A. Upon filing of the complaint of a law enforcement officer, the court shall docket the action. Upon the filing of the complaint of any other person, the court shall collect the docket fee from the person before docketing the action.

Terms Used In New Mexico Statutes 31-1-4

  • Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
  • Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
  • 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.
  • Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.

B. Upon the docketing of any criminal action, the court may issue a summons directing the defendant to appear before the court at a time stated in the summons.

C. When a warrant is issued in a criminal action, it shall be directed to a law enforcement officer, and the defendant named in the warrant shall, upon arrest, be brought by the officer before the court without unnecessary delay.

D. It shall be the duty of the clerk of the district court to issue process in criminal cases filed in the district court. It shall be the duty of the clerk of the magistrate court or the magistrate, if there is no clerk, to issue process in criminal cases filed in the magistrate court. It shall be the duty of the law enforcement officer to whom process is directed to execute process and return the same to the clerk of the court from which process is issued or, if there is no clerk of the court, to the judge thereof.

E. Except for criminal actions filed in municipal court, all police officers authorized to serve process issued in any criminal action have jurisdiction to serve such process in any county of this state.