
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249	249	shall be unsealed on order of the court upon a showing of
250	250	compelling need, which may include scholarly, educational,
251	251	journalistic or governmental purposes. In determining whether
252	252	there is a compelling need, the court shall balance the
253	253	interests of the resident for nondisclosure against the
254	254	interests of the requesting party. For bulk record requests, a
255	255	court record sealed pursuant to this section shall be unsealed
256	256	only upon a directive from the judicial technology council.
257	257	H. Residents shall not be charged a filing fee for
258	258	a petition pursuant to Subsection F of this section.
259	259	I. A sealed court record shall be released to an
260	260	authorized attorney and maintain its status as a sealed court
261	261	record without being made available to the public and without a
262	262	showing of compelling need.
263	263	J. The provisions of this section shall apply to
264	264	all evictions provided pursuant to the Uniform Owner-Resident
265	265	Relations Act and the Mobile Home Park Act filed on or after
266	266	the effective date of this 2025 act."
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