Legislation, Lobbying & Legal Resources

The Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA), NMSA 1978, §14-2-1 to – 12, is a New Mexico state law that provides the public access to public records. The law requires open access to almost all public records in state and local government, with a few exceptions.

The Attorney General has the statutory authority to enforce IPRA, as do district attorneys.

14-2-8. PROCEDURE FOR REQUESTING RECORDS

1. Any person wishing to inspect public records maintained by the Secretary of State may submit an oral or written request to the custodian.  However, the procedures set forth in this section shall be in response to a written request.  The failure to respond to an oral request shall not subject the custodian to any penalty.
2. Nothing in the Inspection of Public Records Act shall be construed to require a public body to create a public record.
3. A written request shall provide the name, address and telephone number of the person seeking access to the records and shall identify the records sought with reasonable particularity.  No person requesting records shall be required to state the reason for inspecting the records.

Copies of records may be given to a person who has requested inspection. Reasonable fees may be charged. Advance payment of fees may be required before copies are made.

Please fill out the IPRA request form and submit to the New Mexico Secretary of State, 325 Don Gaspar, Suite 300, Santa Fe, NM 87504. E-mail requests may be made to the following address: ipra.sos@sos.nm.gov.  You may also send your request via facsimile to 505-827-4387.

PROCEDURE FOR OBTAINING BUSINESS, NOTARY AND COMMERCIAL FILINGS

You may search public business, notary and commercial filings or purchase copies of documents by using our self-service business portal available at https://portal.sos.state.nm.us/BFS/online/Account.

For information on voter data requests, please go to https://www.sos.nm.gov/voting-and-elections/data-and-maps/

FOR MEDIA INQUIRIES

For media inquiries, please contact Alex Curtas, Director of Communications, via email at alex.curtas@sos.nm.gov