A. The legislature shall provide for the control and management of each of the institutions, except the university of New Mexico, by a board of regents for each institution, consisting of five members, four of whom shall be qualified electors of the state of New Mexico, one of whom shall be a member of the student body of the institution and no more than three of whom at the time of their appointment shall be members of the same political party; provided, however, that the student body member provision in this subsection shall not apply to the New Mexico school for the deaf, the New Mexico military institute or the New Mexico school for the blind and visually impaired, and for each of those three institutions all five members of the board of regents shall be qualified electors of the state of New Mexico.
B. The governor shall nominate and by and with the consent of the senate shall appoint the members of each board of regents for each of the institutions. The terms of nonstudent members shall be for staggered terms of six years, and the terms of student members shall be two years.
C. The governor shall select, with the advice and consent of the senate, a student member from a list provided by the president of the institution. In making the list, the president of the institution shall give due consideration to the recommendations of the student body president of the institution. Following the approval by the voters of this 2014 amendment and upon the first vacancy of a position on the northern New Mexico state school board of regents, the governor shall nominate and by and with the consent of the senate shall appoint a student member to serve a two-year term.
D. The legislature shall provide for the control and management of the university of New Mexico by a board of regents consisting of seven members, six of whom shall be qualified electors of the state of New Mexico, one of whom shall be a member of the student body of the university of New Mexico and no more than four of whom at the time of their appointment shall be members of the same political party. The governor shall nominate and by and with the consent of the senate shall appoint the members of the board of regents. The present five members shall serve out their present terms. The two additional members shall be appointed in 1987 for terms of six years. Following the approval by the voters of this amendment and upon the first vacancy of a position held by a nonstudent member on the university of New Mexico’s board of regents, the governor shall nominate and by and with the consent of the senate shall appoint a student member to serve a two-year term. The governor shall select, with the advice and consent of the senate, a student member from a list provided by the president of the university of New Mexico. In making the list, the president of the university of New Mexico shall give due consideration to the recommendations of the student body president of the university.
E. Members of the board shall not be removed except for incompetence, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office. Provided, however, no removal shall be made without notice of hearing and an opportunity to be heard having first been given such member. The supreme court of the state of New Mexico is hereby given exclusive original jurisdiction over proceedings to remove members of the board under such rules as it may promulgate, and its decision in connection with such matters shall be final. (As amended September 20, 1949, effective January 1, 1950, November 4, 1986, November 8, 1994, and November 4, 2014.)
Editor's notes.
Pursuant to Laws 2005, ch. 308, § 2, effective June 17, 2005, northern New Mexico state school is also known as northern New Mexico college.
Effect of amendments.
The 2014 amendment , which was proposed by S.J.R. No. 7 (Laws 2013) and adopted at the general election held on November 4, 2014 by a vote of 277.004 for and 151,398 against, added subsection designations; in A, deleted “the northern New Mexico state school”, substituted “New Mexico school for the blind and visually impaired” for “New Mexico school for the visually handicapped”, and “three institutions” for “four institutions”; in B, rewrote the second and third sentences, which read: “The terms of said nonstudent members shall be for six years, provided that of the five first appointed the terms of two shall be for two years, the terms for two shall be for four years, and the term of one shall be for six years. Following the approval by the voters of this amendment and upon the first vacancy of a position held by a nonstudent member on each eligible institution's board of regents, the governor shall nominate and by and with the consent of the senate shall appoint a student member to serve a two-year term” as the second sentence; and added the last sentence in C.
Notes to Decisions
Governmental powers.
Regents, who received a five-year term instead of the constitutionally mandated six-year term, had the right to remain in their positions under the holdover proviso, N.M. Const. art XX § 2, until the governor, with State senate’s consent, appointed their successors, as required by N.M. Const. art XII § 13. Denish v. Johnson, 1996-NMSC-005, 121 N.M. 280, 910 P.2d 914, 1996 N.M. LEXIS 28 (N.M. 1996).
OPINIONS OF ATTORNEY GENERAL
Analysis
Authority of regents to set tuition.
Generally.
The failure of the legislature to act on the nomination of a regent submitted to it during the session operates neither as “constructive consent” to, nor as rejection of, the nomination. 1991 N.M. Op. Att'y Gen. No. 1991-4.
A regent appointed by recess appointment may be replaced through a new gubernatorial nomination made during the next session of the legislature. 1991 N.M. Op. Att'y Gen. No. 1991-4.
A nominee who is neither confirmed nor rejected by the senate cannot serve as regent unless, following adjournment of both houses of the legislature, the governor makes a recess appointment of the person, in which case, that person may serve as a full-fledged regent until the next session of the legislature. As either a de jure or de facto officer, the regent’s actions are valid as to the public. 1991 N.M. Op. Att'y Gen. No. 1991-4.
The governor is not obliged to re-submit a former board of regents nominee to the next session of the legislature and may make a new nomination. 1991 N.M. Op. Att'y Gen. No. 1991-4.
A new nominee may assume the duties as regent, either upon approval by the senate or by a recess appointment by the governor if the senate fails to take any action. 1991 N.M. Op. Att'y Gen. No. 1991-4.
Applicability.
Application of 22-13-5 NMSA 1978 to the (1) New Mexico school for the visually handicapped; (2) New Mexico school for the deaf; (3) New Mexico military institute; (4) Carrie Tingley crippled children’s hospital; (5) institutions and facilities under the jurisdiction of the secretary of corrections; and (6) children’s psychiatric unit at the university of New Mexico is not prohibited by the New Mexico Constitution. 1983-1986 N.M. Op. Att'y Gen. No. 233.
Authority of regents to set tuition.
If the governor’s veto of specific tuition schedules for institutions of higher education in the 1985 Act did not revive the 1984 schedules, there was other legal authority, outside the legislative appropriation process, by which tuition levels could be set for the 74th Fiscal Year. Absent a statute setting the tuition schedules, authority to set tuition schedules lies with the boards of regents of the respective institutions, or the Santa Fe community college board, so long as they act in accordance with the specific requirements of law on the subject. 1983-1986 N.M. Op. Att'y Gen. No. 51.