A. Through December 31, 2010, there shall be five magistrates in Lea magistrate district, division 1 in Lovington, divisions 2 and 5 operating as a single court in Hobbs, division 3 in Eunice and division 4. The division 3 magistrate shall ride circuit to Jal on a regularly scheduled basis and shall ride circuit to Hobbs as needed. The division 4 magistrate shall ride circuit to Lovington, Hobbs and Eunice.

B. On January 1, 2011, there shall be four magistrates in the Lea magistrate district, divisions 1 and 2 operating as a single court in Hobbs, division 3 in Eunice and division 4 in Lovington. The division 3 magistrate shall ride circuit to Jal on a regularly scheduled basis and shall ride circuit to Hobbs as needed.

C. Magistrate judges shall not be elected at large from the district but shall be elected by the voters of the division for which the magistrate sits. Magistrate judges shall reside in their divisions but shall have district-wide jurisdiction. For the 2010 and subsequent elections, the composition of the divisions for elections and residence purposes is as follows:

(1) division 1 is composed of Lea county precincts 23 through 30, 32 and 41 through 43;

(2) division 2 is composed of Lea county precincts 33 through 35, 44, 51 through 55 and 61;

(3) division 3 is composed of Lea county precincts 20, 22, 31, 36, 62 and 71 through 74; and

(4) division 4 is composed of Lea county precincts 2, 3, 10 through 18 and 21.

History: 1953 Comp., § 36-1-16, enacted by Laws 1968, ch. 62, § 18; 1985, ch. 145, § 6; 1992, ch. 71, § 1; 2009, ch. 54, § 3.

Compiler's notes. — In Llanez v. Gonzales, CIV No. 98-1266 BB/LCS, in paragraph 5 of the Agreed Final Judgment, filed on November 18, 1999, the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico ordered that, beginning at the next election for magistrates, the at-large system of electing the five magistrate court judges in Lea county will no longer be utilized. The five magistrate court judges shall be elected from five electoral divisions; the qualified, registered electors in each of the five electoral divisions will elect one magistrate court judge. A candidate for magistrate court judge must, at the time of filing for candidacy, reside in the electoral division from which he or she seeks to be elected and, if elected, must maintain residency in that electoral division. In the event a magistrate court judge is appointed to fill a vacancy pursuant to state law, the appointee must be a resident of and maintain residency in the electoral division to which he or she is appointed. Nothing in the order shall be deemed to affect the jurisdiction, powers, or authority of the magistrate court judges under current law and practice. Paragraph 6 provides that the electoral divisions for Lea county magistrate court judge shall be as follows: electoral division 1 (Lovington courthouse): Lea county voting precincts 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 22, 23, 24 and 30; electoral division 2 (Hobbs minority district): Lea county voting precincts 35, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55 and 61; electoral division 3 (Eunice courthouse): Lea county voting precincts 31, 32, 34, 36, 62, 71, 72, 73 and 74; electoral division 4 (Tatum courthouse): Lea county voting precincts 2, 3, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 21 and 26; and electoral division 5 (Hobbs courthouse): Lea county voting precincts 25, 27, 28, 29, 33, 41, 42, 43 and 44.

The 2009 amendment, effective July 1, 2009, in Subsection A, added "Through December 31, 2010" at the beginning of the first sentence and added the last sentence; and added Subsections B and C.

Temporary provisions. — Laws 2009, ch. 54, § 6 provided that the magistrate court clerk positions assigned to the magistrate courts shall not be decreased as a result of this act, but the administrative office of the courts shall reassign positions from the eliminated division in the Lea district to other magistrate courts. The administrative office of the courts shall reassign other resources, including furniture, equipment and supplies, to other magistrate courts as needed.

The 1992 amendment, effective July 1, 1992, substituted "five" for "four" and "divisions 2 and 5 operating as a single court" for "division 2" in the first sentence.