A. The municipal boundary commission shall consist of three members who shall be appointed by the governor. One of the members shall be an attorney licensed to practice in New Mexico and no more than two of the members shall be members of the same political party. Each of the members shall be residents of a separate county of New Mexico.

B. The members of the municipal boundary commission shall be paid as provided in the Per Diem and Mileage Act [10-8-1 to 10-8-8 NMSA 1978]:

(1) by the municipality if:

(a) the municipality petitions the municipal boundary commission to annex territory to the municipality; or

(b) a majority of the landowners petition the municipal boundary commission to annex territory to the municipality and the municipal boundary commission orders the territory annexed to the municipality; or

(2) by the landowners who petition the municipal boundary commission to annex the territory to the municipality, if the municipal boundary commission does not order the territory annexed to the municipality.

C. The secretary of the department of finance and administration shall provide staff to the municipal boundary commission.

History: 1953 Comp., § 14-7-12, enacted by Laws 1965, ch. 300; 1977, ch. 247, § 137; 1983, ch. 296, § 8.

Quorum. — The commission had the necessary quorum to hear a city's annexation petition without the presence of its attorney commissioner. Cox v. Municipal Boundary Comm'n, 1998-NMCA-025, 124 N.M. 709, 954 P.2d 1186, cert. denied, 125 N.M. 145, 958 P.2d 103.

Law reviews. — For note, "Annexation of Unincorporated Territory in New Mexico," see 6 Nat. Resources J. 83 (1966).