Publication of Notice

NMSA 1978 ch. 14, art. 11

in effect

NMSA 1978, § 14-11-1 "Legal notices and advertisements" defined

14-11-1. "Legal notices and advertisements" defined Any notice or other written matter whatsoever required to be published in a newspaper by any law of this state, or by the order of any court of record of this state, shall be deemed and held to be a legal notice or advertisement within the meaning of this act [14-11-1 to 14-11-4, 14-11-7, 14-11-8 NMSA 1978]. Laws 1937, ch. 167, § 1; 1941 Comp., § 12-201; 1953 Comp., § 10-2-1.

NMSA 1978, § 14-11-2 Requirement for publication of legal notice or advertisement

14-11-2. Requirement for publication of legal notice or advertisement Any and every legal notice or advertisement shall be published in a daily, tri-weekly, a semi-weekly or a weekly newspaper of general circulation that can be obtained by single copy and that is entered under the second class postage privilege in the county in which the notice or advertisement is required to be published; which newspaper, if published tri-weekly, semi-weekly or weekly, shall have been so published in the county continuously and uninterruptedly during the period of at least twenty-six consecutive weeks next prior to the first issue thereof containing any such notice or advertisement, and which newspaper, if published daily, shall have been so published in the county uninterruptedly and continuously during the period of at least six months next prior to the first issue thereof containing any such notice or advertisement; provided that the mere change in the name of any newspaper or the removal of the principal business office or seat of publication of any newspaper from one place to another in the same county shall not break or affect the continuity in the publication of any such newspaper if the newspaper is in fact continuously and uninterruptedly printed and published within the county as provided in this section; provided further that a newspaper shall not lose its rights as a legal publication if it fails to publish one or more of its issues by reason of fire, flood, accident, transportation embargo or tie-up or other casualty beyond the control of the publisher; provided further that any legal notice which fails of publication for the required number of insertions by reasons beyond the control of the publisher shall not be declared illegal if the publication has been made in one issue of the publication; and provided further that if in any county in this state there has not been published any newspaper for the prescribed period at the time when any such notice or advertisement is required to be published, the notice or advertisement may be published in any newspaper having a general circulation or published and printed in whole or in part in that county and that can be obtained by single copy in that county. Laws 1937, ch. 167, § 2; 1941 Comp., § 12-202; 1953 Comp., § 10-2-2; 1999, ch. 63, § 1.

NMSA 1978, § 14-11-3 [Frequency of newspaper's publication; effect.]

14-11-3. [Frequency of newspaper's publication; effect.] Except as otherwise provided by law in express terms or by necessary implication, daily, weekly, semiweekly and triweekly newspapers shall all be equally competent as media for the publication of all legal notices and advertisements. Laws 1937, ch. 167, § 4; 1941 Comp., § 12-203; 1953 Comp., § 10-2-3.

NMSA 1978, § 14-11-4 Proof of publication

14-11-4. Proof of publication Proof of the publication of any such legal notice or advertisement may be made by the affidavit of the printer, business manager, editor, publisher or proprietor of the newspaper in which the publication is made, or by any other competent person who has personal knowledge of the essential facts, which affidavit, in addition to the other matters required by law to be set forth therein, shall state that such notice or advertisement was published in a newspaper duly qualified for that purpose within the meaning of this act [14-11-1 to 14-11-4, 14-11-7, 14-11-8 NMSA 1978], and that payment therefore has been made or assessed as court costs. Laws 1937, ch. 167, § 3; 1941 Comp., § 12-204; 1953 Comp., § 10-2-4.

NMSA 1978, § 14-11-5 [Affidavit of proof; contents.]

14-11-5. [Affidavit of proof; contents.] Proof of the publication of any notice required by law to be published shall be made by the publisher, editor or business manager of the newspaper in which said notice is published, making an affidavit, which affidavit shall recite the name of the newspaper in which said notice is published and the date or dates upon which said publication is made; there shall also be attached to said affidavit a copy of the notice as published, which copy when so attached to said affidavit shall be taken and considered as part of the affidavit of publication. Laws 1931, ch. 120, § 1; 1941 Comp., § 12-205; 1953 Comp., § 10-2-5.

NMSA 1978, § 14-11-6 [Filing affidavit of publication; evidential value.]

14-11-6. [Filing affidavit of publication; evidential value.] Any officer, board, commission or party to any legal proceeding required to publish any notice required by law shall obtain and file in his or its office, or with the clerk of the court in which any suit or legal proceeding is pending, as the case may require, the affidavit of publication referred to in Section one [14-11-5 NMSA 1978] hereof. Such affidavit so filed shall be prima facie evidence of the facts therein stated as to such publication. Laws 1931, ch. 120, § 2; 1941 Comp., § 12-206; 1953 Comp., § 10-2-6.

NMSA 1978, § 14-11-7 Rates for legal notice or advertisement; costs

14-11-7. Rates for legal notice or advertisement; costs For publication of all legal notices or advertisements that a governmental entity is required by law or the order of any court of record in this state to publish in newspapers, the publishers shall be paid a reasonable rate, to be set by rule or regulation of the secretary of general services. Changes in economic conditions within the newspaper industry, the general economy and inflation shall be considered in determining a reasonable rate. The clerk of any court in the state or any public trustee, county treasurer or other public officer required by law to publish legal notices or advertisements shall tax the cost of publishing notices or advertisements, as prescribed in this section, as part of the costs of the cause or proceeding and shall collect for publication before the cause or proceeding is closed and shall remit to the publisher the proper cost of the legal notices or advertisements. Laws 1937, ch. 167, § 5; 1941 Comp., § 12-207; Laws 1947, ch. 188, § 1; 1953 Comp., § 10-2-7; Laws 1957, ch. 103, § 1; 1965, ch. 62, § 1; 1975, ch. 238, § 1; 1980, ch. 149, § 1; 1981, ch. 202, § 1; 1991, ch. 207, § 1; 1993, ch. 35, § 1.

NMSA 1978, § 14-11-8 [Violation of legal publication law; penalty.]

14-11-8. [Violation of legal publication law; penalty.] Violation of any of the foregoing provisions [14-11-1 to 14-11-4, 14-11-7 NMSA 1978] shall be deemed a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof, such violator or violators shall be punished by a fine of not less than $100, nor more than $500. Laws 1937, ch. 167, § 6; 1941 Comp., § 12-208; 1953 Comp., § 10-2-8.

NMSA 1978, § 14-11-9 [Legal publications by county, municipality or school district; payment.]

14-11-9. [Legal publications by county, municipality or school district; payment.] All publications required to be made by any county or incorporated city, town or village, or by any board of education or school directors, or by any officer thereof, shall be paid for out of the general fund of such county, city, town or village. Provided: that the cost of such publications pertaining to school matters shall be paid out of school funds. Laws 1912, ch. 49, § 10; Code 1915, § 4652; C.S. 1929, § 113-108; 1941 Comp., § 12-209; 1953 Comp., § 10-2-9.

NMSA 1978, § 14-11-10 Litigation; publication of notice; posting

14-11-10. Litigation; publication of notice; posting Except as provided in the [Uniform] Probate Code [Chapter 45 NMSA 1978], all legal notices in connection with suits in the district courts, including notices of sale of property under any writ of execution, judgment, decree or other process issued out of the district court, and any notice of sale of personal property by virtue of any security interest, except as provided by the Uniform Commercial Code [Chapter 55 NMSA 1978], where the amount involved, including interest and costs, exceeds three hundred dollars ($300), shall be published in the English language in some newspaper of general circulation published in the county where such publication is required to be made, once each week for four consecutive weeks. If such publication shall be the notice of the pendency of a suit in the district court, the last insertion shall be at least twenty days before the date on or before which the defendant is notified to appear. In all other cases, the last insertion shall be at least three days before the date fixed in such notice for the taking of the action concerning which the publication is made. In case there be no newspaper published in the county where such publication is required, then publication shall be made by posting notice in at least six conspicuous places within the county for and during the period of time specified in the case of newspaper publications. Laws 1931, ch. 150, § 1; 1937, ch. 113, § 1; 1941 Comp., § 12-210; 1953 Comp., § 10-2-10; Laws 1961, ch. 96, § 11-101; 1978, ch. 159, § 1.

NMSA 1978, § 14-11-10.1 Legal notices; simple description also required

14-11-10.1. Legal notices; simple description also required In order to allow the general public to determine the location of real property being described in a legal notice, all legal notices containing a legal description of real property shall also contain a simple description of the real property in commonly used terms sufficient to indicate its location in relation to roads, towns, streets, neighborhoods, or other fixed objects. 1978 Comp., § 14-11-10.1, enacted by Laws 1987, ch. 28, § 1.

NMSA 1978, § 14-11-10.2 Electronic posting of legal notices

14-11-10.2. Electronic posting of legal notices A. Legal notices and advertisements of a state agency shall be posted on the state agency's web site. If a county, municipality, board of education or other political subdivision of the state has a web site, it shall post its legal notices and advertisements on its web site. Electronic posting is not a substitute for required publication of legal notices and advertisements, and failure to electronically post shall not constitute grounds to challenge, void, set aside or otherwise delay a proceeding properly noticed and advertised pursuant to nonelectronic notice requirements. B. Electronically posted legal notices and advertisements shall be indexed in such a way that the general public is able to easily find a particular legal notice or advertisement by subject. Laws 2003, ch. 186, § 1.

NMSA 1978, § 14-11-11 [County and municipal boards and officers; publication of proceedings; language requirements.]

14-11-11. [County and municipal boards and officers; publication of proceedings; language requirements.] All publications of proceedings of boards of county commissioners, city and town councils, boards of trustees, boards of education or school directors and of all other officers of any county, municipality, district or other subdivision of the state, which are required by law to be made shall be published once only. In all counties, cities or towns, in which the publication [population] is not less than seventy-five percent English speaking, the publication of such notices in English shall be sufficient; that in all counties, cities and towns, in which the population is not less than seventy-five percent Spanish speaking, the publication of such notices in the Spanish language shall be sufficient; that in all counties, cities and towns, in which the publication [population] using either language is between twenty-five percent and seventy-five percent of the whole, such notices shall be published in both English and Spanish, provided, there be legal newspapers published in both languages in the county, city or town, by different publishers, otherwise, publication in either language shall be sufficient. And, provided further, that in case of question, or disagreement, as to the percentage of the population of any county, city or town, using either language, the district judge of the judicial district of which such county, city or town, is a part, shall determine such percentage upon such information as he may have, without special investigation in the matter, and his opinion and determination thereon shall be conclusive. Laws 1912, ch. 49, § 6; Code 1915, § 4648; Laws 1919, ch. 72, § 1; 1923, ch. 148, § 1431; C.S. 1929, § 113-104; 1941 Comp., § 12-212; 1953 Comp., § 10-2-11.

NMSA 1978, § 14-11-12 [Publication in lieu of posting.]

14-11-12. [Publication in lieu of posting.] All legal process against nonresidents, unknown or absent parties, notices of sale of real estate under foreclosure of mortgages or executions, trespass warnings and other documents, the publication of which is required by law to be made by posting written or printed notices in public places, may be published instead of being pasted up, in English and Spanish, in some newspaper published in the county, if there be one, if not, then in some newspaper published in some other county of the state for the same length of time it may be required to be posted, and when so published it shall not be necessary to post such notices in public places: provided, that the person who may have to pay for such publication shall have the right to designate the newspaper in which the same may be published: and provided, further, that no newspaper shall be allowed to charge more than the price fixed by law to be charged for legal advertisements. Laws 1891, ch. 46, § 1; C.L. 1897, § 3114a; Code 1915, § 2197; C.S. 1929, § 46-108; 1941 Comp., § 12-213; 1953 Comp., § 10-2-12.

NMSA 1978, § 14-11-13 Official Spanish newspapers

14-11-13. Official Spanish newspapers For the purpose of publishing legal notices in Spanish as required by law for any agencies of the state, the Santa Rosa News published at Santa Rosa, the Santa Fe New Mexican and the Santa Fe News, both published at Santa Fe, El Hispano and El Semanario de Nuevo Mexico, both published at Albuquerque, the Alpha News published at Las Vegas, the Rio Grande Sun published at Espanola, the Taos News published at Taos, the Camino Real published at Santa Fe and Mas New Mexico published at Santa Fe and Albuquerque are recognized as official Spanish language newspapers of this state. 1953 Comp., § 10-2-13, enacted by Laws 1965, ch. 254, § 1; 1967, ch. 114, § 1; 1978 Comp., § 14-11-13; 2009, ch. 77, § 1; 2011, ch. 43, § 1; 2023, ch. 187, § 1.

Source: New Mexico Compilation Commission (nmonesource.com)URL: https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa-unanno/en/item/18514/index.doFetched: 10/20/2026