Are Speed Cameras Legal in New Mexico: Citations and Challenges

Yes, speed cameras are legal in New Mexico, but only because individual cities and counties have authorized them through local ordinances. There is no statewide law that either permits or prohibits automated speed enforcement, which is why the rules depend entirely on where the camera caught you. Albuquerque runs the largest program and is expanding from 20 cameras to 40. Bernalillo County launched its own program in 2024. In both places the fine is a flat $100 civil penalty with no license points, no effect on your driving record, and no impact on insurance rates.¹²

Which New Mexico Jurisdictions Actually Use Them

Nothing in the state Motor Vehicle Code explicitly authorizes automated speed enforcement, and nothing bans it. That silence has left the field to local governments. Albuquerque’s program is codified in Article 15 of the Revised Ordinances of Albuquerque, which gives the city authority to operate cameras, issue civil fines, and hold administrative hearings. Bernalillo County passed a comparable ordinance through its County Commission in February 2023 and began active enforcement in September 2024.²

Albuquerque currently operates 20 cameras and is doubling that count to 40, with locations chosen from crash data on corridors where speeding has caused serious injuries or deaths.³ Bernalillo County installed roughly a dozen cameras in unincorporated areas at its August 2024 launch, and those cameras run 24 hours a day.² Signage marks camera zones in both jurisdictions.

Because the authority is local, your citation is governed by whichever jurisdiction’s rules apply. A citation with an “ABQ” prefix falls under Albuquerque’s ordinance. Bernalillo County handles its own citations separately. Other municipalities could in theory adopt their own programs, but as of 2026 these two jurisdictions are the main ones operating cameras.

How You Got the Ticket

When a camera clocks a violation, the system captures photographs of the vehicle and records the speed. A police officer then reviews the evidence before a citation goes out. In Albuquerque, the Albuquerque Police Department reviews everything the vendor provides and decides whether the violation stands before authorizing a fine notice.¹

The citation is mailed to the vehicle’s registered owner at the address on file with the DMV, and it includes the violation photographs and the recorded speed. Both Albuquerque and Bernalillo County send citations by mail only. Neither jurisdiction ever sends citations by text message or phone call. Any text or call demanding payment for a speed camera fine is a scam.²

Your Options After Receiving a Citation

The fine is $100 in both Albuquerque and Bernalillo County. Albuquerque’s FAQ states that the amount is set by state law and the city cannot change it.¹ The violation is civil, not criminal. No points hit your license, nothing appears on your DMV driving record, and your insurance rates are not affected.²

You have four ways to respond, and the clock is 30 days from the date on the first fine notice.

Pay the $100 by the due date on the citation.
Request a hearing within 30 days. Miss that window and you lose the right to appeal. Hearings can be conducted in person, by Zoom, or through an online dispute process where you upload documents and communicate with a hearing officer in writing.⁴
Complete four hours of community service instead of paying. You must declare that intent within 30 days of the citation date and finish the hours within 90 days. In Bernalillo County this option carries a reduced $25 administrative fee.⁵²
Nominate the actual driver by submitting a notarized Owner’s Affidavit. The city then sends the notice to that person. Only one nomination is allowed per citation, and the nominee cannot nominate someone else.¹

The 30-day window is the deadline that matters most. Act quickly if you plan to contest the citation, nominate someone else, or choose community service.

What Happens If You Ignore the Citation

Because the violation is civil, ignoring it does not trigger a bench warrant or license points. It does trigger debt collection. If you fail to pay, request a hearing, nominate a driver, or elect community service by the deadline, the city considers you in default and sends the debt to a collections agency.¹

Two or more unpaid fines carry harsher penalties. If your vehicle is found parked on a city street, in a city-owned parking facility, or on other city property within Albuquerque, the city may issue a parking citation, immobilize the vehicle with a boot, or impound it.¹ Recovering an impounded car costs well over $100, so the math on ignoring a citation stops working quickly.

Rental and Leased Vehicles

If a camera catches a rental or leased vehicle, the citation goes to the registered owner, which is the rental or leasing company. Rental companies typically pay the fine and then charge the payment method on your rental agreement, along with an administrative fee. They also send a copy of the citation and instructions for disputing the charge to the address or email on your rental record.

Leasing companies may forward the citation to you directly or handle it through similar contract terms. Either way, the fine and any administrative costs remain your responsibility as the driver. The Owner’s Affidavit process technically exists for the registered owner to nominate the actual driver, but rental and leasing companies have their own procedures and may not use it the way an individual owner would.

Are the Cameras Constitutionally Sound

The most common legal challenge focuses on due process. The Fourteenth Amendment requires notice and an opportunity to be heard before the government takes your property.⁶ Critics argue that mailing a citation to a registered owner who may not have been driving, and then requiring that owner to prove they were not behind the wheel, inverts the usual presumption of innocence.

Albuquerque’s program tries to answer that concern with several safeguards: police review of evidence before issuance, the Owner’s Affidavit process, administrative hearings governed by the New Mexico Rules of Civil Procedure, and hearing officers appointed by the presiding judge of the civil division of the district court.¹ Whether those safeguards fully satisfy the Constitution has not been definitively resolved by New Mexico’s appellate courts in the speed camera context.

Fourth Amendment privacy objections have surfaced as well, though courts have generally treated speed cameras (which photograph a vehicle at a single fixed point) differently from broader surveillance networks that track movement over time. The area continues to develop.

Legislative Activity to Watch

The New Mexico Legislature has taken up bills on both sides of the issue without passing either. In the 2025 session, Senate Bill 241 proposed the Highway Construction Zone Automated Speed Enforcement Act, which would have created the first statewide authorization for speed cameras, limited to highway construction zones. It defined the registered owner as strictly and vicariously liable, with defenses available if the vehicle had been transferred or the owner was not driving.⁷ The bill was postponed indefinitely.

Senate Bill 91 that same session took the opposite tack, seeking to bar municipalities from using private entities to collect unpaid camera penalties or to impound vehicles for camera-detected violations. It also died before reaching the governor’s desk. With the legislature split, the current setup, where cities and counties write their own rules, is likely to remain in place for the near term.

1
City of Albuquerque. Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) Program – Frequently Asked Questions
2
Bernalillo County. Public Works Automated Photo Speed Enforcement
3
City of Albuquerque. Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE)
4
City of Albuquerque. Hearing Information
5
City of Albuquerque. Community Service Information
6
Legal Information Institute. 14th Amendment, U.S. Constitution
7
New Mexico Legislature. Highway Construction Zone Automated Speed Enforcement Act (SB0241)