2018 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 10 - Public Officers and Employees
Article 16 - Governmental Conduct
Section 10-16-7 - Contracts involving public officers or employees.

A. A state agency shall not enter into a contract with a public officer or employee of the state, with the family of the public officer or employee or with a business in which the public officer or employee or the family of the public officer or employee has a substantial interest unless the public officer or employee has disclosed through public notice the public officer's or employee's substantial interest and unless the contract is awarded pursuant to a competitive process; provided that this section does not apply to a contract of official employment with the state. A person negotiating or executing a contract on behalf of a state agency shall exercise due diligence to ensure compliance with the provisions of this section.

B. Unless a public officer or employee has disclosed the public officer's or employee's substantial interest through public notice and unless a contract is awarded pursuant to a competitive process, a local government agency shall not enter into a contract with a public officer or employee of that local government agency, with the family of the public officer or employee or with a business in which the public officer or employee or the family of the public officer or employee has a substantial interest.

C. Subsection B of this section does not apply to a contract of official employment with a political subdivision. A person negotiating or executing a contract on behalf of a local government agency shall exercise due diligence to ensure compliance with the provisions of this section.

History: 1953 Comp., § 5-12-7, enacted by Laws 1967, ch. 306, § 7; 1983, ch. 90, § 1; 1989, ch. 264, § 26; 1993, ch. 46, § 31; 2007, ch. 362, § 5; 2009, ch. 66, § 11; 2011, ch. 138, § 8.

The 2011 amendment, effective July 1, 2011, in Subsection A, required public notice of a public officer's or employee's substantial interest in a contract with a state agency and eliminated the exemption for contracts made under the University Research and Economic Development Act and the New Mexico Research Applications Act; added Subsection B to prohibit local government agencies from entering into a contract with a public officer or employee or their family unless the officer or employee has disclosed their substantial interest in the contract and the contract is awarded through competitive bidding; and added Subsection C to exempt contracts of official employment with political subdivisions from the prohibition of Subsection B.

The 2009 amendment, effective April 2, 2009, added "and Economic Development Act" after "University Research Park" and added "or the New Mexico Research Applications Act".

The 2007 amendment, effective July 1, 2007, prohibited contracts with the family of a public officer or employee or with a business in which the family of a public officer or employee has a substantial interest unless the interest has been disclosed; provided that public officers and employees and their families are not eligible for sole source or small purchase contracts; and required persons who negotiate contracts for a state agency to use due diligence to ensure compliance with this section.

The 1993 amendment, effective July 1, 1993, inserted "public officers or" in the section heading and inserted "public officer or" in three places; substituted the language beginning "substantial interest unless" and ending at the beginning of the proviso for "controlling interests involving services or property of a value in excess of one thousand dollars ($1,000) when the employee has disclosed his controlling interest unless the contract is made after public notice and competitive bidding"; and made a minor stylistic change.