A. Any person who acts in the capacity as a contractor within the meaning of the Construction Industries Licensing Act without a license required by that act, and any person who holds himself out as a sales representative of a contractor which contractor is without a license as required by that act, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction therefor the court shall:

(1) where the dollar value of the contracting work is five thousand dollars ($5,000) or less, sentence the person to be imprisoned in the county jail for a term of ninety days or to the payment of a fine of not less than three hundred dollars ($300) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500), or to both such imprisonment and fine in the discretion of the court; and

(2) where the dollar value of the contracting work exceeds five thousand dollars ($5,000), sentence the person to be imprisoned in the county jail for a term of six months or to the payment of a fine of ten percent of the dollar value of the contracting work, or to both such imprisonment and fine in the discretion of the court.

B. Any person who acts in the capacity as a journeyman within the meaning of the Construction Industries Licensing Act without holding a valid certificate of competence issued by the division is guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction therefor the court shall sentence the person to be imprisoned in the county jail for a term of ninety days or to payment of a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100) nor more than three hundred dollars ($300), or to both such imprisonment and fine.

C. Any person who, after having been convicted and sentenced in accordance with the provisions of either Subsection A or Subsection B of this section, is again convicted pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be sentenced to twice the applicable penalty imposed by the provisions of this section.

D. In the case of a first conviction under this section, the court may impose a deferred sentence on the condition that the person comply with the provisions for licensure pursuant to Subsection D of Section 60-13-14 NMSA 1978.

History: 1953 Comp., § 67-35-59, enacted by Laws 1977, ch. 377, § 6; 1979, ch. 274, § 1; 1989, ch. 6, § 44.

Repeals and reenactments. — Laws 1977, ch. 377, § 6, repealed former 67-35-59, 1953 Comp., relating to penalties, and enacted a new 67-35-59, 1953 Comp.

Legislature casts harsh eye on contracting without a license. Gamboa v. Urena, 2004-NMCA-053, 135 N.M. 515, 90 P.3d 534, cert. denied, 2004-NMCERT-005, 135 N.M. 656, 92 P.3d 10.

Acting in capacity of contractor without required license is a misdemeanor. Fleming v. Phelps-Dodge Corp., 1972-NMCA-060, 83 N.M. 715, 496 P.2d 1111.

Evidence sufficient for conviction. — Conviction for contracting without a license was supported by sufficient evidence, where, although the contract stated that another firm would perform any work requiring a contractor's license, the contract was written on a form with the defendant's trade name and address at the top and was an undertaking for the entire project, for which the defendant remained responsible. State v. Jenkins, 1989-NMCA-044, 108 N.M. 669, 777 P.2d 908.

Jurisdiction of justices of the peace. — Justices of the peace did not have jurisdiction to try cases arising out of a violation of 67-22-21, 1953 Comp., of the former Plumbing Administrative Act. 1964 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 64-14.

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 51 Am. Jur. 2d Licenses and Permits §§ 70 to 80.

53 C.J.S. Licenses §§ 78 to 81.