No agency or member thereof shall:

A. participate in a final decision in an adjudicatory proceeding unless he has heard the evidence or read the record. A final decision or order in an adjudicatory proceeding shall be in writing or stated in the record. A final or tentative decision shall include findings of fact and conclusions of law, separately stated. Findings of fact, if set forth in statutory language, shall be accompanied by a concise and explicit statement of the underlying facts supporting the findings. If, in accordance with agency rules or practice or as authorized by the Administrative Procedures Act, a party submits proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law, the agency shall rule upon each proposed finding and conclusion. Parties shall be notified either personally or by mail of any decision or order. A copy of the decision or order shall be delivered or mailed forthwith to each party or to his attorney of record; or

B. impose any sanction or substantive rule or order except within jurisdiction delegated to the agency and as authorized by law.

History: 1953 Comp., § 4-32-12, enacted by Laws 1969, ch. 252, § 12.

Service of agency decision. — The state engineer is not required to copy of his decision sustaining or denying a protest against an application for water use upon a party of record, where a copy of the decision has been sent by certified mail to a party's attorney of record. In re Application of Metro. Invs., Inc., 1990-NMCA-070, 110 N.M. 436, 796 P.2d 1132, cert. denied, 110 N.M. 330, 795 P.2d 1022.

Law reviews. — For article, "How to Stand Still Without Really Trying: A Critique of the New Mexico Administrative Procedures Act," see 10 Nat. Resources J. 840 (1970).

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 2 Am. Jur. 2d Administrative Law § 365 et seq.

Administrative decision or finding based on evidence secured outside of hearing, and without presence of interested party or counsel, 18 A.L.R.2d 552.

Stare decisis doctrine as applicable to decisions of administrative agencies, 79 A.L.R.2d 1126.

73A C.J.S. Public Administrative Law and Procedure §§ 143 to 153.