A. No person shall sell or use student, faculty or staff lists with personal identifying information obtained from a public school or a local school district for the purpose of marketing goods or services directly to students, faculty or staff or their families by means of telephone or mail. The provisions of this section shall not apply:

(1) to legitimate educational purposes, which shall be determined by rules and regulations developed by the department of education [public education department]; or

(2) when a parent of a student authorizes the release of the student's personal identifying information in writing to the public school or local school district. For the purposes of this subsection, "personal identifying information" means the names, addresses, telephone numbers, social security numbers and other similar identifying information about students maintained by a public school or local school district.

B. Any person receiving a solicitation may bring an action against any person who violates Subsection A of this section.

C. If a person is found to have violated Subsection A of this section in an action brought under Subsection B of this section, then the person shall be required to pay actual damages or the sum of five hundred dollars ($500), whichever is greater, and reasonable attorneys' fees to the person receiving the solicitation.

History: Laws 1993, ch. 166, § 1; 1978 Comp., § 22-1-8, recompiled as § 22-21-2 by Laws 2003, ch. 153, § 72.

Bracketed material. — The bracketed material was added by the compiler and is not part of the law.

Laws 2004, ch. 25, § 27, provided that all references to the superintendent of public instruction shall be deemed references to the secretary of public education and all references to the former state board of education or state department of education shall be deemed references to the public education department. See 9-24-15 NMSA 1978.