N.M. Const. art. X, § 2
A. In every county all elected officials shall serve four-year terms, subject to the provisions of Subsection B of this section.
B. In those counties that prior to 1992 have not had four-year terms for elected officials, the assessor, sheriff and probate judge shall be elected to four-year terms and the treasurer and clerk shall be elected to two-year terms in the first election following the adoption of this amendment. In subsequent elections, the treasurer and clerk shall be elected to four-year terms.
C. To provide for staggered county commission terms, in counties with three county commissioners, the terms of no more than two commissioners shall expire in the same year; and in counties with five county commissioners, the terms of no more than three commissioners shall expire in the same year.
D. All county officers, after having served two consecutive four-year terms, shall be ineligible to hold any county office for two years thereafter. (As amended, November 3, 1914, November 3, 1993 and November 3, 1998.)
The 1998 amendment, which was proposed by S.J.R. No. 12, § 2 (Laws 1997), and adopted at the general election held November 3, 1998, by a vote of 288,419 for and 136,010 against, substituted "county office" for "public office" near the end of Subsection D.
The 1992 amendment, which was proposed by S.J.R. No. 15 (Laws 1992) and adopted at the general election held on November 3, 1992, by a vote of 317,887 for and 151,625 against, rewrote this section, which formerly read: "All county officers shall be elected to a term of two years, and after having served two consecutive terms, shall be ineligible to hold any county office for two years thereafter".
The 1914 amendment, which was proposed by J.R. No. 9 (Laws 1913) and adopted at the general election held on November 3, 1914, with a vote of 20,293 for and 12,125 against, completely rewrote this section which formerly read: "All county officers shall be elected for a term of four years and no county officer, except the county clerk and probate judge, shall, after having served one full term be eligible to hold any county office for four years thereafter."
Compiler's notes. — An amendment to this section proposed by H.J.R. No. 9 (Laws 1957), which would have increased the term of office to four years and removed the limitation of the number of terms the county officers may serve, was submitted to the people at the general election held on November 4, 1958. It was defeated by a vote of 41,443 for and 44,442 against.
An amendment to this section proposed by S.J.R. No. 13 (Laws 1961), which would have increased the term of office to four years and provided a four-year ineligibility period after each term, was submitted to the people at the special election held on September 19, 1961. It was defeated by a vote of 22,377 for and 29,483 against.
House Joint Memorial 21 (Laws 1969) referred to the constitutional convention an amendment to this section to remove the limitations on terms for county officers. The proposed amendment was rejected by the voters on December 9, 1969.
An amendment to this section proposed by S.J.R. No. 5 (Laws 1973), which would have rewritten this section to provide a two-year term of office and an age limitation for county officers, was submitted to the people at a special election held on November 6, 1973. It was defeated by a vote of 18,825 for and 23,121 against.
An amendment to this section proposed by H.J.R. No. 2 (Laws 1975), which would have allowed county officers to serve unlimited terms of two years except as otherwise provided in the constitution, was submitted to the people at the general election held on November 2, 1976. It was defeated by a vote of 91,755 for and 190,645 against.
An amendment to this section, proposed by S.J.R. No. 2 (Laws 1982), which would have inserted "except sheriffs" following "officers" in the first sentence and would have added a second sentence which would have read "Sheriffs shall be eligible to hold the office of sheriff for an unlimited number of consecutive two-year terms," was submitted to the people at the general election held on November 2, 1982. It was defeated by a vote of 109,611 for and 142,871 against.
An amendment to this section, proposed by H.J.R. No. 6 (Laws 1986), which would have allowed four consecutive terms, was submitted to the people at the general election held on November 4, 1986. It was defeated by a vote of 119,504 for and 156,177 against.
An amendment to this section, proposed by S.J.R. No. 9 (Laws 1999), which would have amended Subsection D to allow county officials to serve an unlimited number of terms was submitted to the people at the general election held on November 7, 2000. It was defeated by a vote of 134,319 for and 376,706 against.
An amendment to this section proposed by S.J.R. No. 5 (Laws 2010), which would have allowed county officers to serve three consecutive terms, was submitted to the people at the general election held on November 2, 2010. It was defeated by a vote of 91,205 for and 432,543 against.
Cross references. — For tenure of office, see N.M. Const., art. XX, § 2.
For date terms of office begin, see N.M. Const., art XX, § 3.
For provisions regarding vacancies, see N.M. Const., art XX, §§ 4 and 5.
Election to two terms bars third consecutive term. — Where a county sheriff was elected to two consecutive terms, but during the first term resigned for only eight minutes to clear up a technicality in his qualification for office, the sheriff is not eligible to seek election for a third consecutive term. Stephens v. Myers, 1984-NMSC-104, 102 N.M. 1, 690 P.2d 444.
Unconstitutional alteration to the terms of office. — Where petitioners, a class of public officers affected by the election deferral provisions of HB 407, passed by the 2019 legislature, filed petitions for writs of mandamus challenging the constitutionality of HB 407 to the extent it postponed the times of election and extended the constitutionally mandated terms of certain public offices, the New Mexico supreme court issued writs of mandamus prohibiting the implementation of the affected provisions because they impermissibly alter the constitutionally prescribed terms of office of the petitioning groups. State ex rel. Sugg v. Toulouse Oliver, 2020-NMSC-002.
Effect of N.M. Const., art. X, § 7. — When N.M. Const., art. X, § 7 was added by constitutional amendment, this section ceased to apply to counties having a population greater than 100,000 and an assessed valuation greater than $75,000,000. Under N.M. Const., art. X, § 7, the offices of county commissioner for two-year terms in affected counties were in effect abolished and new offices of county commissioner with four-year terms were created, notwithstanding that the new provision does not expressly state that the old offices were abolished and new ones created. Morris v. Gonzales, 1978-NMSC-026, 91 N.M. 495, 576 P.2d 755.
A county commissioner who has previously served a two-year term as county commissioner under this section and one four-year term under N.M. Const., art. X, § 7, may serve an additional four-year term under N.M. Const., art. X, § 7. Morris v. Gonzales, 1978-NMSC-026, 91 N.M. 495, 576 P.2d 755.
Effect of N.M. Const., art. X, § 7. — A county commissioner who has served one term in office under this section and one term of office under N.M. Const., art. X, § 7, may not seek a third consecutive term. 1978 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 78-01. See Morris v. Gonzales, 1978-NMSC-026, 91 N.M. 495, 576 P.2d 755.
This section does limit the legislature's power to create the term of office of judge of small claims court. When the legislature chose to create a county officer of the small claims judge, this section limited the length of term of such officer. 1956 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 56-6358.
Meaning of section. — This section prohibits a person from serving three consecutive, four-year terms as a county officer in any capacity. There must be an interim period of two years before any person who, having served two terms consecutively, is eligible for another county office. 1959 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 59-115.
Ineligibility extends to all county offices. — A county officer who has served a full term as county commissioner, and a subsequent term as sheriff in the same county, is not eligible to appointment to a county office in a newly created county. 1921 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 21-2861.
Where a county official has just completed two terms of service by election, that county official is ineligible to be appointed to the office of the county treasurer. 1955 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 55-6240.
Ineligibility does not extend to state offices. — A county assessor who is now completing his second term can legally file and hold the office of state representative, since a state representative is a state officer. 1954 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 54-5938.
Ineligibility does not extend to district offices. — The magistrate court established under 35-1-1 NMSA 1978 is a district, not a county, office and is not within the restrictions of this section. 1968 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 68-71.
Appointees filling vacancies treated differently. — This section does not affect the eligibility of a candidate for county office who has been appointed to fill a vacancy in a county office for the unexpired term. 1914 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 14-1247.
A county officer who served by appointment for less than two years and has served one full term by election is eligible to serve for one more term before becoming ineligible to run under this section. 1950 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 50-5286.
Incumbent of two consecutive terms ineligible for appointment. — A vacancy in a county office occurs where the successor fails to qualify; the board of county commissioners must appoint a person to fill the vacancy and an incumbent who has already served two consecutive terms is ineligible for that appointment. 1979 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 79-19.
Effect of service during first years of statehood. — A county officer who served the first five years of statehood, and succeeded himself during the present term of office, has served two consecutive terms and is ineligible under this section. 1917 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 17-1993.
1916 election. — On account of 1914 amendment (changing term from four to two years and providing for ineligibility after two consecutive terms), incumbents of both state and county offices were eligible to reelection in 1916. 1915 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 15-1507.
Resignation before end of second term does not change ineligibility. — Irrespective of whether or not he resigns prior to the completion of his second term, a county officer is nevertheless ineligible to seek election for a third consecutive time. To apply any other meaning to this section would make a mockery of the intent of those who framed this section. 1959 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 59-115.
Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 63A Am. Jur. 2d Public Officers and Employees §§ 155, 156.
Power to abolish or discontinue office, 4 A.L.R. 205, 172 A.L.R. 1366.
Power of board to appoint officer or make contract extending beyond its own term, 70 A.L.R. 794, 149 A.L.R. 336.
Power of legislature to extend term of public office, 97 A.L.R. 1428.
Legislative power to prescribe qualifications for or conditions of eligibility to constitutional office, 34 A.L.R.2d 155.
20 C.J.S. Counties §§ 101, 102.