A. Information contained in the following documents shall be available for public inspection:
(1) posters, announcements or lists for identifying or apprehending fugitives or wanted persons;
(2) original records of entry such as police blotters maintained by criminal justice agencies, compiled chronologically and required by law or long-standing custom to be made public, if the records are organized on a chronological basis;
(3) court records of public judicial proceedings;
(4) published court or administrative opinions or public judicial, administrative or legislative proceedings;
(5) records of traffic offenses and accident reports;
(6) announcements of executive clemency; and
(7) statistical or analytical records or reports in which individuals are not identified and from which their identities are not ascertainable.
B. Nothing prevents a law enforcement agency from disclosing to the public arrest record information related to the offense for which an adult individual is currently within the criminal justice system. A law enforcement agency is not prohibited from confirming prior arrest record information to members of the news media or any other person, upon specific inquiry as to whether a named individual was arrested, detained, indicted or whether an information or other formal charge was filed on a specified date, if the arrest record information disclosed is based on data enumerated by Subsection A of this section.
History: 1953 Comp., § 39-10-8, enacted by Laws 1977, ch. 339, § 4; 1993, ch. 260, § 5.
ANNOTATIONSRepeals and reenactments. — Laws 1977, ch. 339, § 4 repealed 39-10-8, 1953 Comp., relating to the application of the Arrest Record Information Act, and enacted a new section.
The 1993 amendment, effective June 18, 1993, in Subsection A, in the introductory language, deleted "The provisions of the Arrest Record Information Act do not apply to criminal history record", inserted "the following documents shall be available for public inspection" and made stylistic changes; and, in Subsection B, deleted "in this act" following "Nothing" near the beginning of the first sentence and made stylistic changes.
Information to be included in police blotter. — The following information may be appropriately included by a law enforcement agency in a police blotter or original record of entry: the name, physical description, place and date of birth, address and occupation of the individual arrested; the time and place of arrest; the offense for which the individual was arrested or detained; and the name of the arresting officer. This list should be interpreted as a minimum requirement but not to the exclusion of additional information which may presently appear on the initial records of entry or police blotters being used by some law enforcement agencies. 1975 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 75-37 (opinion superseded by 1978 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 78-09).
Limited privacy of accused. — Section 29-10-4 NMSA 1978 protects the confidentiality of information concerning the identity of a person who has been accused but not charged with a crime only if that information has been collected in connection with an investigation of, or otherwise relates to, another person who has been charged with committing a crime. However, information in other records which identifies a person accused but not charged with or arrested for a crime may be protected from public disclosure under Section 14-2-1 NMSA 1978 et seq. Finally, even if it would otherwise be protected under either statute, information about a person accused but not charged with a crime is open to public inspection if it is contained in a document listed in this section. 1994 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 94-02.
Repeal and reenactment broadened exemption. — In the repeal and reenactment of this section, the phrase "indexed chronologically" in Subsection A(2) became "compiled chronologically," thus removing the requirement that the records must be "indexed" to qualify as "original records of entry." The phrase "or long-standing custom" was added also, thereby legitimating a long-standing custom by which many law enforcement agencies had released information from police blotters and other such original records. 1978 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 78-09.
Meaning of "within the criminal justice system". — While the statute does not specify what is meant by "within the criminal justice system," the term appears to relate to the status of an adult who has been arrested or formally charged with a criminal offense until such time as there is a final "negative disposition." 1978 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 78-09.