As used in the Public Records Act:

Terms Used In New Mexico Statutes 14-3-2

  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.

A. “administrator” means the state records administrator;

B. “agency” means any state agency, department, bureau, board, commission, institution or other organization of the state government, the territorial government and the Spanish and Mexican governments in New Mexico;

C. “commission” means the state commission of public records;

D. “microphotography” means the transfer of images onto film and electronic imaging or other information storage techniques that meet the performance guidelines for legal acceptance of public records produced by information system technologies pursuant to regulations adopted by the commission;

E. “microphotography system” means all microphotography equipment, services and supplies;

F. “personal identification information” means the name, social security number, military identification number, home address, telephone number, email address, fingerprint, photograph, identifying biometric data, genetic identification, personal financial account number, state identification number, including driver’s license number, alien registration number, government passport number, personal taxpayer identification number, or government benefit account number of a natural person;

G. “public records” means all books, papers, maps, photographs or other documentary materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any agency in pursuance of law or in connection with the transaction of public business and preserved, or appropriate for preservation, by the agency or its legitimate successor as evidence of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations or other activities of the government or because of the informational and historical value of data contained therein. Library or museum material of the state library, state institutions and state museums, extra copies of documents preserved only for convenience of reference and stocks of publications and processed documents are not included;

H. “records center” means the central records depository that is the principal state facility for the storage, disposal, allocation or use of noncurrent records of agencies or materials obtained from other sources;

I. “records custodian” means the statutory head of the agency using or maintaining the records or the custodian’s designee; and

J. “records retention and disposition schedules” means rules adopted by the commission pursuant to Section 14-3-6 N.M. Stat. Ann. describing records of an agency, establishing a timetable for their life cycle and providing authorization for their disposition.