Inmate Rights in New Mexico

New Mexico's prison rights landscape in 2025 is shaped by two active lawsuits challenging conditions at the Penitentiary of New Mexico and by landmark voting rights legislation that has faced implementation problems since it took effect in 2023. First, in May 2025, the ACLU of New Mexico filed a class action lawsuit challenging NMCD's Predatory Behavior Management Program (PBMP), a unit at the Penitentiary of New Mexico where people are held in conditions the ACLU equates to long term solitary confinement, 23 hours a day alone for weeks, months, or years, in violation of the New Mexico Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Second, NMCD implemented a sweeping ban on books, magazines, and newspapers in 2022 that the ACLU of New Mexico challenged in state court as violating New Mexico's constitutional protections for free speech and due process.

The New Mexico Corrections Department, known as NMCD, operates adult prisons in New Mexico and also contracts with private prison companies including Management and Training Corporation (MTC), CoreCivic, and the GEO Group. The ACLU of New Mexico has documented widespread medical neglect, sexual abuse, retaliatory uses of solitary confinement, suicides, and deaths at privately operated New Mexico facilities. The New Mexico Voting Rights Act, effective July 1, 2023, restored voting rights to approximately 11,000 former state prisoners upon release from incarceration regardless of parole or probation status, though implementation problems required a court order to correct in October 2024.

This guide covers rights inside New Mexico state prisons and county jails across ten domains, grounded in NMCD policy, New Mexico statute, and the current legal landscape.

Here is the short version, before we take each right apart.

Medical and mental health care are constitutionally required; private NMCD facilities have faced documented ACLU findings of widespread medical neglect. Mail is governed by NMCD policy; a 2022 ban on books, magazines, and newspapers was challenged in state court as unconstitutional. Phone calls go through Securus Technologies. Visitation requires advance scheduling; applications must be renewed every two years; one visit per week per inmate. Grievances are filed with the Grievance Officer via Grievance mailbox and are available in English and Spanish. Disciplinary hearings carry due process protections. The PBMP at the Penitentiary of New Mexico is the subject of an active ACLU class action as long term solitary confinement. PREA protections apply, though ACLU findings at private facilities include documented sexual abuse. Religious practice is protected under the First Amendment and RLUIPA. ADA accommodations are required. The New Mexico Voting Rights Act (effective July 1, 2023) restored voting rights upon release from prison regardless of parole or probation status.

Medical and mental health care

Every person in a New Mexico state prison has a constitutional right to adequate medical and mental health care under the Eighth Amendment. NMCD contracts for health care services at both state operated and privately operated facilities. New Mexico courts have confirmed that NMCD's grievance policy covers medical negligence as substantially related to incarceration, meaning medical care complaints must go through the NMCD grievance process before a lawsuit can be filed.

The ACLU of New Mexico has documented widespread medical neglect at privately operated New Mexico correctional facilities run by MTC, CoreCivic, and GEO Group, including suicides and deaths resulting from failures in medical care. If your loved one is not receiving needed medical or mental health care at any NMCD facility, submit every request in writing with a date, keep copies, and file a formal grievance. The grievance mailbox is checked once a week, so plan accordingly for time sensitive medical issues. Contact the ACLU of New Mexico for systemic medical care concerns, particularly at privately operated NMCD facilities.

Mail and the publications ban

Mail in NMCD facilities is governed by NMCD policy. Legal mail, meaning correspondence with courts and licensed attorneys, must be opened only in the incarcerated person's presence to check for physical contraband and cannot be read. This constitutional baseline applies across all NMCD facilities.

In February 2022, NMCD implemented increasingly restrictive policies that ultimately banned incarcerated people from receiving books, magazines, and newspapers from family members or from ordering them directly from publishers. The ACLU of New Mexico and Smith and Marjanovic Law filed a lawsuit in the First Judicial District Court on behalf of plaintiffs Aaron Daugherty and Bryce Franklin, arguing that NMCD's publications ban violated the New Mexico Constitution's protections for free speech and due process. The lawsuit noted that for the plaintiffs, access to publications is a vital connection to their families and the communities they hope to return to. Families should confirm current mail and publications policies directly with NMCD or through InmateAid, as these policies have been in active legal dispute.

Phone contact

Phone calls from New Mexico state prisons are placed through Securus Technologies, which is the contracted phone carrier for NMCD facilities. Calls are monitored and recorded except for calls to attorneys. Phone rates are subject to the FCC's prison telephone rate caps, expanded in 2024 to cover all facilities regardless of size.

Video visitation may also be available through the Securus platform. InmateAid can help families set up Securus accounts and navigate the current rates and calling options for the specific NMCD facility. If phone access is being denied as a form of punishment, contact the ACLU of New Mexico, which has noted the punitive denial of phone calls as an issue at NMCD facilities.

Visitation

Visitation at NMCD facilities requires prior approval and advance scheduling. Potential visitors must be on the inmate's approved visitation list. Each adult visitor must complete a visitor application and pass a background check; approval timelines range from a few days to several weeks. Visitation applications must be renewed every two years. Only one visit per week is permitted per inmate. In person visits must be scheduled at least one week in advance.

Visiting schedules and days vary by facility and housing unit or classification level. NMCD's level system governs housing for people who pose management challenges; higher level placement affects visiting access. At the Northeast New Mexico Correctional Facility (NENMCF), given the distance many families must travel, two day visit options are available. Contact the specific facility before traveling to confirm eligibility and scheduling. County jails in New Mexico operate under their own local authority with separate visiting procedures. Contact NMCD's Family Services line at 505 827 8710 or InmateAid for facility specific visiting information.

The grievance process

NMCD maintains an internal grievance process that must be exhausted before filing a lawsuit. The formal grievance, in the form of an Inmate Grievance, is filed with the Grievance Officer. To file a grievance, the inmate places it in the Grievance mailbox, which is checked once a week. NMCD's grievance policies are available in English and Spanish. The secretary (warden or designee) makes a final decision; the inmate is notified within three days of the outcome and the reasons behind it. If the inmate is not satisfied, the next step is civil court.

New Mexico courts have confirmed that failure to exhaust NMCD's administrative grievance process will bar a subsequent lawsuit in state or federal court, with very few exceptions. Dismissal for failure to exhaust is without prejudice, meaning the case can be refiled after the grievance process is completed. NMCD's grievance policy covers medical negligence, conditions of confinement, and other issues substantially related to incarceration. File every grievance in writing, keep a copy, and document every response and every failure to respond within required timeframes.

Disciplinary hearings

When a person in New Mexico state custody is accused of a disciplinary infraction, they are entitled to the minimum due process protections from Wolff v. McDonnell: advance written notice of the charge, a hearing, and a written statement of the evidence and reasons for any sanction. NMCD policy governs the disciplinary process at its facilities.

A disciplinary conviction can affect classification, housing assignment, program eligibility, visiting access, and parole consideration. Placement in the PBMP or other restrictive housing settings can result from disciplinary findings. Document what happened at any disciplinary hearing, who was present, and what evidence was considered. If the hearing result appears to violate procedural requirements, file a grievance and appeal through the NMCD process.

Solitary confinement and the PBMP lawsuit

The most significant active rights challenge in New Mexico state prisons in 2025 is Fusilier v. New Mexico Corrections Department, a class action lawsuit filed on May 8, 2025 by the ACLU of New Mexico and Keker, Van Nest and Peters LLP in state court in Santa Fe. The lawsuit challenges NMCD's Predatory Behavior Management Program (PBMP) at the Penitentiary of New Mexico as long term solitary confinement violating the New Mexico Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

The PBMP keeps incarcerated people alone in a cell for 23 hours a day without meaningful human contact or programming for weeks, months, or years. Plaintiff GuJuan Fusilier entered the PBMP in February 2024 and lost 40 pounds within 90 days. Plaintiff O'Shay Toney has experienced four confinements in PBMP, totaling approximately five years in the unit, and describes the conditions as torture. The lawsuit seeks class action status on behalf of all people in PBMP and a subclass of people with mental illnesses in the program. NMCD maintains the PBMP helps fix behaviors and maintain order. If your loved one is in the PBMP or another restrictive housing unit at any NMCD facility, document the conditions, daily time out of cell, mental health services provided, and any weight changes. Contact the ACLU of New Mexico.

Private prisons and PREA

New Mexico contracts with private prison companies including Management and Training Corporation (MTC), CoreCivic, and the GEO Group to house some of its state sentenced population. The ACLU of New Mexico has documented widespread problems at these private facilities including medical neglect, sexual abuse, retaliatory uses of solitary confinement, suicides, and deaths. The Prison Rape Elimination Act applies in all NMCD facilities and at privately operated facilities housing NMCD inmates, as well as in New Mexico county jails.

Reports of sexual abuse or harassment can be made to facility staff, the PREA coordinator, or through external reporting options including the ACLU of New Mexico. Retaliation against someone who reports is a PREA violation. For privately operated facilities, constitutional rights are the same as at state operated facilities, but oversight is more limited. Document every incident, every report made, and any change in housing or treatment that follows a report. The ACLU of New Mexico is the primary external resource for documented abuse at private NMCD facilities.

Religious practice

People incarcerated in New Mexico state prisons have the right to religious practice under the First Amendment and the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. NMCD must accommodate sincere religious beliefs and practices unless it can demonstrate a compelling security interest that cannot be addressed through less restrictive means. Religious programming and chaplaincy services are available in NMCD facilities.

Requests for specific religious accommodations, including dietary adjustments and access to religious items, go through a formal request process at the facility. A denial must rest on a genuine documented security concern. Denials can be challenged through the NMCD grievance process and, if unresolved, in federal court under RLUIPA. Document the specific accommodation requested, the reason given for any denial, and every step taken.

ADA and disability accommodations

People with disabilities in New Mexico state prisons are protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act. NMCD must provide reasonable accommodations for people with mobility, vision, hearing, cognitive, and other disabilities, and must ensure they can participate in programs and services on an equal basis. Requests for disability accommodations should be submitted in writing to the facility.

A denial or failure to respond can be challenged through the NMCD grievance process and, if unresolved, in federal court. Contact the ACLU of New Mexico for systemic disability access concerns. Document every accommodation requested and every response received.

Voting rights: the New Mexico Voting Rights Act

New Mexico enacted the New Mexico Voting Rights Act (NMVRA), effective July 1, 2023, restoring voting rights to approximately 11,000 former state prisoners upon release from incarceration. Under the NMVRA, voting rights are restored the moment a person is released from custody, whether or not they remain on probation or post release supervision. This made New Mexico's voting rights restoration policy one of the more expansive in the country.

However, implementation problems followed. On September 26, 2024, Millions for Prisoners filed a lawsuit against the New Mexico Secretary of State and NMCD, alleging that county clerks were relying on inaccurate or outdated NMCD data to deny eligible voters. On October 8, 2024, a Santa Fe court issued a stipulated order requiring the Secretary of State to update forms, send corrected lists to county clerks, and coordinate with NMCD to create a data exchange mechanism by July 1, 2025. If you or your loved one was released from a New Mexico prison after July 1, 2023 and has been denied voter registration, the NMVRA entitles you to register and vote regardless of parole or probation status. Campaign Legal Center and the ACLU of New Mexico are resources for enforcement of the NMVRA.

Parole and the New Mexico Parole Board

Parole decisions for people in New Mexico state prisons are made by the New Mexico Parole Board. In 2025, the New Mexico State Senate unanimously passed the New Mexico Parole Board Modernization Act (SB 43), advancing the state toward evidence based parole decisions. The ACLU of New Mexico applauded the legislation as part of its broader criminal legal reform agenda.

Parole eligibility and the terms of supervision for people released on parole or post release supervision from NMCD facilities are subject to statutory requirements and Parole Board discretion. A disciplinary record within NMCD, including any time spent in the PBMP or other restrictive housing settings, can affect parole consideration. People on parole or post release supervision after July 1, 2023 retain the right to vote under the New Mexico Voting Rights Act. Reentry resources are available through NMCD's constituent services and family services division, which can be reached at CDFamilysrvcs@state.nm.us or 505 827 8710.

The bottom line for New Mexico

New Mexico's prison rights landscape in 2025 is defined by two active lawsuits: the PBMP class action challenging long term solitary confinement at the Penitentiary of New Mexico, and the publications ban challenge; by the NMVRA voting rights restoration (effective July 1, 2023) and the court ordered corrections to implementation problems; and by the ACLU's documented record of abuse at private prisons contracted by NMCD.

The rights in this guide are real: adequate medical care under the Eighth Amendment with an NMCD grievance process that covers medical negligence, legal mail protection at the facility, mail and publications access subject to active legal challenge, phone contact through Securus Technologies subject to FCC rate caps, visitation with annual renewal of applications and one visit per week, a grievance process available in English and Spanish that must be exhausted before court, due process in disciplinary hearings, PBMP conditions challenged as unconstitutional solitary confinement in an active 2025 class action, PREA protections including at private NMCD facilities, religious accommodation under RLUIPA, disability access, and voting rights restored upon release from prison regardless of parole or probation under the NMVRA. Document everything, file every grievance, contact the ACLU of New Mexico for systemic concerns, and stay in contact through InmateAid.