As used in the Public Records Act:

A. "administrator" means the state records administrator;

B. "agency" means any state agency, department, bureau, board, commission, institution or other organization of the state government, the territorial government and the Spanish and Mexican governments in New Mexico;

C. "commission" means the state commission of public records;

D. "microphotography" means the transfer of images onto film and electronic imaging or other information storage techniques that meet the performance guidelines for legal acceptance of public records produced by information system technologies pursuant to regulations adopted by the commission;

E. "microphotography system" means all microphotography equipment, services and supplies;

F. "personal identification information" means the name, social security number, military identification number, home address, telephone number, email address, fingerprint, photograph, identifying biometric data, genetic identification, personal financial account number, state identification number, including driver's license number, alien registration number, government passport number, personal taxpayer identification number, or government benefit account number of a natural person;

G. "public records" means all books, papers, maps, photographs or other documentary materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any agency in pursuance of law or in connection with the transaction of public business and preserved, or appropriate for preservation, by the agency or its legitimate successor as evidence of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations or other activities of the government or because of the informational and historical value of data contained therein. Library or museum material of the state library, state institutions and state museums, extra copies of documents preserved only for convenience of reference and stocks of publications and processed documents are not included;

H. "records center" means the central records depository that is the principal state facility for the storage, disposal, allocation or use of noncurrent records of agencies or materials obtained from other sources;

I. "records custodian" means the statutory head of the agency using or maintaining the records or the custodian's designee; and

J. "records retention and disposition schedules" means rules adopted by the commission pursuant to Section 14-3-6 NMSA 1978 describing records of an agency, establishing a timetable for their life cycle and providing authorization for their disposition.

History: 1953 Comp., § 71-6-2, enacted by Laws 1959, ch. 245, § 2; 1963, ch. 186, § 1; 1977, ch. 301, § 1; 1995, ch. 27, § 2; 2005, ch. 79, § 1.

The 2005 amendment, effective June 17, 2005, revised all definitions.

The 1995 amendment, effective June 16, 1995, added Subsection G.

"Public records" not applicable to Inspection of Public Records Act. — Definition of "public records" in Public Records Act, 14-3-1 NMSA 1978 et seq., does not apply to 14-2-1 NMSA 1978 of the Inspection of Public Records Act. State ex rel. Newsome v. Alarid, 1977-NMSC-076, 90 N.M. 790, 568 P.2d 1236.

Term "public records" in this section includes the records of various public officials as that term is used in the inspection of public records provisions, former 14-2-1 to 14-2-3 NMSA 1978, being those "public records" which are necessary or incidental to fulfilling the public officer's duties imposed upon his office by operation of law. 1969 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 69-139.

"Public records" criteria. — In order to be considered a "public record," an item must have some continuing significance or importance. There must be some purpose or reason for its preservation. Therefore, general correspondence files are not public records per se. Certainly there are many items in such a file which should be treated as public records because their contents bring them within the statutory definition. However, there are many items which should be classified as transitory in value and interest. To treat such items as public records and to require their retention for at least three years (as formerly required under 14-3-11 NMSA 1978) would be burdensome, wasteful and unnecessary. 1960 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 60-72.

Confidential data not public record. — Data concerning the reliability, honesty, capability and personality traits of an individual which had been solicited with the understanding that they would be kept confidential are not public records. 1967 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 67-57.

County and municipal records are not included in the term "public records" as that term is defined in this article. 1960 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 60-181.

Elected state officials' records are "public records" within the meaning and scope of this article. 1969 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 69-139.

Elected state officials' records not required by law to be kept. — Papers and memoranda in the possession of elected state officials which are not required by law to be kept by such officials as an official record are not public records. 1969 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 69-139.

Examples of officials' records not required to be kept. — Generally, reports of private individuals to government officials, correspondence of public officials to private individuals and memoranda of public officials made for their own convenience are not public records. 1969 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 69-139.

Papers and memoranda in the possession of public officers which are not required by law to be kept by a public official as an official record may not be public records. Generally, reports of private individuals to government officials, correspondence of public officials to private individuals and memoranda of public officers made for their own convenience are not public records. 1967 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 67-57.

Records which contain both official and personal matters are still public records and should be in the custody of the state records commission (now state commission of public records) at the state records center. 1969 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 69-139.

Records used to carry out duties deemed public. — It is clear that those records which are necessary and incidental to carrying out the duties imposed upon an individual by operation of law are generally deemed public records. 1961 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 61-137.

Accident reports. — Accident reports made by police officers as a part of their regular course of duty are considered public records. 1959 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 59-213.

School records deemed public. — Business records, expenditures, daily attendance records and permanent records of an individual student's grades kept by the public schools are public records. 1961 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 61-137.

Records kept for informational purposes or those containing data used in educating pupils not "public". — The attendance records and the grade and achievement records of students are public records, but records of information kept for informational purposes or which contain data of a personal nature for use in assisting teachers and school personnel in educating pupils do not fall within the category of public records. 1967 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 67-57.

Such records or memoranda as may be kept by a teacher, or other school official, for informational purposes on individual students, and which may contain data of a personal nature for use in assisting teachers or school personnel in educating pupils, do not fall within the classification of public records entitled to be scrutinized by the public; nor are temporary or partial grades or records kept by individual teachers public records in nature. 1961 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 61-137.

Availability to teacher of reports, etc., on teacher. — The reports of supervisors, comments of fellow teachers and parents concerning the reliability, honesty, capability and personality traits of the public school teacher are not public records which are available for inspection by the teacher except in accordance with the regulations of the governing body of the school. 1967 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 67-57.

A wallet placed in a probate file as an effect of a decedent is not a public record. 1987 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 87-26.

"State agency" indicates specific type of governmental organization and not state governmental entities generally. 1978 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 78-23.

Counties and municipalities not included in term "agency". — "Agency" includes only portions of the state government or other bodies that are under the direct supervision of, or are branches of, a portion of the state government. Counties and municipalities are not included in the term "agency," as it is defined in this section. 1960 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 60-181.

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 66 Am. Jur. 2d Records and Recording Laws §§ 1 to 3.

What are "records" of agency which must be made available under Freedom of Information Act (5 USCA § 552(a)(3)), 153 A.L.R. Fed. 571.

What constitutes "agency" for purposes of Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. § 552), 165 A.L.R. Fed. 591.

76 C.J.S. Records § 2 et seq.