2021 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 61 - Professional and Occupational Licenses
Article 15 - Architects
Section 61-15-4 - Powers and duties of the board. (Repealed effective July 1, 2024.)
A. The board shall hold at least four regular meetings each year. Any board member failing to attend three consecutive regular meetings is automatically removed as a member of the board. A majority of the board members constitutes a quorum.
B. A board member may participate in a meeting of the board by means of a conference telephone or other similar communications equipment when it is otherwise difficult or impossible for the member to attend the meeting in person if:
(1) each member participating by conference telephone can be identified when speaking;
(2) all participants are able to hear each other at the same time; and
(3) members of the public attending the meeting are able to hear all board members who speak during the hearing.
C. The board may establish committees to carry out the provisions of the Architectural Act. The board or any committee of the board shall have the power to subpoena any witness, to administer oaths and to take testimony concerning matters within its jurisdiction. It is within the jurisdiction of the board to determine and prescribe by rules the professional and technical qualifications necessary for the practice of architecture in New Mexico. The board shall adopt and have an official seal, which shall be affixed to all certificates of registration granted, and may make rules not inconsistent with law.
D. The board may offer, engage in and promote educational and other activities as it deems necessary to fulfill its duty to promote the public welfare.
E. The board may, for the purpose of protecting the citizens of New Mexico and promoting current architectural knowledge and practice, adopt rules establishing continuing education requirements as a condition of registration renewal.
F. Members of the board shall receive per diem and mileage as provided in the Per Diem and Mileage Act [10-8-1 to 10-8-8 NMSA 1978] and shall receive no other compensation, perquisite or allowance. All expenses certified by the board as properly and necessarily incurred in the discharge of its duties, including authorized reimbursement and necessary expenses incident to cooperation with like boards of other states, shall be paid by the state treasurer out of the "fund of the board of examiners for architects" on the warrant of the secretary of finance and administration issued upon vouchers signed by the chair or the chair's designee; provided, however, that at no time shall the total warrants issued exceed the total amount of funds accumulated under the Architectural Act. All money derived from the operation of the Architectural Act shall be deposited with the state treasurer, who shall keep the money in the fund of the board of examiners for architects.
G. The board shall by rule provide for the examinations required for registration. The board shall keep a complete record of all examinations.
H. Upon application for registration, upon a prescribed form and upon payment by the applicant of a fee set by the board, the board shall consider the application and, in cases as herein authorized, shall issue a certificate of registration as an architect to any person who submits evidence satisfactory to the board that the person is fully qualified to practice architecture.
I. It is the duty of the board to report to the district attorney of the district where the offense was committed any criminal violation of the Architectural Act.
J. The board may deny, review, suspend or revoke a registration to practice architecture and may censure, fine, reprimand and place on probation and stipulation any architect in accordance with the Uniform Licensing Act [61-1-1 to 61-1-31 NMSA 1978] for any cause as stated in the Architectural Act.
K. The board, in cooperation with the state board of licensure for professional engineers and professional surveyors and the board of landscape architects, shall create a joint standing committee to be known as the "joint practice committee". In order to safeguard life, health and property and to promote public welfare, the purpose of the committee is to promote and develop the highest professional standards in design, planning and construction and the resolution of ambiguities concerning the professions. The composition of the committee and its duties and powers shall be in accordance with identical resolutions adopted by each board.
L. Pursuant to the notice and hearing requirements of the Uniform Licensing Act, the board may impose a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500) for each violation on any individual found to be engaging in the practice of architecture without being registered pursuant to the Architectural Act.
History: Laws 1931, ch. 155, § 3; 1939, ch. 82, § 3; 1941 Comp., § 51-1403; 1953 Comp., § 67-12-3; Laws 1959, ch. 12, § 1; 1963, ch. 43, § 16; 1977, ch. 247, § 174; 1979, ch. 362, § 4; 1987, ch. 282, § 5; 1999, ch. 263, § 2; 2017, ch. 107, § 1.
ANNOTATIONSDelayed repeals. — For delayed repeal of this section, see 61-15-13 NMSA 1978.
The 2017 amendment, effective June 16, 2017, provided that the board of examiners for architects may impose a civil penalty not to exceed seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500) for each violation against any person engaged in the practice of architecture without a license; in Subsection K, after "state board of", deleted "registration" and added "licensure", and after "engineers and", deleted "land" and added "professional"; and added Subsection L.
The 1999 amendment, effective June 18, 1999, added Subsections B, D, E, and J, and redesignated subsequent subsections accordingly; added the first sentence of Subsection C; in Subsection F, deleted "except for the secretary who shall receive, in addition, a salary to be set by the board" at the end of the first sentence, and substituted "chair or the chair's designee" for "chairman and secretary or by two other members and the secretary of the board" in the second sentence; in Subsection G, substituted "by rule provide for the examinations required for registration" for "hold at least once each year an examination of applicants for registration, at a time and place designated by the board" in the first sentence, and deleted "written or oral" at the end of the last sentence; substituted "criminal violation" for "person violating any provision" in Subsection I; deleted former Subsection G, relating to the board's right to refuse to issue, to suspend, or to revoke any license for any of the grounds set forth in 61-15-12 NMSA 1978 or for any violation of the Architectural Act; and in Subsection K, deleted "architect-engineer-landscape architect" preceding "joint practice committee" in the first sentence, deleted the former second sentence, which read "The committee shall have as its purpose the resolution of disputes concerning the professions", and added the next-to-last sentence.
The 1987 amendment, effective June 19, 1987, in Subsection A substituted "at least four" for "a meeting within sixty days after its members are first appointed and thereafter shall hold at least two" in the first sentence and added the last sentence; in Subsection C, in the last sentence, substituted "fund of the board of examiners for architects" for "separate fund hereinafter designated"; in Subsection D added the last sentence; in Subsection E substituted "a fee set by the board" for "a fee of fifty dollars ($50.00)"; in Subsection H in the first sentence, inserted "and the board of landscape architects" following "land surveyors", inserted "landscape architect" in the committee name, and in the second sentence deleted "two" preceding "professions"; and made minor language changes throughout the section.
No fee charged for registration certificate. — A plain reading of Subsection E (now Subsection H) discloses that the board is required to issue a certificate of registration to an applicant upon being satisfied of the applicant's qualifications. No mention is made in the section of any fee to be charged for the architect's first certificate of registration. 1966 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 66-44.
Application fee not payable in installments. — This section clearly prescribes an application fee of $50 which must be paid in its entirety at the time the application is made. There is no provision or even an indication in the law which would permit payment of the fee in installments. 1966 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 66-44 (rendered under prior law).
Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 6 C.J.S. Architects §§ 7, 9, 10.
