1. A. Members of the senate shall be elected for terms of four years.

2. B. If a vacancy occurs in the office of senator for any reason, the vacancy shall be filled as follows:

   1. (1) for a senate district that is situated wholly within the exterior boundaries of a single county, the board of county commissioners of that county shall appoint the senator to fill the vacancy; and

   2. (2) for a senate district situated within two or more counties:

      1. (a) the board of county commissioners of each county in the senate district shall submit one name to the governor; and
      2. (b) the governor shall appoint the senator to fill the vacancy from the list of names so submitted.
3. C. All appointments to fill vacancies in the senate shall be for a term ending on December 31 subsequent to the next succeeding general election, at which general election a person shall be elected to fill the remainder of any unexpired term.
4. D. An appointment to fill a vacancy made before the general election of 2024 shall be made from the district as it was described in Section 2-8E-1 NMSA 1978, as established by the court in Egolf v. Duran, D-101-CV-2011-02942 (1st Dist. Ct., Judgement and Final Order (State Senate Trial) filed January 25, 2012). On or after the general election of 2024, a vacancy shall be filled by appointment from the district as set out in the 2021 Senate Redistricting Act.

History: Laws 2021 (2nd S.S.), ch. 7, § 4.

ANNOTATIONS

Effective dates. — Laws 2021 (2nd S.S.), ch. 7 contained no effective date provision, but, pursuant to N.M. Const., art. IV, § 23, was effective March 17, 2022, 90 days after adjournment of the legislature.