A. The municipal, magistrate or metropolitan court shall have original exclusive jurisdiction over all Motor Vehicle Code [Chapter 66, Articles 1 through 8 NMSA 1978] or municipal traffic code violations when the person alleged to have committed the violation is a child, with the exception of those violations contained in Paragraph (1) of Subsection A of Section 32A-2-3 N.M. Stat. Ann. and all traffic offenses alleged to have been committed by the child arising out of the same occurrence pursuant to Subsection B of this section.

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Terms Used In New Mexico Statutes 32A-2-29

  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.

B. If the court acquires jurisdiction over a child pursuant to Section 32A-2-3 N.M. Stat. Ann., it shall have exclusive jurisdiction over all traffic offenses alleged to have been committed by the child arising out of the same occurrence.

C. Disposition as to any delinquent offenses shall be pursuant to the Delinquency Act.

D. Disposition as to a Motor Vehicle Code or municipal traffic code violation in which jurisdiction is acquired as set forth in Subsection B of this section shall be pursuant to the respective Motor Vehicle Code or municipal traffic code in the children’s court’s discretion and to the extent that it neither conflicts with nor is inconsistent with the dispositional provisions of the Children’s Code.

E. All traffic offenses that the child is found to have committed by the municipal, magistrate or metropolitan court or for which the child is adjudicated delinquent by the children’s court shall be subject to the reporting requirements and the suspension and revocation provisions of the Motor Vehicle Code and shall not be subject to the confidentiality provisions of the Delinquency Act.

F. Only the children’s court may incarcerate a child who has been found guilty of any Motor Vehicle Code or municipal traffic code violations.