A. A person who is not an heir and who has purchased or leased property within the limits of a land grant-merced shall only have a right to the lands acquired through the purchase or lease but not to any common lands within the land grant-merced.

B. The provisions of Chapter 49, Article 1 NMSA 1978 shall not diminish, extinguish or otherwise impair any private property interest located within the boundaries of a land grant-merced or be construed to grant the board of trustees of a land grant-merced regulatory authority over such property interests or lands other than the common lands. As used in this subsection, "property interest" includes valid easements and rights of access, but does not include use rights to the common lands of the land grant-merced.

C. The designation of land grants-mercedes as political subdivisions of the state shall not alter the property rights of the heirs in the common lands. The common lands owned or controlled by a land grant-merced shall not be considered to be, designated or treated as state land.

History: 1978 Comp., § 49-1-22, enacted by Laws 2004, ch. 124, § 2; amended and recompiled as 1978 Comp., § 49-1-11.1 by Laws 2005, ch. 75, § 1; 2011, ch. 96, § 2.

The 2011 amendment, effective April 6, 2011, added Subsection C to provide that the property rights of heirs in common lands is not altered by the designation of land grants-mercedes as a political subdivision and that the common lands of land grants-mercedes are not state land.

The 2005 amendment, effective July 1, 2005, added Subsection B, which limits the affects of the provisions of Chapter 49, Article 1 NMSA 1978 on private property interests.