A. Claims of the department take precedence over the claim of any competing claimant agency, whether the department asserts a claim or sets off an asserted debt under the provisions of the Tax Refund Intercept Program Act or under the provisions of any other law that authorizes the department to apply amounts of tax owed against any refund due an individual pursuant to the Income Tax Act [Chapter 7, Article 2 NMSA 1978].

B. After claims of the department, claims shall take priority in the following order before claims of any competing claimant agency:

(1) claims of the human services department resulting from child support enforcement liabilities;

(2) claims of the human services department resulting from medical support liabilities;

(3) claims resulting from educational loans made under the Educational Assistance Act [Chapter 21, Article 21A NMSA 1978];

(4) claims of the human services department resulting from temporary assistance for needy families liabilities;

(5) claims of the human services department resulting from supplemental nutrition assistance program liabilities;

(6) claims of the workforce transition services division of the workforce solutions department arising under the Unemployment Compensation Law [Chapter 51 NMSA 1978];

(7) claims of a district court for fines, fees or costs owed to that court;

(8) claims of a magistrate court for fines, fees or costs owed to that court;

(9) claims of the Bernalillo county metropolitan court for fines, fees or costs owed to that court;

(10) claims of a municipal court for fines, fees or costs owed to that court;

(11) claims of the workers' compensation administration arising under the Workers' Compensation Act [Chapter 52, Article 1 NMSA 1978] or the Workers' Compensation Administration Act [Chapter 52, Article 5 NMSA 1978]; and

(12) claims from educational loans made by the higher education department.

History: Laws 1985, ch. 106, § 11; 1988, ch. 49, § 3; 1991, ch. 184, § 3; 1993, ch. 261, § 4; 1994, ch. 76, § 3; 1997, ch. 210, § 3; 2006, ch. 52, § 4; 2006, ch. 53, § 4; 2017, ch. 82, § 2.

The 2017 amendment, effective June 16, 2017, added claims from educational loans made by the higher education department to the priority of claims list under the provisions of the Tax Refund Intercept Program Act; in Subsection B, Paragraph B(4), after "resulting from", deleted "AFDC" and added "temporary assistance for needy families", in Paragraph B(5), after "resulting from", deleted "food stamp" and added "supplemental nutrition assistance program", in Paragraph B(6), after "claims of the", deleted "employment security division of the labor" and added "workforce transition services division of the workforce solutions", and added Paragraph B(12).

The 2006 amendment, effective May 17, 2006, added Paragraph (11) of Subsection B to provide for the priority of claims of the workers' compensation administration arising under the Workers' Compensation Act or the Workers' Compensation Administration Act.

The 1997 amendment, effective June 20, 1997, made a minor stylistic change in Subsection A, and in Subsection B, added Paragraphs (7) and (10), redesignated former Paragraphs (7) and (8) as Paragraphs (8) and (9) and made stylistic changes accordingly.

The 1994 amendment, effective March 4, 1994, inserted Paragraph B(2) and redesignated former Paragraphs B(2) to B(7) as Paragraphs B(3) to B(8).

The 1993 amendment, effective July 1, 1993, added Paragraphs (6) and (7) to Subsection B, making a related grammatical change.

The 1991 amendment, effective January 1, 1992, in Subsection B, added Paragraph (5) and made a related stylistic change.