IAL 103107.

• Case Date: October 31, 2007
• Court: New Mexico

New Mexico Attorney General Opinions 2007. IAL 103107. October 31, 2007IAL 103107The Honorable Stuart IngleNew Mexico State Senator 2106 West University DrivePortales, NM 88130 Re: Opinion Request-Term Limits for Elected County OfficialsDear Senator Ingle: You requested our advice regarding whether Article X, Section 2(D) of the New Mexico Constitution prohibits an elected county official from seeking another county office if the official left his or her current office before the expiration of the officer's second consecutive term. As discussed in more detail below, we conclude that the constitution prohibits a person from serving more than two consecutive terms as a county officer regardless of whether the elected official resigns from office before the expiration of the second term. Article X, Section 2(D) provides:

All county officers, after having served two consecutive four-year terms, shall be ineligible to hold any county office for two years thereafter.

This provision prohibits a person from serving more than two consecutive terms as a county officer. There must be an interim period of two years before an elected official who has served two consecutive four-year terms is eligible for another county office. In N.M. Att'y Gen. Op. No. 59-115, this office concluded that a county school superintendent who, prior to the end of his second term, had no schools to administer, was nevertheless prohibited from seeking another elected county office. The opinion interpreted Article X, Section 2 "to mean that a person elected for two consecutive. . . terms to a county office is ineligible to seek a third consecutive county elective position." The person is ineligible "irrespective of whether or not he resigned prior to the completion of his second term". As stated in Opinion No. 59-115, "to apply any other meaning to this section would make a mockery of the intent of those who framed this section". Opinion No. 59-115 was cited favorably by the New Mexico Supreme Court in Stephens v. Myers, 102 N.M. 1, 690 P.2d 444 (1984), which addressed a county sheriff who was elected, but resigned for eight minutes to clear up a technicality in his qualification for office. He was then immediately appointed to serve the remainder of his term and he was elected to serve a complete second term as sheriff. When he sought a third term his...