IAL 070507.

Case DateJuly 05, 2007
CourtNew Mexico
New Mexico Attorney General Opinions 2007. IAL 070507. July 5, 2007IAL 070507The Honorable Richard D. Flores District Attorney Fourth Judi cial District Post Office Box 2025 Las Vegas, New Mexico 87701Re: Opinion Request -- Anton Chico Land Grant Board Legal ServicesDear District Attorney Flores: You have asked whether the Anton Chico Land Grant Board qualifies for legal representation from the district attorney's office in the Fourth Judicial District. Specifically, you state: "The Land Grant is under the impression, based on Sections 49-1-1 thru 49-1-18, NMSA 1978, that they fall under the same guidelines as county commissions in regard to receiving legal services by the district's attorney office." Based on our examination of the relevant New Mexico statutory and case law authorities, and on the information available to us at this time, we conclude that members of the Anton Chico Land Grant Board are not "county officers" and, therefore, the district attorney is not obligated to provide legal services to the Board. The duty of a district attorney to represent counties is delineated primarily in NMSA 1978, Section 36-1-18(A) (2001), which provides:
Each district attorney shall:
(1) prosecute and defend for the state in all courts of record of the counties of his district all cases, criminal and civil, in which the state or any county in his district may be a party or may be interested;
(2) represent the county before the board of county commissioners of any county in his district in all matters before the board whenever requested to do so by the board, and he may appear before the board when sitting as a board of equalization without request;
(3) advise all county and state officers wherever requested.
(4) represent any county in his district in all civil cases in which the county may be concerned in the supreme court or court of appeals, but not in suits brought in the name of the state.
Under this section, "the district attorney is to serve as attorney for the county in all matters when called upon to so act." N.M. Att'y Gen. Op. No. 6565 (1956). "This statute confers upon the District Attorneys the responsibility of responding to county requests for legal advice," N.M. Att'y Gen. Op. No. 77-7 (1977), by requiring the district attorney "to advise all county and state officers as to their official duties, when...

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