New Mexico Court Information

The New Mexico court system has the following state courts:

•    New Mexico Supreme Court
•    New Mexico Court of Appeals
•    New Mexico District Court (13 judicial districts)
•    New Mexico Magistrate Court
•    New Mexico Municipal Court
•    New Mexico Probate Court

New Mexico Supreme Court

This is the highest legal authority among all New Mexico courts. The Supreme Court is responsible to hear all appeals from lower courts, typically those on appeal from the New Mexico Court of Appeals. The court also hears direct appeals from the trial courts in criminal cases where a death penalty or life imprisonment has been recommended, appeals from the Public Regulation Commission and all cases involving the writ of habeas corpus.

The New Mexico Supreme Court has jurisdiction over challenged elections, and also supervises all the courts of the state, including matters of attorney discipline.

Based in Santa Fe, the Supreme Court has been authorized by the constitution of the state. If a party to a case is not happy with the decision of the court, then an appeal can be made to the Supreme Court of the United States.

In the Supreme Court of New Mexico, as of 2009, there are 4 justices and one Chief Justice.

The New Mexico Supreme Court’s website is

http://nmsupremecourt.nmcourts.gov

.

New Mexico Court of Appeals

This is the intermediate-level appellate court in the state. According to court rules, this court has general appellate jurisdiction over the state district courts and certain state agencies. There are some exceptions to this though, and this includes all cases of criminal nature where a death penalty or life sentence has been recommended. All such cases are directly handled by the Supreme Court of the state.

The New Mexico Court of Appeals has 10 judges and each one of them has his or her own paralegal and law clerk. The court’s website is

http://coa.nmcourts.gov

.

There are 2 offices of the court, and they are located in Santa Fe and Albuquerque. Among the 10 judges of the court, 6 are based in Santa Fe and 4 are in Albuquerque. The office in Santa Fe is located at the building housing Supreme Court and this is also the central location of the clerk's office, the prehearing division, and the mediation office. The office in Albuquerque is close to the University School of Law.

New Mexico Magistrate Courts

These NM courts have jurisdiction over cases including landlord/tenant rights, traffic violations, and preliminary felony hearings.

New Mexico Municipal Courts

These are courts in the state with jurisdiction over all cases in which there has been a municipal ordinance violation, petty misdemeanor or traffic violation.

New Mexico Probate Courts

The Probate Courts are non-jury trial courts that hear estate cases.