New Mexico Free Public Records Directory

New Mexico, with 33 counties, is the fifth largest state in the United States at 121,590 sq. miles. Conversely, it is the fifth least densely populated state with a population of approximately 2,000.000. New Mexico is one of the “four corner states” sharing its northwest corner with Arizona, Colorado and Utah. It is bordered on the west by Arizona, on the north by Colorado, on the east by a small portion of Oklahoma, and on the remaining east side and the eastern two-thirds of the south side by Texas. The country of Mexico borders the remaining western third of New Mexico on the south.

Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico, is the oldest state capital city in the United States, and is well known for its multi-cultural character. Albuquerque, with a population of approximately 600,000, is the largest city in New Mexico. It is located in the north central area of New Mexico and has one of the highest elevations of any major city in the U.S. ^[1]

The landscape of New Mexico ranges from rose-colored deserts, spectacular mesas and high snow-covered peaks. Even though New Mexico has an image of being an arid state, a significant portion of the state, especially the north, is heavily forested mountain wilderness. Millions of acres of New Mexico is protected by the U.S. government as national forests or park land. The average precipitation rate in New Mexico is 13.9 inches a year. New Mexico’s annual average temperatures can range from 64⁰ F in the southeast to below 40⁰ F in the northern mountains. Daytime temperatures, in the summer can exceed 100⁰ F at elevations below 5,000 feet. The highest temperature recorded in New Mexico was 122⁰ F on June 27, 1994. Some of the New Mexico cities can have low temperatures in the teens.

New Mexico was inhabited by Native Americans for thousands of years before European exploration. The Spanish colonized the area in 1598. Given its history, New Mexico has the highest percentage of Hispanic and Latino Americans at 47%, and the second largest percentage of Native Americans (after Alaska). There are three federally-protected Native American tribes; Navajo, Pueblo and Apache in New Mexico. Tourists frequently visit the native pueblos of New Mexico including the many national parks.

On January 6, 1912, New Mexico was admitted to the Union as the 47th state. A major oil discovery in 1928 brought prosperity to the state. Today, oil drilling, mineral extraction, and cattle ranching are the major contributors to New Mexico’s economy including federal government spending. Much of the government spending relates to the three military bases and federal research laboratories. ^[2]

If you have research needs for New Mexico public records, please check out our list below for available records. The records are classified into seven categories including Property Records, Vital Records, Community Health and Safety Records, Licensing and Permits, Criminal and Court Records, Jobs and Employment, and Codes, Regulations and Other Records.

Abbreviation	NM, N.M.
Capital	Santa Fe
Population	2,081,015 (2016 est.)
Area size	121,699 sq. mi
Demonym	New Mexican
Primary languages spoken	English – 69.7% / Spanish – 28.5%
Governor	Susana Martinez
Lieutenant Governor	John Sanchez
U.S. Senators	Tom Udall, Martin Heinrich
U.S. House Delegation	1 Republican, 2 Democrats
Time Zone	Mountain: UTC -7/-6

*The map and data in the table are from Wikipedia.

Browse by Public Record Category

There are two types of public records; 1) personal public records that document major life milestones such as birth certificates, death certificates, divorce records, and marriage records, etc.; and 2) government records that are made public such as property tax records, recorded land records, voter records, crime data, jail inmate records, and court records. ^[3] The Freedom of Information Act is a national law that releases government agency public records and makes it possible to view most public records. New Mexico’s Public Records Act states that: "Citizens in a democracy have a fundamental right to have access to public records. This right is recognized by the New Mexico Legislature through the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act, NMSA 1978, §§ 14-2-1 et seq. (“IPRA”), and by the New Mexico Supreme Court, which stated in 1977 that a citizen’s right to know is the rule and secrecy is the exception…".^[4]

Since there are a multitude of records available, it can be difficult to know how or where to access them. When you are ready to start your search, you’ll find our Public Records Directory website easy to use since all of the records can be searched by federal, state, county, city, town or type of record. The links provided will connect you to the best website for the record search, provide details about the record, or provide contact information for those records without search capabilities.