A. Subject to the requirements of Section 4-48A-3 NMSA 1978, the board of trustees of a special hospital district shall consist of the greater of five members or a number of members equal to the number of counties which agree to form a special hospital district. In the case of a special hospital district:

(1) included wholly within a county, the members shall be elected at large or from single-member districts as provided in the Special Hospital District Act; or

(2) that includes all or a portion of two or more counties, one member of the board shall be elected from each subdistrict by the qualified electors who reside in that subdistrict and the remainder shall be elected at large by the qualified electors who reside in the special hospital district.

B. Members shall be elected as follows:

(1) for the purposes of the first election of a board of trustees, the board of county commissioners shall designate in its proclamation five positions to be filled so that:

(a) two members shall be elected for an initial term of two years; and

(b) three members shall be elected for an initial term of four years.

Thereafter, all members shall be elected for four-year terms; and

(2) for the purposes of staggering the terms of any nonstaggered terms of a board of trustees elected under the provisions of the Special Hospital District Act, the board of county commissioners may call an election to provide for five positions to be filled so that:

(a) two members shall be elected for an initial term of two years; and

(b) three members shall be elected for an initial term of four years.

Thereafter, all members shall be elected for four-year terms.

C. Vacancies on the board of trustees created by a member elected from a subdistrict or a single-member district shall be filled by the board of county commissioners of the county in which the subdistrict or single-member district is located, and vacancies created by a member elected at large shall be filled by the remaining members of the board of trustees for the remainder of the unexpired term of the member creating the vacancy.

D. Members of the board of trustees shall be suspended or removed from office only as provided in Sections 10-4-1 through 10-4-29 NMSA 1978 or as provided in Section 4-48A-7 NMSA 1978.

History: 1978 Comp., § 4-48A-6, enacted by Laws 1978, ch. 29, § 6; 1979, ch. 134, § 2; 1981, ch. 84, § 5; 1989, ch. 155, § 1; 1990, ch. 12, § 4; 1993, ch. 23, § 1; 2019, ch. 212, § 189.

Temporary provisions. — Laws 2019, ch. 212, § 277 provided that polling places for the 2019 regular local election shall be the same polling places that were used in the 2018 general election, unless the board of county commissioners amends the 2017 polling place resolution no later than July 1, 2019.

The 2019 amendment, effective April 3, 2019, revised the length of terms for certain members of the board of trustees; in Subsection B, Subparagraph B(1)(b), deleted "two" and added "three", deleted former Subparagraph B(1)(c), and in the undesignated sentence after former Subparagraph B(1)(c), after "elected for", deleted "five-year" and added "four-year", in Subparagraph B(2)(b), deleted "two" and added "three", deleted former Subparagraph B(2)(c), and in the undesignated sentence after former Subparagraph B(2)(c), after "elected for", deleted "five-year" and added "four-year"; and in Subsection D, after "Section", deleted "4-8A-7" and added "4-48A-7".

The 1993 amendment, effective March 15, 1993, substituted "call an election to provide for five positions to be filled so" for "designate in its proclamation an election to be held no later than January 1, 1990 and" in the introductory language of Paragraph (2) of Subsection B.