A. The superintendent shall require as a condition to continuation of an insurance producer license that during the twenty-four months next preceding expiration of the current license period the licensee has attended the minimum number of hours of formal class instruction, lectures or seminars required and approved by the superintendent covering the kinds of insurance for which licensed.

B. Instruction shall be designed to refresh the licensee's understanding of basic principles and coverages involved, recent and prospective changes, applicable laws and rules of the superintendent, proper conduct of the licensee's business and duties and responsibilities of the licensee.

C. The superintendent may permit licensees who because of remoteness of residence or business cannot with reasonable convenience attend formal instruction sessions to successfully complete an equivalent course of study and instruction online or by mail.

D. The superintendent may impose a penalty not to exceed fifty dollars ($50.00) for a licensee's failure to timely report continuing education credits.

E. The superintendent shall charge, at the time of certifying each licensee's continuing education credits as a condition of continuation of license, a fee of one dollar ($1.00) per credit hour of continuing education; provided that the superintendent may contract with an independent agency to receive and review continuing education compliance reports and, in such a case, the fee shall be a reasonable amount fixed by the superintendent and payable to the contracting agency.

F. This section shall not apply to holders of:

(1) limited license issued under Section 59A-12-18 NMSA 1978; and

(2) self-service storage insurance producer license.

History: Laws 1984, ch. 127, § 227; 1987, ch. 259, § 14; 1988, ch. 112, § 2; 1989, ch. 367, § 1; 1999, ch. 272, § 16; 1999, ch. 289, § 17; 2003, ch. 306, § 4; 2016, ch. 89, § 44; 2019, ch. 219, § 13.

The 2019 amendment, effective July 1, 2019, provided an exemption to the provisions of this section for holders of self-service storage insurance producer licenses; and in Subsection F, added new paragraph designation "(1)" and Paragraph F(2).

The 2016 amendment, effective July 1, 2017, required continuing education for the continuation of an insurance producer's license; in the catchline, changed "continued" to "continuing"; in Subsection A, deleted "For protection of the public and to preserve and improve competence of licensees", after "The superintendent", deleted "may in his sole discretion" and added "shall", after "as a condition to continuation of", added "an insurance producer", after "license", deleted "agent, solicitor or broker under this article", and after "that during the", deleted "twelve" and added "twenty-four"; in Subsection C, after "instruction sessions", deleted "and" and added "to", and after "study and instruction", added "online or"; in Subsection D, after "The superintendent", deleted "shall promulgate rules for the purposes and requirements of this section and"; and in Subsection E, deleted "For the purposes of this section", and after "may contract with an", deleted "established and experienced".

Severability. — Laws 2016, ch. 89, § 71 provided that if any part or application of Laws 2016, ch. 89 is held invalid, the remainder or its application to other situations or persons shall not be affected.

The 2003 amendment, effective June 20, 2003 deleted "and regulations" following "laws and rules" near the middle of Subsection B; deleted "to take" following "instruction sessions" near the end of Subsection C; in Subsection D, deleted "and regulations" following "shall promulgate rules" near the beginning, and deleted "effectuation of" following "rules for" near the beginning; and substituted "one dollar ($1.00) per credit hour of continuing education; provided that the superintendent may contract with an established and experienced independent agency to receive and review continuing education compliance reports and, in such a case, the fee shall be a reasonable amount fixed by the superintendent and payable to the contracting agency" for "five dollars ($5.00)" at the end of Subsection E.

The 1999 amendment, effective June 18, 1999, substituted "solicitor or broker" for "solicitor nonresident agent or nonresident broker", substituted "attended the minimum number of hours" for "enrolled in and attended not less than fifteen hours", and inserted "required and" in Subsection A; deleted former Subsection B, stating that the superintendent may waive the requirements of Subsection A if the licensee is licensed to transact only one of a list of lines of insurance; redesignated former Subsections C to G as Subsections B to F; and added "and may impose a penalty" at the end of Subsection D.