2024 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 10 - Public Officers and Employees
Article 16 - Governmental Conduct
Section 10-16-3.1 - Prohibited political activities.
A public officer or employee is prohibited from:
A. directly or indirectly coercing or attempting to coerce another public officer or employee to pay, lend or contribute anything of value to a party, committee, organization, agency or person for a political purpose;
B. threatening to deny a promotion or pay increase to an employee who does or does not vote for certain candidates, requiring an employee to contribute a percentage of the employee's pay to a political fund, influencing a subordinate employee to purchase a ticket to a political fundraising dinner or similar event, advising an employee to take part in political activity or similar activities; or
C. violating the officer's or employee's duty not to use property belonging to a state agency or local government agency, or allow its use, for other than authorized purposes.
History: Laws 2007, ch. 362, § 9; 2011, ch. 138, § 4.
ANNOTATIONSThe 2011 amendment, effective July 1, 2011, prohibited a public officer or employee from violating another office's or employee's duty not to use property of local governmental agencies.
The Governmental Conduct Act does not prohibit a district legislative aide from engaging in non-partisan townhalls or non-partisan rallies. — A district legislative aide (DLA) is specifically authorized by policy to provide support to a legislator with activities that include the organization of nonpartisan town halls, and therefore a DLA would not engage in an unauthorized use of state property or resources, including their time, by organizing a nonpartisan town hall or a nonpartisan rally, which is sufficiently similar to a town hall to be permitted under the DLA authority, and would not violate 10-16-3.1(C) NMSA 1978, because these activities are not conducted for a political purpose and are specifically authorized uses of state resources. 2024 Op. Ethics Comm'n No. 2024-05.
