Adult Conviction Expungement and Record-Sealing Eligibility in New Mexico

At a glance

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)