Luna County Arrest Records

Luna County arrests typically follow the standard booking process in New Mexico and the United States. An arrest is usually necessary when there is probable cause to believe that an individual is the suspect of a crime. When the individual is arrested, they are taken into custody and booked into the Luna County Detention Center in Deming. The information collected during the booking process forms Luna County arrest records, and when the case goes to trial, they constitute Luna County Court Records. The Luna County Sheriff's Department generates and maintains arrest records. This role is supported by local police departments, who also conduct arrests and store arrest records.

Are Arrest Records Public in Luna County?

Yes. The New Mexico Public Records Act, also called the Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA), classifies records maintained by public agencies as public records. According to this law, regardless of the document's format, the record custodian is mandated to respond to a public record request within three business days, ensuring transparency of government operations for citizens. Unless the record is exempted from unauthorized public access, record custodians in New Mexico also have 15 days to provide the record to the requester.

To maintain the balance between public information and confidential information, the New Mexico Public Records Act exempts some records from public access. Examples include:

• Medical treatment records
• Employment, licensing records (evaluative judgement records)
• Records of law enforcement sources or processes
• Sensitive commercial or legal intellectual property
• Records that could reveal state secrets.

Requested records that contain restricted information are either redacted or the record request is denied. To access a denied record, an individual can write to the record custodian challenging the denial or escalate the denial by taking the record custodian to court and obtaining a court order granting them access.

What Do Public Arrest Records Contain?

Public arrest records in Luna County typically contain the following information:

• Full personal identification data of the arrestee (name, gender, physical descriptors)
• Mugshot or booking photo
• Booking information (booking date, time, number)
• Arrest information (reason for arrest)
• Records of previous arrests, if any
• Case information
• Trial information (hearing dates, and bail information if the case goes to trial).

Luna County Arrest Statistics

According to the 2020 arrest data from the FBI's Crime Data Explorer, the police department where the county seat of Luna County is located - The Deming Police Department- recorded 760 arrests. The most popular categories of crimes leading to arrest include all other offenses with 371 arrests (41%), Drug/Narcotic Offenses with 213 arrests (21%), and Larceny with 125 arrests (14%).

Find Luna County Arrest Records

To look up incarceration information, an individual can use the state and federal resources available. These resources include the following:

• Luna County Detention Center: The detention center publishes a facility roster of all inmates currently incarcerated in the facility. To obtain specific inmate information from this document, a person must know the inmate's full name, inmate number, or booking date. Using this information, they can look through the document to find the specific inmate they are looking for.
• Department of Public Safety (DPS): Individuals can fill out an Authorization for Release of Information form and submit it to the DPS for fingerprint-supported background checks. It costs $15 per record search, payable by money order or cashier's check.

Free Arrest Record Search in Luna County

Individuals can obtain arrest records for free by viewing the facility roster of the Luna County Detention Center or by contacting the Luna County Sheriff's Office to request them. This request may be made in person or online through their Public Records Request tool or by submitting an Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA) request.

The Case lookup tool provided by the state of New Mexico also allows individuals to obtain court records, which can include arrest records, for free online. This state tool allows individuals to search for court records, which may contain arrest records, as arrest records of cases that go to trial constitute court records as long as they have sufficient information about the case to execute a search.

Third-party websites also offer free online resources for obtaining arrest records. They serve as repositories for public records from various county government offices and offer the public free basic searches of their databases. Fees may be required to access more detailed records.

How Long Do Arrests Stay on Your Record?

Indefinitely. An arrest will stay on an individual's record forever unless it is expunged or sealed. Expungement is not automatic and has to be applied for by the individual with the charge. According to the guidelines for expunctions in New Mexico, whether an offense can be expunged depends on the type of offense it is and the amount of time that has passed since it happened.

Expunge Luna County Arrest Records

Expungement is the legal removal of a charge from a person's public arrest history. Under the New Mexico Criminal Records Expungement Act, individuals from all counties in New Mexico can petition a court for the expungement of an eligible record, whether or not it led to an arrest, was dismissed, or led to a conviction. Not all offenses can be expunged. Offenses against children, causing bodily harm, embezzlement, sex offenses, and driving under the influence cannot be expunged.

To be eligible for expunction, an individual must have done the following:

• Must not have any pending court proceedings
• Must have paid all fines and restitution ordered by the court
• Must not have committed another crime during the specified waiting period as outlined in the guidelines for expunction.

The process of obtaining expungement includes the individual waiting out the conviction-free waiting period, confirming that their charge is eligible for expunction, and then filling out the appropriate expunction petition form and submitting it to the district court where the arrest was made. A petition is submitted with a $132 filing fee paid by money order. It is important to note that if the case is a cannabis (marijuana) use case, it qualifies for automatic case record expungement.

During the process of filing for an expunction, a person can include multiple charges as long as they are under one case number. Expunction petitions are also sealed from unauthorized public view, whether or not the petition was granted. Expunged records are not destroyed in New Mexico. They are sealed from public view and are available to exempted government agencies such as courts, law enforcement agencies, and other criminal justice agencies if the need arises.

Luna County Arrest Warrants

Luna County arrest warrants are issued by a county judge to law enforcement officers, authorizing them to take a suspect into custody. Probable cause that they committed the crime must have been established, and the arrest was conducted lawfully as prescribed by the warrant.

To get a warrant issued, a law enforcement officer presents proof of probable cause (an affidavit) to a judge, who then signs off on the warrant if convinced. A judge must sign a warrant before it can be legally enforceable. Some reasons why a warrant is issued include the following:

• When a person summoned to court does not show up
• When evidence establishes probable cause that a crime was committed
• When a person violates probation or parole.

Some of the information typically contained in a Luna County arrest warrant includes:

• The full name of the accused
• The charge
• Name of the arresting officer or agency
• Signature of the issuing judge
• Description for executing the warrant.

Do Luna County Arrest Warrants Expire?

In Luna County and the entire state of New Mexico, arrest warrants generally do not expire. Until a court formally dismisses the warrant or it is executed, a warrant will remain active, and the accused can be arrested at any time. Although arrest warrants have an indefinite validity, factors can affect their execution. Examples of this include the statute of limitations of the offense, judicial review, and new developments in the case.