New Mexico: Adult Conviction Expungement and Record-Sealing Eligibility

Requirements one by one

Relief name and legal effect

New Mexico calls the remedy expungement, but defines it as removal from
general-public access rather than physical destruction. N.M. Stat. Ann.
§ 29-3A-2(B) covers the public notation of the arrest, charging document,
plea, conviction, acquittal, dismissal, or discharge, including records on
public court, corrections, and law-enforcement websites.

Under § 29-3A-7, the proceedings are treated as if they never occurred, and
officials and the person who received the order may ordinarily reply that no
record exists. The financial-institution exception described below remains.

Automatic or clean-slate relief

General adult-conviction relief is not automatic. N.M. Stat. Ann. § 29-3A-5(A) says the
person may petition the district court of conviction after the sentence and
payment conditions are met.

New Mexico separately provides automatic relief for specified cannabis records
under § 29-3A-8. That marijuana-specific route is outside this survey's general
adult-conviction scope and does not make other convictions automatic.

Convictions eligible by petition

Section 29-3A-5(A) begins broadly: a conviction for a municipal-ordinance
violation, misdemeanor, or felony may be petitioned. Eligibility then depends
on completing the sentence and financial conditions, clearing the pending-case
and conviction-free-period gates, and avoiding subsection (G)'s categorical
exclusions.

The statute therefore does not categorically exclude every high-degree felony.
A first-degree felony can use the ten-year route unless the underlying offense
also falls within an exclusion.

Excluded offenses and statuses

N.M. Stat. Ann. § 29-3A-5(G) excludes an offense committed against a child, an
offense that caused great bodily harm or death to another person, a sex offense
defined by § 29-11A-3, embezzlement under § 30-16-8, and an offense involving
driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs.

A person is also not ready to petition while the sentence remains incomplete or
another charge or proceeding is pending. Those are separate eligibility gates,
not additions to the categorical offense list.

Waiting period and when it starts

The required conviction-free period is:

• two years for a municipal-ordinance conviction or a misdemeanor not placed
  in another tier;
• four years for misdemeanor aggravated battery under § 30-3-5(B) or a
  fourth-degree felony not placed in another tier;
• six years for a third-degree felony not placed in another tier;
• eight years for a second-degree felony not placed in another tier; and
• ten years for a first-degree felony or any offense under the Crimes Against
  Household Members Act.

Section 29-3A-5(F) supplies the start rule: measure from the last date the
person completed a sentence for a conviction in any jurisdiction. A later
sentence in another case or jurisdiction can therefore move the start date.

Sentence, restitution, and new-record conditions

Before filing, the person must complete the sentence and pay any conviction
fines or fees owed to the state. The court must also find that court-ordered
victim restitution connected with the conviction has been fulfilled.

The court must find no other charge or proceeding pending and no other criminal
conviction during the applicable waiting period. The waiting period is thus a
conviction-free period, not merely elapsed calendar time.

Petition process and decision standard

The petition goes to the district court where the person was convicted. The
petitioner gives notice to the district attorney, the Department of Public
Safety, and the arresting law-enforcement agency; each may object. A hearing is
required.

N.M. Stat. Ann. § 29-3A-5(D) requires delivery of the order to the relevant
law-enforcement agencies and courts. The court must issue the expungement order within thirty days after the hearing
if it makes every subsection (C) finding. To decide whether justice will be
served, subsection (E) requires consideration of the offense's nature and
gravity; the person's age, criminal history, and employment history; elapsed
time since the offense and sentence completion; adverse consequences of
denial; and the district attorney's reasons to retain the records.

Who can still see or require disclosure of the record

The order prohibits relevant law-enforcement agencies and courts from releasing
the covered records except by court order. But the Act's definition of public
records never includes specified confidential prosecutor files, specified
confidential agency records required for audit or other legal purposes, or a
record received through an authorized background check. Expungement therefore
does not promise destruction of every government-held copy.

Section 29-3A-7 also creates a specific disclosure exception. The person and
officials must disclose the arrest or conviction record when an application or
inquiry concerns qualification for employment or association with a financial
institution regulated by FINRA or the SEC.

What trips people up

The clock can restart because of a different conviction. New Mexico does
not measure only from completion of the sentence being expunged. The statute
uses the last sentence-completion date for a conviction in any jurisdiction.

Ten years does not override an exclusion. A first-degree felony has a
ten-year tier, but a conviction that caused great bodily harm or death, involved
a child, qualified as a listed sex offense, involved embezzlement, or involved
DWI remains excluded.

No-record does not mean no retained record. The remedy changes general-
public access and ordinary responses. The statute preserves categories outside
its public-record definition and permits release by court order.

Common questions

Is a new conviction allowed during the waiting period? No. The court must
find that no other criminal conviction occurred during the applicable period.

Must restitution be paid? Court-ordered victim restitution connected with
the conviction must be fulfilled before the court can grant the petition.

Can a DWI conviction be expunged under the general conviction statute? No.
Section 29-3A-5(G) excludes an offense involving driving while under the
influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs.

Statutes and sources

• N.M. Stat. Ann. § 29-3A-2 — definitions of expungement and public records,
  including records outside the public-record category.
  https://www.nmlegis.gov/Sessions/19%20Regular/final/HB0370.pdf
  (official final act accessed 2026-07-20)
• N.M. Stat. Ann. § 29-3A-5 — conviction eligibility, completion and payment
  conditions, notice, findings, waiting tiers and start date, decision factors,
  and excluded offenses.
  https://www.nmlegis.gov/Sessions/19%20Regular/final/HB0370.pdf
  (official final act accessed 2026-07-20)
• N.M. Stat. Ann. § 29-3A-7 — legal effect and financial-institution disclosure
  exception.
  https://www.nmlegis.gov/Sessions/19%20Regular/final/HB0370.pdf
  (official final act accessed 2026-07-20)
• N.M. Stat. Ann. § 29-3A-8 — separate cannabis-specific automatic route.
  https://www.nmlegis.gov/Sessions/21%20Special/final/SB0002.pdf
  (official final act accessed 2026-07-20)