New Mexico Background Check

How To Get a New Mexico Background Check Report

The Department of Public Safety provides background check reports for the state. They provide them only to the subject, their appointed legal counsel or an authorized agent for the person. They do not allow public access to someone’s background report. Each requested copy is $15. Individuals can also request a “Police Certificate of Good Standing” for employers or other people who need one before providing licensing or certification. They process a background check in New Mexico through fingerprints and normal processing time is 7-15 working days. On their website, they provide information on how to handle identity theft. 
Additionally, the NM courts offer the general public access to court records and criminal cases through their Secured Odyssey Public Access (SOPA) system. Users must register first then they can run searches online. 

What Does a Background Check Show?

Due to the fact that the state offers background reports only to the individual and their authorized agents, the reports include the person’s entire criminal history along with personal details like name, address, aliases, gender, race, age, date of birth and social security number. Along with that, each criminal event including arrests, warrants, convictions, incarcerations, and violations will show as well. Requestors who use the SOPA court system will see criminal charges and court dispositions but personal information such as social security number will be hidden. 

Purpose and Reasons

The most common purpose for a New Mexico background check is for employment. Other reasons are for adoption, foster care, licensing, gun permits, the hiring of volunteers who work with children or adults, insurance, credit and financing, and other government security clearances.
There are also public background reports available that someone can use to locate an old friend or relative, review a potential roommate, date or business partner, look up someone’s address information or check out your own records online. These reports are created from various private and public sources and contain:

• Criminal Records
• Arrests and Warrants
• Bankruptcy Filings          
• Legal Judgments

• Liens.  

• Birth Records

• Marriages and Divorces 

• Property Records

• Auto, Vessel, Aircraft Ownership

• Current and Past Addresses

• Phone and Email Address

• Professional Licenses

• Relatives and Associates

• Social Media Accounts and More

NM Criminal Background Checks

A criminal background check in New Mexico is complete with someone’s full criminal history. If the report comes from the court system, not all the information will be available. Some personal details will be hidden, but convictions, arrests, incarcerations and court dispositions will still show. However, family violence and juvenile cases will no longer show up on the report as of 2008.

Gun Background Check

The state is not a point of contact for gun dealers in the state, and they have no law requiring a background report before the sale of a firearm in the state. Therefore, gun dealers must comply with federal regulations and contact the FBI to use NICS to get full New Mexico gun background information before selling any guns to buyers. Private sales are exempt from background checks as well. NM  has completed 159,779 background checks for the purchase of firearms so far in 2018. Of those, 70,791 were for handguns, 53,472 for long guns and only 13,493 for permits. 

Gun Checks & Gun-Related Death Rate

On average 156,853 gun checks annually are being conducted through NICS in California.

State Firearms Background Checks Initiated Through the NICS

Background Check Laws

New Mexico background check laws prohibid personal use of someone’s background report. Therefore, they only provide them to the subject themselves or someone they authorized to receive it. Due to this fact, they have virtually no laws regarding how an employer, licensing or certification agency may use the background information.

Employment Protection

NM is one of the few states in the U.S. that has virtually no law regarding how an employer can use a NM state background check during the hiring process. They do not condone discrimination of any kind, but in terms of criminal records, they are pretty lax about it. Employers, however, are still subject to federal law and must comply with both The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Public Background Check Reports Usage

According to The Fair Credit Reporting Act, when using sites like InfoTracer to obtain a background check report, the information cannot legally be used to determine credit, employment, tenant screening or any other eligibility requirements for business or professional use. 

Online Romance Scam Statistics

In 2017, there have been 118 victims of online romance scams in New Mexico, resulting in $1.4 million adjusted losses associated with these complaints.

Victims by Age Group