Being Arrested
Section 66-8-125 — reasonable grounds from the officer's own investigation, and a uniform for a traffic arrest
State police, sheriffs and their salaried deputies, and municipal police may arrest without a warrant a person present at the scene of a motor vehicle accident, a person on a highway charged with theft of a motor vehicle, or a person charged with a crime in another jurisdiction when a message gives the name or a reasonably accurate description, the crime, and a statement that the person is likely to flee the state.
Who handles this in New Mexico: Enlace Comunitario; and legal aid programs and the state offices, listed in the New Mexico directory.
To arrest without a warrant, the officer must have reasonable grounds, based on personal investigation that may include what eyewitnesses say, to believe the person arrested has committed a crime.
A uniform for a traffic arrest. These officers may not arrest for traffic violations when not in uniform. That does not stop an arrest without a warrant where there is probable cause to believe a felony was committed, or in a case that is not about traffic.
At the scene of a domestic disturbance, a peace officer may arrest a person and take them into custody without a warrant on probable cause to believe the person committed an assault or a battery upon a household member. Whether or not an arrest is made, the officer may stay with the victim and help the victim get to a shelter or receive medical attention.
Several rules about an arrest come from the Supreme Court of the United States rather than from this state's code. It has held that before questioning a person in custody, officers must warn that the person may remain silent, that anything said can be used against them, and that they have a right to a lawyer, appointed if they cannot afford one; that a person arrested without a warrant is entitled to a prompt decision by a judge on whether there was probable cause; and that officers generally need a warrant to search the data on a phone taken from a person they arrested. Those holdings are a floor: a state's own constitution and statutes can give more protection than they do, never less.
The state's own sections are not the only measure of police force. Under the Fourth Amendment, the Supreme Court of the United States has held that force used in an arrest, a stop or any other seizure is judged by objective reasonableness, from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene rather than with hindsight, and that deadly force may not be used to stop a fleeing suspect unless the officer has probable cause to believe the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others. Those holdings are a floor: a state's own constitution and statutes can give more protection than they do, never less.
Sources for this section (7)
- NMSA 1978, § 66-8-125 — Arrest without warrant
- NMSA 1978, § 31-1-7 — Arrest without warrant; liability
- Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966) — Right to remain silent and to counsel during custodial interrogation
- County of Riverside v. McLaughlin, 500 U.S. 44 (1991) — Probable cause review generally within 48 hours of a warrantless arrest
- Riley v. California, 573 U.S. 373 (2014) — Police need a warrant to search a phone seized during an arrest
- Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386 (1989) — Force during a seizure is judged by objective reasonableness from the officer's perspective at the time
- Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1 (1985) — Deadly force against a fleeing suspect is unreasonable absent probable cause of a significant threat of death or serious injury
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of November 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed New Mexico attorney.