TITLE
10 PUBLIC SAFETY
AND LAW ENFORCEMENT
CHAPTER
2 DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
PART
2 EXPUNGEMENT
OF ARREST RECORDS AND RELATED PUBLIC RECORDS
10.2.2.1 ISSUING
AGENCY: Department of Public Safety.
[10.2.2.1
NMAC - N, 1/1/2020]
10.2.2.2 SCOPE: All persons who seek to expunge arrest and
public records in accordance with the Criminal Records Expungement Act.
[10.2.2.2
NMAC - N, 1/1/2020]
10.2.2.3 STATUTORY
AUTHORITY: Sections 29-3A-1 through 29-3A-7 NMSA 1978 of
the Criminal Records Expungement Act require the Department to develop rules
and procedures to implement the Criminal Record Expungement Act.
[10.2.2.3
NMAC - N, 1/1/2020]
10.2.2.4 DURATION: Permanent.
[10.2.2.4
NMAC - N, 1/1/2020]
10.2.2.5 EFFECTIVE
DATE: January 1, 2020.
[10.2.2.5
NMAC - N, 1/1/2020]
10.2.2.6 OBJECTIVE: The objective of the rule is to provide a
procedure whereby persons who seek to expunge arrest records and public records
related thereto, may request a DPS RAP sheet, and be informed of the need to
obtain the Petitioner’s United States Department of Justice Federal Bureau of
Investigations FBI RAP sheet.
[10.2.2.6
NMAC - N, 1/1/2020]
10.2.2.7 DEFINITIONS:
For
purposes of this rule, the following terms have the following meaning:
A. Arrest
records are records of identification of a person under arrest or under
investigation for a crime taken or gathered by an official, including
information gathered from the national crime information center or another
criminal record database, photographs, fingerprints and booking sheets. Arrest records do not include:1) citations for driving while intoxicated maintained by
the New Mexico Department of Taxation and Revenue; 2) computer-aided dispatch
information; or 3) log books relating to breath alcohol testing equipment.
B. Department
is the Department of Public Safety.
C. DPS RAP sheet
is the record of a Petitioner’s arrests and prosecutions throughout the State
of New Mexico, which is maintained by the Department.
D. Expungement
is the removal from access to the general public of a notation of an arrest,
complaint, indictment, information, plea of guilty, conviction, acquittal,
dismissal or discharge record, including a record posted on a publicly
accessible court, corrections, or law enforcement internet website.
E. FBI RAP sheet
is the record of a person’s fingerprint-based arrests
maintained by the United States Department of Justice Federal Bureau of
Investigation. The FBI RAP sheet
includes the name of the agency that submitted the fingerprints to the FBI, the
date of the arrest, the arrest charge, and the disposition of the arrest, if
known. The FBI Rap sheet is also
known as a person’s Identity History Summary.
F. Petition to Expunge Arrest Records and
Public Records or Petition
officially begins the expungement of records process in state district court.
G. Petitioner
is the person seeking to have his or her personal records expunged in the
Petition to Expunge Arrest Records and Public Records.
H. Public
records are documents relating to a person’s arrest, indictment,
proceeding, finding or plea of guilty, conviction, acquittal, dismissal or
discharge, including information posted on a court or law enforcement website,
except those records excluded from the definition of public records in Section
29-3A-2C NMSA 1978.
[10.2.2.7
NMAC - N, 1/1/2020]
10.2.2.8 NEED
FOR STATE AND FEDERAL RECORD OF ARRESTS AND PROSECUTIONS:
A. If in order to
complete the Petition, or otherwise to obtain the expungement of records, a
Petitioner is required by a court to obtain Petitioner’s DPS RAP sheet or
Petitioner’s FBI RAP sheet, Petitioner may follow the procedure set forth
herein.
B. The DPS RAP
sheet may be obtained by completing the Authorization for Release of
Information and signing it before a notary public, then submitting the
completed and notarized original Authorization for Release of Information,
together with the required fee, to the Department. The Authorization for Release of Information
form and information regarding the appropriate fee are available on the
Department’s website at https://www.dps.nm.gov/top-links-for-nm-residents/fingerprinting-and-background-checks or by calling the Department Law
Enforcement Records Bureau at (505) 827-9181.
C. The FBI RAP
sheet must be obtained directly from the FBI.
Instructions on how to obtain the FBI RAP Sheet may be found at https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/identity-history-summary-checks
and https://www.edo.cjis.gov/#/.
[10.2.2.8
NMAC - N, 1/1/2020]
10.2.2.9 SERVICE
ON DEPARTMENT:
A. Service of the
Petition may be made on the Department by any method permitted by Rule 1-004 H
of the New Mexico Rules of Civil Procedure.
B. Service by mail
or commercial courier service shall be made by certified mail, return receipt
requested or commercial courier service which requires delivery signature by a
Department employee. Service is complete
on the date of the required signature.
C. Service by mail
or commercial courier service shall be addressed to “LERB, New Mexico
Department of Public Safety” at either P.O. Box 1628 Santa Fe, N.M., 87504-1628
or 4491 Cerrillos Rd., Santa Fe, N.M., 87507.
[10.2.2.9
NMAC - N, 1/1/2020]
HISTORY OF 10.2.2 NMAC: [RESERVED]