A. The state purchasing agent or a central purchasing office may only make an emergency procurement when the service, construction or item of tangible personal property procured:

(1) is needed immediately to:

(a) control a serious threat to public health, welfare, safety or property caused by a flood, fire, epidemic, riot, act of terrorism, equipment failure or similar event; or

(b) plan or prepare for the response to a serious threat to public health, welfare, safety or property caused by a flood, fire, epidemic, riot, act of terrorism, equipment failure or similar event; and

(2) cannot be acquired through normal procurement methods.

B. The state purchasing agent or a central purchasing office:

(1) in making an emergency procurement, shall:

(a) employ a competitive process to the extent practicable under the circumstances; and

(b) use due diligence in determining the basis for the procurement and in selecting a contractor; and

(2) shall not make an emergency procurement for the purchase or lease of heavy road equipment.

C. The state purchasing agent or a central purchasing office that makes an emergency procurement shall outline its determination of the basis for the procurement and its selection of the contractor in writing and include the writing in the procurement file. Promptly thereafter:

(1) the state purchasing agent shall post notice of the procurement on its website; or

(2) the central purchasing office shall post notice of the procurement on its website, if it maintains one, and shall transmit the notice to the state purchasing agent for posting on the state purchasing agent's website.

D. The state purchasing agent or a central purchasing office that makes an emergency procurement to plan or prepare for the response to a serious threat to public health, welfare, safety or property caused by a flood, fire, epidemic, riot, act of terrorism, equipment failure or similar event shall account for the money spent in making the procurement and report on that accounting to the legislative finance committee and the department of finance and administration within sixty days after the end of the fiscal year in which the procurement was made.

History: Laws 1984, ch. 65, § 100; 1987, ch. 348, § 10; 2002, ch. 84, § 1; 2013, ch. 40, § 3; repealed and reenacted by Laws 2019, ch. 153, § 5.

Repeals and reenactments. — Laws 2019, ch. 153, § 5 repealed and reenacted 13-1-127 NMSA 1978, effective July 1, 2019.

The 2013 amendment, effective June 14, 2013, changed the procedures for an emergency procurement; in Subsection A, after "central purchasing office", deleted "or a designee or either", after "purchasing office may make", deleted "or authorize others to make", and deleted the former second sentence which required a written determination of the basis for an emergency procurement and the selection of a contractor and prohibited the emergency procurement of heavy road equipment; and added Subsections C and D.

The 2002 amendment, effective March 5, 2002, inserted "or vendor" in the second sentence of Subsection A; inserted "fires", "acts of terrorism", and "and includes the planning and preparing for an emergency response" in the first sentence of Subsection B; and added Subsection C.

Applicability to exempt transaction. — The emergency provisions of Section 13-1-127 NMSA 1978 did not apply to a contract for the purchase of water services by a school district from the water utility of a municipality which was within the exemptions contained in Subsections A and D of Section 13-1-98 NMSA 1978. Morningstar Water Users Ass'n v. Farmington Mun. Sch. Dist. No. 5, 1995-NMSC-052, 120 N.M. 307, 901 P.2d 725.

Intent. — The intention of the emergency purchases statute is to keep a public record of such purchases and to provide some means of control over them. 1969 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 69-107.

Reason for exceptions. — Only where centralized control may be harmful or unproductive of savings were exceptions from the bid requirement allowed by the former Public Purchases Act. 1969 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 69-87.

Misuse remedy. — The remedy for any misuse of the emergency purchases provisions would appear to be in the form of reporting the same in an audit report rather than in approving or disapproving the purchase itself. 1969 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 69-107.

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 64 Am. Jur. 2d Public Works and Contracts § 38.