Criminal Damage To Property <$1000 H.h. Member

Legal Definition

A person commits criminal damage to property when they intentionally damage any real or personal property of another without the owner's consent. The offense involves knowingly destroying, defacing, or impairing the usefulness or value of property. When the damage is to property of a household member and the value is less than $1,000, it falls within the domestic-violence context of this statute.

Possible Punishment

Up to 6 months in county jail and a fine up to $500. Because this charge involves a household member, the court may impose additional domestic-violence conditions such as batterer intervention programs or protective orders.

Property-Crime Cases in Doña Ana County

Property charges in New Mexico scale with dollar value and circumstances. The same shoplifting conduct can be a petty misdemeanor or a felony depending on the value of what was taken, and burglary escalates sharply when the structure is a home or someone is inside. That is why our charge database lists several versions of larceny and burglary with different classifications.

Property cases also drive a large share of repeat bookings: failure to appear on an older larceny case frequently brings someone back into the detention center on a bench warrant alongside any new charge.

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