A. Except as provided in this section, all documents filed and recorded in the office of the county clerk are public records.

B. The county clerk shall publicly post in the office of the county clerk and on the county's web page a notice that documents recorded in the office of the county clerk are public records, subject to inspection and disclosure.

C. Before purchasing or digitizing of documents by third parties, protected personal identifier information, as defined in the Inspection of Public Records Act [Chapter 14, Article 2 NMSA 1978], shall be redacted.

D. Documents containing health information that relates to and identifies specific individuals as patients are exempt as a public record pursuant to Section 14-6-1 NMSA 1978.

E. Discharge papers of a veteran of the armed forces of the United States recorded in the office of the county clerk shall be segregated from public records in the office of the county clerk. Discharge papers recorded before July 1, 2005 that have been commingled with public records and that remain unsegregated are available for inspection in the office of the county clerk but shall not be purchased, copied or digitized by any third party, except by those persons authorized in this section. As the technology becomes available, county clerks shall segregate commingled discharge papers from the public records in the office of the county clerk. Discharge papers recorded in the office of the county clerk are available only to:

(1) the veteran who filed the papers;

(2) the veteran's next of kin;

(3) the deceased veteran's properly appointed personal representative or executor;

(4) a person holding the veteran's general power of attorney; or

(5) a person designated by the veteran in an acknowledged statement to receive the records.

F. Death certificates that have been recorded in the office of the county clerk may be inspected, but shall not be purchased, copied or digitized by any third party unless fifty years have elapsed after the date of death. Death certificates and other vital records recorded in the office of the county clerk are exempt from the restrictions contained in Subsection A of Section 24-14-27 NMSA 1978. The act of recording a death certificate in the office of the county clerk is considered a convenience; provided that no person shall be required to record a death certificate in the office of the county clerk to effect change of title or interest in property.

History: Laws 2011, ch. 134, § 21; 2017, ch. 87, § 3.

The 2017 amendment, effective June, 16, 2017, removed a reference to the Inspection of Public Records Act, and removed the requirement that certain information on death certificates be redacted before the death certificate may be purchased, copied or digitized by a third party; in Subsection A, after "public records", deleted "subject to disclosure pursuant to the Inspection of Public Records Act"; in Subsection C, after "Before", deleted "digitizing or", and after "purchasing", added "or digitizing"; in Subsection E, after "shall not be", deleted "copied, digitized or", and after "purchased", added "copied or digitized"; and in Subsection F, after "but shall not be", deleted "copied, digitized", after "purchased", added "copied or digitized", and after "the date of death", deleted "and the cause of death and any other medical information contained on the death certificate is redacted, in addition to redaction of protected personal identifier information".