Candidates & Campaigns

Financial Disclosure Statements – At A Glance

The below summary guidance is intended to help facilitate compliance with the Financial Disclosure Act. This is not intended to be an authoritative document, and NMSA 1978, Sections 10-16A-1 through 10-16A-9 should be referred to in the event of confusion.

How to Search

Financial Disclosure Statements are maintained by the SOS as public records searchable from the website and are required to be retained for five years from the date of filing.

Search Financial Disclosure Statements for 2021 and beyond

Search Financial Disclosure Statements for 2020 and prior years

Administrative Rule

The administrative rule, codified as 1.10.31 NMAC applies to all persons required to file financial disclosure statements and provides for uniform procedures for filing financial disclosure statements.  Read the full rule HERE

Who Must File

The Financial Disclosure Act applies to the following groups of people:

1.         A person holding a legislative or statewide office

2.         A candidate for legislative or statewide office

3.         A state agency head, an official whose appointment to a board or commission is subject to confirmation by the senate, a member of the insurance nominating committee or a member of the state ethics commission.  The State Ethics Commission recently issued an advisory opinion regarding who is deemed to be a state agency head.  This opinion may be accessed HERE.

What to file

The Financial Disclosure Statement (“FDS”) is filed electronically in the Campaign Finance Information System (“CFIS”) and it shall include the following information:

1.      Personal information about each person covered by the disclosure statement, including their residence and employer information

2.      All sources of gross income of more than $5,000, properly categorized according to CFIS guidelines

3.      Property owned in New Mexico other than the person’s residence

4.      All other business interests in New Mexico entities of more than $10,000

5.      All memberships on the boards of for-profit New Mexico businesses held by the person and their spouse

6.      All New Mexico professional licenses held

7.      Each state agency to which the person or their spouse sold more than $5,000 of goods or services

8.      Each state agency, other than a court, before which the person represented or assisted clients during the person’s employment during the prior calendar year

Once registered, a filer will simply login and fill out each section of the form for the filing cycle and click ‘file statement’ to complete the filing process.

Filers may review statements previously filed beginning in 2021 from the filer dashboard once logged into the system.

When to file:

An FDS must be filed at the following times:

1. Legislators and statewide officeholders are required to file an FDS every calendar year. The upcoming deadline for the regular FDS filings is January 31, 2023
2. Candidates for legislative or statewide office are required to file an FDS when they file a declaration of candidacy

NOTE: If the candidate has previously filed an FDS in the calendar year they seek office, they don’t need to file a new one.

3. A state agency head, an official whose appointment to a board or commission is subject to confirmation by the senate, a member of the insurance nominating committee or a member of the state ethics commission shall file with the secretary of state a financial disclosure statement within thirty days of appointment and during the month of January every year thereafter that they hold public office.
4. An amended Financial Disclosure Statement may also be filed with SOS at any time to reflect significant changed circumstances.

Where to file

Any person required to do so shall file an FDS through the Campaign Finance Information System “CFIS“. If for any reason a candidate for legislative or statewide office has filed another FDS with a different filing officer before seeking statewide or legislative office, it is their responsibility to file the FDS in CFIS.

Voluntary Compliance & Enforcement

Noncompliance with FDS filing requirements has significant consequences. Candidates for office who do not comply with the Financial Disclosure Act by the filing deadlines for the office sought shall not be qualified as a candidate for that office. Agency heads, officials whose appointment to boards or commissions is subject to confirmation by the senate, members of the insurance nominating committee and members of the state ethics commission must file an FDS as a condition of their employment or appointment.

SOS will strive to obtain voluntary compliance with the Financial Disclosure Act through education and advance notice of filing deadlines. Filers notified of noncompliance have ten days to comply, or may be referred to the state ethics commission, the attorney general, or a district attorney for possible further investigation, which could result in both civil and criminal penalties.

The Office of the New Mexico Secretary of State is here to help make sure that anyone required to file an FDS can do so in a way that complies with the Financial Disclosure Act.

Should you need further assistance or have further questions or concerns, please contact the office by phone at (505) 827-3600 or by email at sos.elections@state.nm.us.