NMSA 3-11-5. Organizational meeting; mayor; appointment of officers

3-11-5. Organizational meeting; mayor; appointment of officers after election. A. After each regular local election or municipal officer election, the governing body shall hold an organizational meeting no earlier than fifteen days but no later than twenty-one days after the newly elected officials begin their terms. Such a meeting may constitute a special meeting or a regular meeting of the governing body. B. At the organizational meeting of the governing body, the mayor shall submit, for confirmation by the governing body, the names of persons who shall fill the appointive offices of the municipality. C. The failure of the mayor to nominate an appointee to the governing body for appointment to office at the organizational meeting does not preclude the mayor from doing so at a subsequent meeting. If the governing body fails to confirm any person as an appointive official of the municipality, the mayor at the next regular meeting of the governing body may submit the name of a previous nominee or another person to fill the appointed office of the municipality. Failure to fill a vacant office shall not constitute malfeasance of an elected official. D. Any person holding an appointed office at the time of the regular local election or municipal officer election shall continue in that office until the person's successor has been appointed and is qualified. History: 1953 Comp., § 14-10-5, enacted by Laws 1965, ch. 300; 1985, ch. 208, § 106; 2018, ch. 79, § 52; 2025, ch. 40, § 5.