A. Except as specifically authorized in this section or as otherwise provided by law, it is unlawful for the secretary, any employee or any former employee of the department to reveal to any person other than the secretary, an employee of the department, a county assessor or an employee of a county assessor any information gained during his employment about a specific property or a property taxpayer gained as a result of a report or information furnished the department or a county assessor by a taxpayer or as a result of an examination of property or records of a taxpayer. Except as specifically authorized in this section or as otherwise provided by law, it is unlawful for any county assessor or any employee or former employee of a county assessor to reveal to any person other than county assessors or their employees or the secretary or an employee of the department any information furnished by the department about a specific property or property owner or any other information gained during that person's employment about a specific property or a property taxpayer gained as a result of a report or information furnished the department or a county assessor by a taxpayer or as a result of an examination of property or records of a taxpayer. Information described in this subsection may be released:

(1) that is limited to the information contained in those valuation records that are public records and the identity of the owner or person in possession of the property;

(2) to an authorized representative of another state; provided that the receiving state has entered into a written agreement with the department to use the information for tax purposes only;

(3) to a state district or appellate court or a federal court or county valuation protests board:

(a) in response to an order made in an action relating to taxation in which the state or a governmental unit is a party and in which the information is material to the inquiry; or

(b) in any action in which the department or a county is attempting to enforce the provisions of the Property Tax Code or to collect a property tax or in any matter in which the taxpayer has put the taxpayer's own property valuation or liability for taxes at issue;

(4) to the property owner or a representative authorized in writing by the owner to obtain the information;

(5) if used for statistical purposes in a way that the information revealed is not identified or identifiable as applicable to any property owner or person in possession of the property;

(6) to a representative of the secretary of the treasury or the secretary's delegate pursuant to the terms of a reciprocal agreement entered into with the federal government for exchange of such information; or

(7) to the multistate tax commission or its authorized representative; provided that the information is used for tax purposes only and is disclosed by the multistate tax commission only to states which have met the requirements of Paragraph (2) of this subsection.

B. The secretary, any employee or any former employee of the department or any other person subject to the provisions of this section who willfully releases information in violation of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or imprisoned for a definite term of less than one year or both. Any person convicted of a violation of this section shall not be employed by the state for a period of five years after the date of conviction.

History: 1953 Comp., § 72-31-4, enacted by Laws 1973, ch. 258, § 44; 1977, ch. 249, § 61; 1982, ch. 28, § 7; 1986, ch. 20, § 113; 1990, ch. 22, § 2; 1991, ch. 166, § 7.

The 1991 amendment, effective June 14, 1991, in Subsection A, rewrote the second sentence which read "Except as specifically authorized in this section or as otherwise provided by law, it is unlawful for county assessors and their employees and former employees to reveal to any person other than county assessors or their employees any information furnished by the department about a specific property or property owner" and, in Paragraph (1), inserted "that are public records" and made a minor stylistic change.

The 1990 amendment, effective May 16, 1990, in Paragraph (3) of Subsection A, added the Subparagraph designation "(a)" and added Subparagraph (b).

Nondisclosure held proper. — Board did not err in failing to sanction assessor who refused to comply with taxpayers' discovery request, where the assessor showed that such discovery might have compromised confidential data about other property owners, and where it did not appear that taxpayers' protest proceedings were prejudiced by assessor's refusal to grant them access to the information. Hannahs v. Anderson, 1998-NMCA-152, 126 N.M. 1, 966 P.2d 168, cert. denied, 126 N.M. 532, 972 P.2d 351.

Remedy for denial of access to assessment records. — Taxpayers who believed that assessor wrongfully denied them access to public records should have pursued the remedies provided in this section. Hannahs v. Anderson, 1998-NMCA-152, 126 N.M. 1, 966 P.2d 168, cert. denied, 126 N.M. 532, 972 P.2d 351.