Local government in
New Mexico consists of
counties and
municipalities
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
.
Counties
Municipalities
A municipality may call itself a:
village,
town, or
city. There is no distinction in the
statutes and no correlation to any particular form (Mayor-Council, Commission-Manager, etc.).
Unless provided otherwise in a municipality's charter, municipal elections are held on the first Tuesday in March of every even-numbered year. Elections are non-partisan, and election materials (cards, signs, ads, etc.) are exempted from the requirements for all other elections that the responsible party be identified (as in "paid for by Committee to Elect Joe Candidate").
Municipalities are governed under
Dillon's rule, unless they elect to be governed by home rule. Currently, there are 10 home rule municipalities in New Mexico (
Alamogordo
Alamogordo () is the seat of Otero County, New Mexico, United States. A city in the Tularosa Basin of the Chihuahuan Desert, it is bordered on the east by the Sacramento Mountains and to the west by Holloman Air Force Base. The population was ...
,
Albuquerque
Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...
,
Clovis,
Gallup,
Grants
Grant or Grants may refer to:
Places
*Grant County (disambiguation)
Australia
* Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia
United Kingdom
*Castle Grant
United States
* Grant, Alabama
* Grant, Inyo County, ...
,
Hobbs,
Las Cruces,
Los Alamos,
Rio Rancho, and
Santa Fe), as well as two chartered cities (
Las Vegas and
Silver City).
School districts
Other bodies
In addition to municipalities, limited local authority can be vested in landowners' associations and districts. An example of the former is the Madrid Landowners' Association, which is the closest thing to local government in
Madrid, New Mexico
Madrid (/ˈmædrɪd/, Spanish: aˈðɾið is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States. It is part of the Santa Fe, New Mexico Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 149 at the 2000 census and 204 ...
. Its authority comes from the
restrictive covenants that are written into all
deeds.
See also
*
Local government in the United States
*
New Mexico Supreme Court Building
The New Mexico Supreme Court Building is a courthouse located in the city of Santa Fe, county of Santa Fe, in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Both the New Mexico Supreme Court and New Mexico Court of Appeals operate in the building. It was added to ...
References
Further reading
* Chapter 6 focuses on local government.
New Mexico law
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