N.M. Const. art. XII, § 13
A. The legislature shall provide for the control and management of each of the institutions, except the university of New Mexico, by a board of regents for each institution, consisting of five members, four of whom shall be qualified electors of the state of New Mexico, one of whom shall be a member of the student body of the institution and no more than three of whom at the time of their appointment shall be members of the same political party; provided, however, that the student body member provision in this subsection shall not apply to the New Mexico school for the deaf, the New Mexico military institute or the New Mexico school for the blind and visually impaired, and for each of those three institutions all five members of the board of regents shall be qualified electors of the state of New Mexico.
B. The governor shall nominate and by and with the consent of the senate shall appoint the members of each board of regents for each of the institutions. The terms of nonstudent members shall be for staggered terms of six years, and the terms of student members shall be two years.
C. The governor shall select, with the advice and consent of the senate, a student member from a list provided by the president of the institution. In making the list, the president of the institution shall give due consideration to the recommendations of the student body president of the institution. Following the approval by the voters of this 2014 amendment and upon the first vacancy of a position on the northern New Mexico state school board of regents, the governor shall nominate and by and with the consent of the senate shall appoint a student member to serve a two-year term.
D. The legislature shall provide for the control and management of the university of New Mexico by a board of regents consisting of seven members, six of whom shall be qualified electors of the state of New Mexico, one of whom shall be a member of the student body of the university of New Mexico and no more than four of whom at the time of their appointment shall be members of the same political party. The governor shall nominate and by and with the consent of the senate shall appoint the members of the board of regents. The present five members shall serve out their present terms. The two additional members shall be appointed in 1987 for terms of six years. Following the approval by the voters of this amendment and upon the first vacancy of a position held by a nonstudent member on the university of New Mexico's board of regents, the governor shall nominate and by and with the consent of the senate shall appoint a student member to serve a two-year term. The governor shall select, with the advice and consent of the senate, a student member from a list provided by the president of the university of New Mexico. In making the list, the president of the university of New Mexico shall give due consideration to the recommendations of the student body president of the university.
E. Members of the board shall not be removed except for incompetence, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office. Provided, however, no removal shall be made without notice of hearing and an opportunity to be heard having first been given such member. The supreme court of the state of New Mexico is hereby given exclusive original jurisdiction over proceedings to remove members of the board under such rules as it may promulgate, and its decision in connection with such matters shall be final. (As amended September 20, 1949, effective January 1, 1950, November 4, 1986, November 8, 1994 and November 4, 2014.)
The 2014 amendment, proposed by S.J.R. No. 7 (Laws 2013) and adopted at the general election held on November 4, 2014, with a vote of 282,620 for and 153,881 against, changed the board of regents of the northern New Mexico state school by filling one regent position with a student; in Subsection A, after "the student body member provision in this", changed "section" to "subsection", after "the New Mexico military institute", deleted "the northern New Mexico state school", after "or the New Mexico school for the", added "blind and", after "visually", deleted "handicapped" and added "impaired", and after "and for each of those", deleted "four" and added "three"; in Subsection B, in the second sentence, after "The terms of nonstudent members shall be for", added "staggered terms of", after "six years", deleted "provided that of the five first appointed the terms of two shall be for two years, the terms for two shall be for four years, and the term of one shall be for six years" and added "and the terms of student members shall be two years", and deleted the former third sentence, which provided "Following the approval by the voters of this amendment and upon the first vacancy of a position held by a nonstudent member on each eligible institution’s board of regents, the governor shall nominate and by and with the consent of the senate shall appoint a student member to serve a two year term"; and in Subsection C, added the last sentence.
The 1994 amendment, proposed by S.J.R. No. 18 (Laws 1993) and adopted at the general election held on November 8, 1994 by a vote of 238,458 for and 165,119 against, rewrote this section to provide for a student body member on the board of regents for certain institutions of higher education.
The 1986 amendment, proposed by H.J.R. No. 5 (Laws 1986) and adopted at the general election held on November 4, 1986 by a vote of 164,385 for and 108,118 against, added "except the University of New Mexico" near the beginning of the first paragraph and added the present second paragraph.
The 1949 amendment, proposed by S.J.R. No. 11 (Laws 1949), adopted by the people at a special election held on September 20, 1949 by a vote of 16,918 for and 10,596 against and took effect on January 1, 1950, inserted the requirement that regents be qualified electors, changed their term of office from four to six years with staggered terms and added the second paragraph.
Compiler's notes. — An amendment to this section proposed by H.J.R. No. 13 (Laws 1970) which would have revised provisions relating to term of office and removal of members of board of regents, was submitted to the people at the general election held on November 3, 1970. It was defeated by a vote of 56,047 for and 74,927 against.
Eight amendments to constitution were proposed by 1970 session of legislature although attorney general has stated that constitutional amendments may not be considered in even-numbered years. 1969 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 69-151; 1965 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 65-212.
Cross references. — For statute granting regents power and duty to make rules and regulations for university government, see 21-7-7 NMSA 1978.
Comparable provisions. — Idaho Const., art. IX, § 10.
Montana Const., art. X, § 9.
Wyoming Const., art. VII, § 17.
Applicability of provisions for interim appointments. — This section does not conflict with N.M. Const., art. XX, § 5, which provides for interim appointments. Denish v. Johnson, 1996-NMSC-005, 121 N.M. 280, 910 P.2d 914.
Replacement of regents appointed to fill vacancies. — Even though the terms of regents who were appointed to fill vacancies had expired at the end of the terms of their predecessors, they were authorized to remain in office until their successors were appointed by the governor by and with the consent of the senate and they could not be summarily removed. Denish v. Johnson, 1996-NMSC-005, 121 N.M. 280, 910 P.2d 914.
Taxpayer lacks standing to enforce duty of regents. — University of New Mexico is a creature of the constitution, augmented by 21-7-3 NMSA 1978, and the respondent regents owe their duties to the state, not to a private person. Thus relator, though a taxpayer, has no standing to enforce by mandamus a duty owing to the public. Womack v. Regents of Univ. of N.M., 1971-NMSC-043, 82 N.M. 460, 483 P.2d 934.
Staggered terms. — This section creates a formal system of staggered terms for the board of regents of New Mexico tech under which no more than two regents are replaced in any given year. Denish v. Johnson, 1996-NMSC-005, 121 N.M. 280, 910 P.2d 914.
Proper to restrict visitation by opposite sex in dorms. — Power to control, manage and govern New Mexico state university is vested in regents, and its proper exercise necessarily includes exercise of broad discretion. An inherent part of the power is requiring students to adhere to generally accepted standards of conduct, and regulation forbidding visitation by persons of the opposite sex in residence hall or dormitory bedrooms is consistent with generally accepted standards of conduct. Regulation did not interfere appreciably, if at all, with intercommunication important to students of university; it was reasonable, served legitimate educational purposes and promoted welfare of students at university. Futrell v. Ahrens, 1975-NMSC-044, 88 N.M. 284, 540 P.2d 214.
Constitutionality of Public Employees Bargaining Act. — The Public Employees Bargaining Act, compiled in Chapter 10, Article 7D (now Article 7E), does not violate the autonomy of the university's board of regents as granted by this section. Regents of Univ. of N.M. v. N.M. Fed'n of Teachers, 1998-NMSC-020, 125 N.M. 401, 962 P.2d 1236.
Legislature cannot appropriate institution funds. — Legislature has expressly recognized authority of institutions of higher learning to receive benefits and donations from United States and private individuals and corporations, to buy, sell, lease or mortgage real estate and to do all things which, in the opinions of the respective boards of regents, will be for the best interests of the institutions in the accomplishment of their purposes or objects; therefore, legislature lacks authority to appropriate these funds or to control the use thereof through the power of appropriation. State ex rel. Sego v. Kirkpatrick, 1974-NMSC-059, 86 N.M. 359, 524 P.2d 975. See Sections 21-3-4, 21-7-3, 21-8-3 and 21-11-4 NMSA 1978.
New Mexico Military Institute board of regents has no authority to remove one of its members. — Pursuant to N.M. Const., Art. XII, § 13(E), the New Mexico supreme court has exclusive original jurisdiction over removal of members of board of regents and the decision as to whether removal is appropriate on the grounds of incompetence, neglect of duty, or malfeasance, and therefore the New Mexico Military Institute (NMMI) board of regents acted outside the scope of its authority in summarily barring one regent from exercising his official responsibilities as a regent, including participation in meetings and executive sessions and voting on matters before the board. The NMMI board of regents has no legal authority to remove one of its members or impose measures limiting the member’s role as regent pending his removal from the board, and unless the regent is removed by the New Mexico supreme court, the regent has the same rights, responsibilities and authority as other members of the board. Removal of New Mexico Military Institute Regent (11/14/2022), Att'y Gen. Adv. Ltr. 2022-07.
City cannot enforce ordinances on campuses. — With certain exceptions, jurisdiction of city of Albuquerque over university of New Mexico campus is limited to enforcement of state laws on campus. City ordinances dealing with crimes do not apply to land under control of board of regents of university of New Mexico except for traffic offenses as provided in 35-14-2 NMSA 1978. 1969 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 69-48.
Regent not to change political affiliation after appointment. — Member of board of regents of state educational institution may not change his political affiliation after his appointment to board in attempt to control political balance on board and appointive authority of governor under this section. 1971 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 71-30.
Individual appointed after legislative session. — If individual were appointed to board of regents of state educational institution after last legislative session, and such person has not been confirmed by state senate, governor would have authority to appoint someone else to office and submit latter's name for confirmation by senate. 1971 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 71-02.
Recess appointment of regent. — The failure of the legislature to act upon the governor's nomination of a person to the board of regents of an educational institution operates neither as "constructive consent" to, nor as rejection of, the nomination. A regent appointed by recess appointment may be replaced through a new gubernatorial nomination made during the next session of the legislature. 1991 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 91-04.
Term of appointee filling vacancy while senate not in session. — Appointee named to fill vacancy while senate is not in session may retain office until senate acts adversely upon his nomination. 1950 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 50-5324.
Amendment does not require legislative action to implement board's control. — Legislature need not take any action to implement provisions for control and management of each institution by a board of regents, for that part of 1949 amendment is not in conflict with original constitutional provision, and the legislature has already provided for such control and management. 1951 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 51-5331. See 21-7-3 NMSA 1978.
Board has traffic control and campus security jurisdiction. — Board of regents of university of New Mexico is specifically given traffic control jurisdiction on its property and may employ and assign duties of campus security officers. 1969 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 69-48. See 29-5-1, 29-5-1.1 and 29-5-2 NMSA 1978.
Board has right to determine use of school as election site. — Buildings of the New Mexico school for the visually handicapped or a portion of such institution may, upon approval of its board of regents, be made available as an election site whenever the board may grant such permission. However, such use would be contingent upon board approval and board's determination that such use would not endanger the lives and safety of students of the school. 1961 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 61-130.
Proper to regulate ice cream vendors. — New Mexico state university officials may preclude sale of ice cream by private individuals from mobile ice cream truck on university streets, providing reasons for regulation directly concern health, safety, education and welfare of students and are not so unreasonable and arbitrary as to offend due process of law under fourteenth amendment to United States constitution. 1962 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 62-38.
Regents cannot delegate right of final action. — It is not within power of regents to delegate right of final action to any other group or body within university. 1969 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 69-104.
Law reviews. — For article, "Constitutional Limitations on the Exercise of Judicial Functions by Administrative Agencies," see 7 Nat. Resources J. 599 (1967).
For article, "An Administrative Procedure Act For New Mexico," see 8 Nat. Resources J. 114 (1968).
Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 15A Am. Jur. 2d Colleges and Universities §§ 5, 11, 15.
14A C.J.S. Colleges and Universities §§ 15 to 17.