# New Mexico

New Mexico has no general forensic science commission; a DNA Identification System Oversight Committee sets rules for the state DNA system. Accreditation is required by rule only for labs doing DUI drug testing of blood. Felony arrestees give DNA at booking, and since June 20, 2025 an arrestee’s profile can enter CODIS if the person dies before being charged. New Mexico follows State v. Alberico rather than the federal text of Rule 702.

Source: https://uscli.org/forensic-science-tracker/new-mexico

## At a glance

- **Oversight body:** DNA Identification System Oversight Committee ([NMSA 1978, 29-16-5](https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa/en/4367/1/document.do)), for the DNA system only. Its nine voting members are scientific representatives of the Department of Public Safety crime lab and of the police crime lab of the largest municipality in a class A county with more than 250,000 people, the corrections secretary, the state medical investigator, the attorney general, the district attorneys’ association president, the chief public defender, the criminal defense lawyers association president and the administrative center head. It “shall adopt rules and procedures regarding the administration and operation of the DNA identification system,” oversees the missing persons and sex offender DNA systems, approves the administrative center’s location and may award grants. No general forensic science commission was found.
- **Lab accreditation:** DUI toxicology only. A lab certified by the Scientific Laboratory Division for drug testing of blood must give “proof of accreditation by the American board of forensic toxicology (ABFT)” or by ASCLD/LAB “in the discipline of toxicology” and must keep it ([7.33.2.8 NMAC](https://www.srca.nm.gov/parts/title07/07.033.0002.html); the part was last replaced effective April 30, 2010). Post-conviction DNA testing must be done by “a laboratory that meets the minimum standards of the national DNA index system” ([NMSA 31-1A-2(J)](https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa/en/4379/1/document.do)), and the DNA administrative center head must meet FBI Quality Assurance Standards qualifications for a technical leader or CODIS administrator (29-16-4(B)). No general crime lab accreditation statute was found in NMSA chapters 29 and 31.
- **Analyst licensing:** None for forensic analysts. Under the Implied Consent Act, the Scientific Laboratory Division certifies laboratories, breath-alcohol instruments, operators, key operators and operator instructors; operator-instructor education minimums are in [7.33.2.13 NMAC](https://www.srca.nm.gov/parts/title07/07.033.0002.html).
- **Admissibility standard:** State v. Alberico, 1993-NMSC-047: admissibility of scientific evidence turns “not solely on whether the scientific technique has gained general acceptance ... but on the validity and the soundness of the scientific method.” Rule 11-702 NMRA keeps the plain pre-2000 text (last amended by Order No. 12-8300-015, effective June 16, 2012, for style). Its committee commentary says “New Mexico has not adopted the changes made to the federal rule in 2000 to incorporate the requirements of Daubert ... in light of the differences between federal law and New Mexico law regarding whether Daubert applies to nonscientific testimony” ([Rule 11-702](https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmra/en/5665/1/document.do)). New Mexico has not adopted the 2023 change to Federal Rule 702.
- **Post-conviction forensic relief:** No changed-science statute. DNA only: a person convicted of a felony who claims DNA evidence will establish innocence may petition for testing, showing by a preponderance that the evidence was not tested, not tested by the requested method, or “was previously subjected to DNA testing, but was tested incorrectly or interpreted incorrectly.” On exculpatory results the court may set aside the judgment, dismiss with prejudice, order a new trial or grant other relief, and cost may not bar testing. The state must preserve DNA-testable evidence while the person remains incarcerated or on probation or parole ([NMSA 31-1A-2](https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa/en/4379/1/document.do), last amended 2019).
- **DNA database scope:** Arrestee-based for felonies. “A person eighteen years of age or over who is arrested for the commission of a felony” must give a DNA sample at booking. The sample may not be analyzed, and must be destroyed, unless the arrest was on a felony warrant, a judge found probable cause, or the person failed to appear after release ([NMSA 29-3-10](https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa/en/4367/1/document.do)). Covered offenders (defined in 29-16-3(C), with collection under 29-16-6) include convicted felons, sex offenders and people convicted as adults in youthful or serious youthful offender proceedings. Since June 20, 2025, an arrestee’s DNA enters CODIS if the person dies before being charged (29-16-7.1). An Attorney General advisory letter (2021-02), noted in the annotations, concluded the DNA Identification Act does not bar familial searching and leaves Rapid DNA to the administrative center and the FBI.
- **Facial recognition:** No statute found in NMSA chapters 29 and 31, and no 2023 to 2026 bill title referred to facial recognition or biometrics. The 2026 Driver Privacy and Safety Act ([SB 40](https://www.nmlegis.gov/Sessions/26%20Regular/final/SB0040.pdf)) covers automated license plate readers only.

## Changes, 2023 to 2026

- Jun 20, 2025 — **Arrestee DNA entered into CODIS when the arrestee dies before being charged** — 2025 HB 340, Laws 2025, ch. 42, NMSA 29-16-7.1 · Governor signed April 7, 2025; effective June 20, 2025 (no effective-date clause; 90 days after adjournment, per the compiler’s annotation) — The administrative center “shall enter the DNA of a person collected pursuant to Section 29-3-10 NMSA 1978 into CODIS upon the death of the person if the person dies before being charged with a felony.” If the person was not incarcerated at death, entry happens “only upon a motion by the district attorney and an order from the court with jurisdiction over the felony had charges been filed.” If the person was incarcerated at death “or had been released prior to July 1, 1997,” entry is automatic. Under 29-3-10(B), such a sample could be analyzed only if the arrest was on a felony warrant, a judge found probable cause, or the person failed to appear after release. — **For practitioners:** A cold-case match may now come from the profile of an arrestee who died uncharged; for someone who died outside custody, ask for the district attorney’s motion and the court order. — [HB 340 final text](https://www.nmlegis.gov/Sessions/25%20Regular/final/HB0340.pdf)[HB 340](https://www.nmlegis.gov/Legislation/Legislation?chamber=H&legType=B&legNo=340&year=25)[NMSA chapter 29](https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa/en/4367/1/document.do)
- Jul 1, 2024 — **Court-fee repeal ends fee-funded reimbursement of crime labs for chemical testing** — 2023 HB 139 (Eliminating Court Fees), Laws 2023, ch. 184, NMSA 31-12-7, 31-12-8, 31-12-9 · Governor signed April 5, 2023; effective July 1, 2024, per the compiler’s annotations — Repeals 31-12-7 (the fee on a conviction for driving under the influence) and 31-12-8. The rewritten 31-12-9 drops the provisions under which those fees went to the administrative office of the courts “for payment upon invoice to the scientific laboratory division ... the New Mexico state police crime laboratory division and the Albuquerque police crime laboratory for costs related to chemical and other tests and analyses.” The “crime laboratory fund” now holds gifts, grants, donations, appropriations and Tax Administration Act distributions, and its balances go to the Department of Transportation traffic safety bureau for DWI prevention and traffic safety programs. The compiler’s repeal notes for 31-12-7 and 31-12-8 cite “Laws 2024, ch. 184,” but the history lines and the 2023 session list show Laws 2023, ch. 184; the 2024 citation appears to be an error. — **For practitioners:** Despite its name, the crime laboratory fund no longer pays the labs under 31-12-9. — [NMSA chapter 31](https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa/en/4379/1/document.do)[2023 session legislation](https://www.nmlegis.gov/Legislation/Legislation_List?Session=66)

## Pending bills

No bill on these topics is pending. The 2026 session has adjourned, and the next regular session is in 2027. SM 17 (2026), adopted 41-0 in the Senate, asks the Secretary of Public Safety and the New Mexico Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs to convene a task force on sexual assault exam kits and backlog processing; a memorial creates no legal duty ([SM 17](https://www.nmlegis.gov/Legislation/Legislation?chamber=S&legType=M&legNo=17&year=26)). Measures that did not become law, each ending in action postponed indefinitely:

- HB 158 (2023, DWI testing requirements) and SB 265 (2023, in-custody death investigation procedures).
- SB 154 (2024, Sexual Assault Investigations) ([SB 154](https://www.nmlegis.gov/Legislation/Legislation?chamber=S&legType=B&legNo=154&year=24)).
- HB 106 (2025, DWI blood testing) and HB 567 (2025, DWI Saliva Testing) ([HB 567](https://www.nmlegis.gov/Legislation/Legislation?chamber=H&legType=B&legNo=567&year=25)).
- HM 39 (2026, Sexual Assault Examination Kits Task Force), the House counterpart of SM 17 ([HM 39](https://www.nmlegis.gov/Legislation/Legislation?chamber=H&legType=M&legNo=39&year=26)).
- SB 407 (2025) and SB 51 (2026), on wrongful conviction compensation.

## Checked and unchanged

- Rule 11-702 NMRA: last amended 2012, for style. No 2023 to 2026 order amending the evidence rules was found.
- NMSA 31-1A-2 (post-conviction DNA testing): last amended 2019. NMSA 29-3-10 (felony-arrestee DNA): last amended 2011.
- NMSA 29-16-5 (DNA oversight committee): last amended 2013. 7.33.2 NMAC (implied consent labs and operators): last replaced 2010.
- Not checked: the committee’s rules at 10.14.200 NMAC. Not found: any statute on investigative genetic genealogy, Rapid DNA or digital forensics standards.