N.M. Const. art. X, § 5
Any county at the time of the adoption of this amendment, which is less than one hundred forty-four square miles in area and has a population of ten thousand or more may become an incorporated county by the following procedure:
C. the proposed charter drafted by the charter commission shall be submitted to the qualified voters of the county within one year after the appointment of the commission and if adopted by a majority of the qualified voters voting in the election the county shall become an incorporated county.
The charter of an incorporated county shall provide for the form and organization of the incorporated county government and shall designate those officers which shall be elected, and those officers and employees which shall perform the duties assigned by law to county officers.
An incorporated county may exercise all powers and shall be subject to all limitations granted to municipalities by Article 9, Section 12 of the constitution of New Mexico and all powers granted to municipalities by statute.
A charter of an incorporated county shall be amended in accordance with the provisions of the charter.
Nothing herein contained shall be construed to alter or amend the existing constitutional provisions regarding apportionment of representation in the legislature or in the boundaries of legislative districts or judicial districts, nor the jurisdiction or organization of the district or probate courts.
The provisions of this amendment shall be self-executing. (As added November 3, 1964.)
The 1964 amendment to Article X, which was proposed by H.J.R. No. 12 (Laws 1963) and adopted at the general election held on November 3, 1964, by a vote of 82,163 for and 34,663 against, added this section to the article.
Extraterritorial land use regulation. — An incorporated county may exercise the extraterritorial planning, platting, subdividing and zoning jurisdiction of a municipality. All of the above, save zoning, may be concurrently exercised only with the adjacent county in which the land subject to extraterritorial jurisdiction may be situated. 1975 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 75-14.
County's proposed "right to work" ordinance would likely exceed the scope of authority granted to the county by the legislature. — In general, a New Mexico county possesses only such powers as are expressly granted to it by the legislature, together with those necessarily implied to implement those express powers, and where the legislature has granted counties the authority to provide for the safety, preserve the health, promote the prosperity and improve the morals, order, comfort and convenience of its inhabitants, such a grant of authority does not encompass or include the authority to adopt an ordinance which regulates contracts between employees, employers, and unions, and therefore, where Sandoval county has proposed an ordinance that is intended to provide that no employee covered by the federal National Labor Relations Act need join or pay dues to a union, or refrain from joining a union, as a condition of employment, the proposed ordinance would exceed the scope of powers granted by the legislature. Sandoval County Right to Work Ordinance (1/18/18), Att'y Gen. Adv. Ltr. 2018-03.
Federal law preempts county's proposed "right to work" ordinance. — The federal National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) regulates private sector employment, governs matters of collective bargaining, and preempts, or precludes, state and other non-federal laws that attempt to regulate areas covered by the NLRA, and therefore, where Sandoval county has proposed an ordinance that is intended to provide that no employee covered by the federal NLRA need join or pay dues to a union, or refrain from joining a union, as a condition of employment, the proposed ordinance is preempted by the NLRA and is unenforceable. Sandoval County Right to Work Ordinance (1/18/18), Att'y Gen. Adv. Ltr. 2018-03.
Law reviews. — For note, "County Regulation of Land Use and Development," see 9 Nat. Resources J. 266 (1969).
Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 20 C.J.S. Counties § 4.