New Mexico Civics: How Your State Government Works

by bam

A practical, non-partisan guide to how the state of New Mexico governs itself, and how you take part where you live. New Mexico has two features found nowhere else: its 1912 constitution contains special protections for Spanish-speaking citizens, making it effectively the most bilingual state, and it has the ONLY fully volunteer (unpaid) state legislature in the nation. You'll learn New Mexico's Constitution of 1912, its plural executive, its Legislature of 42 senators and 70 representatives, its hybrid judiciary, its 33 counties, and the sovereign Pueblo and tribal nations within its borders. Time-sensitive facts are flagged, pointing to sos.nm.gov. Cited to New Mexico's own official sources (nmlegis.gov, sos.nm.gov, nmcourts.gov).