2018 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 66 - Motor Vehicles
Article 8 - Crimes, Penalties and Procedure
Section 66-8-111.1 - Law enforcement officer agent for department; written notice of revocation and right to hearing.
On behalf of the department, a law enforcement officer requesting a chemical test or directing the administration of a chemical test pursuant to Section 66-8-107 NMSA 1978 shall serve immediate written notice of revocation and of right to a hearing before the administrative hearings office pursuant to the Implied Consent Act on a person who refuses to permit chemical testing or on a person who submits to a chemical test the results of which indicate an alcohol concentration in the person's blood or breath of eight one hundredths or more if the person is twenty-one years of age or older, four one hundredths or more if the person is driving a commercial motor vehicle or two one hundredths or more if the person is less than twenty-one years of age. Upon serving notice of revocation, the law enforcement officer shall take the license or permit of the driver, if any, and issue a temporary license valid for twenty days or, if the driver requests a hearing pursuant to Section 66-8-112 NMSA 1978, valid until the date the administrative hearings office issues the order following that hearing; provided that a temporary license shall not be issued to a driver without a valid license or permit. The law enforcement officer shall send the person's driver's license to the department along with the signed statement required pursuant to Section 66-8-111 NMSA 1978.
History: 1978 Comp., § 66-8-111.1, enacted by Laws 1984, ch. 72, § 7; 1985, ch. 178, § 5; 1985, ch. 187, § 3; 1991, ch. 245, § 4; 1993, ch. 66, § 13; 2003, ch. 51, § 14; 2003, ch. 90, § 7; 2015, ch. 73, § 34.
The 2015 amendment, effective July 1, 2015, provides for law enforcement officers to serve immediate written notice of revocation and of right to a hearing before the administrative hearings office on a person who refuses to permit chemical testing, pursuant to the Implied Consent Act, or on a person who submits to a chemical test the results of which indicate a certain level of alcohol in the blood or breath; after "notice of revocation and of right to a hearing", added "before the administrative hearings office pursuant to the Implied Consent Act", and after "valid until the date the", deleted "department" and added "administrative hearings office".
The 2003 amendment, effective March 28, 2003, in the first sentence, inserted "in the person's blood or breath" following "an alcohol concentration", deleted "in the person's blood or breath" following "one hundredths or more", substituted "four one hundredths or more if the person is driving a commercial motor vehicle or two one hundredths or more" for "or an alcohol concentration of two one hundredths or more in the person's blood or breath" following "age or older", and substituted "a temporary license shall not" for "no temporary license shall" following "hearing; provided that".
Duplicate amendments. — Laws 2003, ch. 51, § 14 and Laws 2003, ch. 90, § 7 enacted identical amendments to this section. The section was set out as amended by Laws 2003, ch. 90, § 7. See 12-1-8 NMSA 1978.
The 1993 amendment, effective January 1, 1994, substituted the language beginning "an alcohol concentration of ten one-hundredths or more" for "one-tenth of one percent or more by weight of alcohol in the person's blood if the person is eighteen years of age or older or five one-hundredths of one percent or more by weight of alcohol in the person's blood if the person is less than eighteen years of age" at the end of the first sentence.
The 1991 amendment, effective October 1, 1991, substituted "department" for "division" in the section heading and for "director" in the first and final sentences and, in the second sentence, substituted "twenty days" for "thirty days" and inserted "or, if the driver request a hearing pursuant to Section 66-8-112 NMSA 1978, valid until the date the department issues the order following that hearing".
Notice of revocation did not violate due process. — An English language notice of an administrative license revocation hearing which has been personally served upon a person arrested for driving while intoxicated satisfies federal due process even if the person does not read English. Maso v. N.M. Taxation & Revenue Dep't, 2004-NMSC-028, 136 N.M. 161, 96 P.3d 286.
Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — Sufficiency of notice and hearing before revocation or suspension of motor vehicle driver's license, 60 A.L.R.3d 427.
60 C.J.S. Motor Vehicles § 164.9.
