Expungement in New Mexico: Who Qualifies and How Record Sealing Works

For most of New Mexico's history, a criminal record was permanent. An arrest that never even led to charges could follow someone through every background check for the rest of their life. That changed on January 1, 2020, when the Criminal Record Expungement Act took effect and gave New Mexicans a real legal path to sealing arrest and court records. Here is how expungement works, who qualifies, and what it does and does not accomplish, including what it means for records on this site.

What the Expungement Act Covers

Expungement in New Mexico means a court orders arrest records and public court records sealed from public inspection. The Criminal Record Expungement Act (CREA) created two separate tracks: one for arrests that never resulted in a conviction, and one for convictions after a waiting period. Both require filing a petition in district court, serving the right agencies, and getting a judge to sign an order. It is a court process, not an automatic one. Nothing gets sealed unless someone asks.

That last point surprises people. Even a case that was dismissed years ago, where the person was never convicted of anything, stays visible in public court records until an expungement petition is filed and granted. An arrest is not a conviction, and everyone booked into jail is presumed innocent, but the paper trail does not clean itself up.

Arrests That Never Became Convictions

This is the easier track. If your case ended in a dismissal, an acquittal, a nolle prosequi (the prosecutor formally dropping the case), or if you were arrested and charges were never filed at all, you can generally petition for expungement one year after the disposition, as long as no other charges are pending against you. Given how many bookings in our daily booking feed end without a conviction, a large share of the people who appear on this site will eventually qualify under this track.

Before filing, it helps to confirm exactly how your case ended. You can check any New Mexico case for free on the NM Courts Case Lookup or call the Third Judicial District Court at (575) 523-8200.

Expunging a Conviction: The Waiting Periods

Convictions can also be expunged, but only after you have fully completed the sentence, including any probation or parole and payment of fines and fees, and then waited out a period that scales with the seriousness of the offense. As of 2026, the waiting periods run from roughly two years for misdemeanors up to roughly ten years for first-degree felonies, with the degrees in between falling on a sliding scale. The petitioner must also have no other convictions or pending charges during that window.

The exact waiting period for a specific conviction depends on how the offense is classified, so check the statute text on nmlegis.gov or ask an attorney rather than guessing. If you are unsure whether an old charge was a misdemeanor or a felony, our explainer on misdemeanors versus felonies in New Mexico covers how the classifications work.

What Is Generally Not Eligible

The Act carves out categories of convictions that cannot be expunged. Generally excluded, including under the statute as written as of 2026, are:

• DWI convictions
• Sex offenses that require registration
• Crimes against children
• Embezzlement convictions

The exclusions apply to convictions. An arrest for one of these offenses that ended in dismissal or acquittal may still qualify under the non-conviction track. Because eligibility questions can get technical fast, verify against the current statute or consult a licensed New Mexico attorney before assuming a record can or cannot be sealed.

What Expungement Actually Does

A granted expungement order directs the courts and law enforcement agencies to seal the arrest and court records from public view. After that:

• The case no longer appears in public court searches, and the arrest record is removed from public inspection.
• In most contexts, the person may lawfully deny that the arrest or conviction ever happened, including on most job and housing applications.
• Law enforcement, prosecutors, and courts retain access to the sealed records for limited official purposes. Expungement hides a record from the public; it does not erase it from existence.

How the Petition Process Works

In broad strokes, the process looks like this:

1. Gather your records: case numbers, dispositions, and dates. The New Mexico Courts website publishes self-help resources and forms.
2. File a petition for expungement in district court and serve the required agencies, such as the district attorney and the Department of Public Safety, which can object.
3. Attend a hearing if the court sets one. If no one objects and the statutory requirements are met, many petitions are granted without much fight.
4. Once the order issues, the named agencies must seal their records. Keep certified copies of the order; you will want them later.

Many people handle straightforward non-conviction expungements themselves, but an attorney is worth the money for conviction cases or anything with a complicated history.

What About Mugshot Websites Like This One?

Here is the honest limitation: an expungement order binds government agencies. It does not automatically reach private websites that republished the record while it was public. Some sites in this industry exploit that gap by charging removal fees. We do not.

If your record has been expunged, send us the case information and we will take the record down. That is true whether or not you have the order in hand yet; a dismissal or acquittal is enough on its own. Getting the same result from other websites and from search engines takes more legwork, but a granted expungement is the strongest tool you can have when you ask.

Las Cruces Mugshots publishes general information about New Mexico law and local procedure for the public. It is not legal advice. All persons listed in our booking records are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.