NMSA 1978, § 30-20B-1 Short title
30-20B-1. Short title
This act [30-20B-1 to 30-20B-5 NMSA 1978] may be cited as the "Demonstrations at Funerals and Memorial Services Act".
Laws 2007, ch. 254, § 1.
Demonstrations at Funerals and Memorial Services
NMSA 1978 ch. 30, art. 20B
in effectNMSA 1978, § 30-20B-2 Definitions
30-20B-2. Definitions
As used in the Demonstrations at Funerals and Memorial Services Act:
A. "funeral" means the ceremonies, rituals, processions and memorial services held at a funeral site in connection with the viewing, burial, cremation or memorial of or wake for a deceased person;
B. "funeral site" means a church, synagogue, mosque, funeral home, mortuary, cemetery, grave site, mausoleum or other place at which a funeral is being conducted or is scheduled to be conducted within the next sixty minutes or has been conducted within the last sixty minutes; and
C. "targeted residential picketing" includes the following acts:
(1) marching, standing or patrolling by one or more persons directed solely at a particular residential building in a manner that adversely affects the safety, security or privacy of an occupant of the building; or
(2) marching, standing or patrolling by one or more persons that prevents an occupant of a residential building from gaining access to or exiting from the property on which the residential building is located.
Laws 2007, ch. 254, § 2.
NMSA 1978, § 30-20B-3 Prohibited acts
30-20B-3. Prohibited acts
A person shall not, with knowledge of the existence of a funeral or funeral site:
A. engage in any loud singing, playing of music, chanting, whistling, yelling or noisemaking with or without noise amplification, including bullhorns, auto horns and microphones within five hundred feet of any ingress or egress of that funeral site, when the volume of such singing, music, chanting, whistling, yelling or noisemaking is audible at and disturbing to the peace and good order of a funeral at that funeral site;
B. direct abusive epithets or make any threatening gesture that the person knows or reasonably should know is likely to provoke a violent reaction by another person;
C. display within five hundred feet of any ingress or egress of that funeral site any visual images that convey fighting words or actual threats against another person;
D. knowingly obstruct, hinder, impede or block another person's access to or egress from that funeral site or a facility containing that funeral site, except that the owner or occupant of property may take lawful actions to exclude others from that property;
E. knowingly obstruct, hinder, impede or block the progress of a vehicle participating in a procession to or from a funeral site; or
F. knowingly engage in targeted residential picketing at the home or domicile of any surviving member of the deceased person's family or household on the date of the funeral.
Laws 2007, ch. 254, § 3.
NMSA 1978, § 30-20B-4 Penalties
30-20B-4. Penalties
Any person who violates Section 3 [30-20B-3 NMSA 1978] of the Demonstrations at Funerals and Memorial Services Act is:
A. for the first offense, guilty of a petty misdemeanor and shall be sentenced pursuant to the provisions of Section 31-19-1 NMSA 1978;
B. for the second offense, guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be sentenced pursuant to the provisions of Section 31-19-1 NMSA 1978; and
C. for the third and subsequent offenses, guilty of a fourth degree felony and shall be sentenced pursuant to the provisions of Section 31-18-15 NMSA 1978.
Laws 2007, ch. 254, § 4.
NMSA 1978, § 30-20B-5 Injunctive relief
30-20B-5. Injunctive relief
In addition to the criminal penalties provided in Section 4 [30-20B-4 NMSA 1978] of the Demonstrations at Funerals and Memorial Services Act, the court may enjoin conduct prohibited in Section 3 [30-20B-3 NMSA 1978] of that act if there is credible evidence that a person is likely to violate Section 3 of the Demonstrations at Funerals and Memorial Services Act. Any surviving member of the deceased person's immediate family who is threatened with loss or injury by reason of a violation described in Section 3 of the Demonstrations at Funerals and Memorial Services Act is entitled to sue for and have injunctive relief in any court of competent jurisdiction against any damage or threatened loss or injury by reason of a violation thereof.
Laws 2007, ch. 254, § 5.
Source: New Mexico Compilation Commission (nmonesource.com)URL: https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa-unanno/en/item/18530/index.doFetched: 10/20/2026