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2014 New Mexico Attorney General Reports and Opinions 1 (2014)

handle is hein.sag/sagnm0093 and id is 1 raw text is: 









                     Attorney General of New Mexico


 GARY K. KING                                                      ALBERT J. LAMA
 Attorney General                  February 17, 2014          Chief Deputy Attorney General

    OPINION
      OF                                                             Opinion No. 14-01
GARY K. KING
Attorney General

BY:    Luis G. Carrasco
       Assistant Attorney General

TO:    The Honorable Michael S. Sanchez
       New Mexico State Senator
       03 Bunton Road
       Belen, NM 87002

QUESTION:

Do New Mexico counties have the authority to charge utility companies a fee for the use of
rights-of-way pursuant to any legal principle or law, including NMSA 1978, Section 62-1-3?

CONCLUSION:

Yes. New Mexico counties are authorized to charge utility companies a fee for the use of rights-
of-way pursuant to New Mexico statutes and case law.

ANALYSIS:

New Mexico law evinces a clear intent to permit counties to assess both private and public utility
companies a fee for the reasonable actual expenses incurred in granting rights-of-way for the use
of public highways, streets and alleys in unincorporated towns, and places certain limitations on
the conferral of such rights-of-way. These rights-of-way are typically known as franchises.
NMSA 1978, Section 62-1-3 (1987) provides:

       The boards of county commissioners of the several counties are authorized to
       permit corporations organized pursuant to Section 62-1-1 NMSA 1978, public
       utilities under the Public Utility Act and companies that provide public
       telecommunications service pursuant to the New Mexico Telecommunications
       Act to use the public highways and the streets and alleys of unincorporated towns
       for their pipes, poles, wires, cables, conduits, towers, transformer stations and


P.O. Drawer 1508 Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504-1508  (505) 827-6000  www.nmag.gov

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