After receiving the unique login credentials, approved registered users can access the SOPA software application here: https://securecourtcaseaccess.nmcourts.gov/ 

Any violation of the terms and conditions set forth in the Application for Online Access to New Mexico Judiciary Secure Court Cases in the Secure Odyssey Public Access system (SOPA), by any user, will result in steps being implemented as outlined in this policy (click to open).

Please note: Information about general public access for non-registered users through Case Lookup and applications for SOPA access can be found in the Public Access to Court Records and SOPA Applications section of this web page.

There are two ways to access New Mexico public court records: Case Lookup and Secured Odyssey Public Access (SOPA), as provided by the New Mexico Supreme Court Order No. 17-8500-001. Case Access Policy for Online Court Records

CASE LOOKUP – NO REGISTRATION REQUIRED

Online access is available for New Mexico District Court, Metropolitan Court, Magistrate Court, Municipal Court, and Appellate Court records at the New Mexico Case Lookup.   To request access to records prior to 1997, complete an online request here.  

Exceptions:

• For security purposes, Personal Identifying Information (PII), such as social security number and address information is not available.
• Municipal court data is limited to criminal Domestic Violence and DWI historic convictions beginning September 1, 1991.
• Effective July 1, 2007 the New Mexico Judiciary no longer displays juvenile criminal cases.
• Effective July 1, 2008, the New Mexico Judiciary no longer displays Family Violence Protection Act Order of Protection cases.

SECURED ODYSSEY PUBLIC ACCESS – REGISTRATION REQUIRED

Online access is available to New Mexico District Court, Magistrate Court, Metropolitan Court, and Appellate Court records for those who meet the criteria. 

An application process is required to gain access to case information at either the Tier 1 or Tier 2 levels. 

Due to varying restrictions on public access for certain case types as provided by law, cases in SOPA are divided into three tiers with three corresponding levels of access, which are defined as follows:

Tier 1: Most cases that are viewable in SOPA fall within Tier 1, including most civil, probate, domestic relations, and criminal case types. To request login credentials to view SOPA cases in Tier 1 you must complete Part A of the application and the New Mexico Administrative Office of the Courts’ Terms of Use and Non-Disclosure Agreement.

Tier 2: Cases in Tier 2 include delinquency proceedings in Children’s Court and criminal proceedings that involve Domestic Violence. To request login credentials to view SOPA cases in Tier 2, you must complete Part B of the application.

Tier 3: Cases in Tier 3 are subject to strict confidentiality protections and therefore are not viewable in SOPA. Tier 3 cases include proceedings under the Abuse and Neglect Act, the Families in Need of Court-Ordered Services Act, adoption proceedings, parentage proceedings, and mental health proceedings. Proceedings under the Family Violence Protection Act, i.e. civil domestic violence proceedings, are also in Tier 3, but for public safety purposes, only Law Enforcement Officers may view these cases.

The applicant requesting access must submit the application. Only one application per email, as each applicant will have a unique login. 

Glossary of Terms

Attorney = Attorney licensed by the NM Supreme Court and in good standing

Attorney Staff = Staff working under the direct supervision of an attorney

Justice Partner = State, municipal (per NMSA 1978, Section 3-1-2(G)) or federal law enforcement, corrections agencies, compliance programs (per NMSA 1978, Section 31-20-5.1), municipal judges and court staff, and any state or federal agency involved in adult, family or child welfare.

Pro Hac Vice = Out of state licensed attorney admitted to practice by the New Mexico Supreme Court on a specific case

Press = Includes any person who regularly gathers, prepares, photographs, records, writes, edits, reports, or publishes news or information about matters of public interest in any medium and who successfully applies to participate in online access and agrees to comply with all court rules

Applications for both Tier 1 and Tier 2 Secured Odyssey Public Access (Part A and Part B):

If you are a New Mexico attorney (or Pro Hac Vice) in good standing: Attorney Application 

If you are a New Mexico Justice Partner: Justice Partner Application
Regardless of your Justice Partner affiliation, if you are an attorney or staff of an attorney, you must complete the attorney or attorney staff application.

  If you are staff for a New Mexico attorney: Staff Application

  If you are a member of the Press: Press Application 

USER

Registered Secured Odyssey Public Access (SOPA) user

PURPOSE

How to search for a case, a person, or a citation

ENTERING SEARCH CRITERIA

Move through the fields with the tab key or mouse click on the field you wish to select. When you have finished entering your search criteria, click on the "Search" button to begin the search

IMPORTANT NOTE: Information can only be retrieved as it is entered into the court's database. For example, a person's name can only be retrieved as it was entered into the court system by the clerk (i.e. Gregory instead of Greg). Adding more data will narrow the search results. For example, if you type in a person's Name and Date of Birth and click "Search," the results will only show records with BOTH pieces of data; if the court clerk did not enter a Date of Birth for a case, this case will not be included in the search results

SEARCH BY PARTY:

Party Information: First and Last Name are required; Middle name is optional. A wildcard search on the first name is possible by typing in one or more letters and an * asterisk. Caution: the fewer the letters on a wildcard search, the more results will be returned

Date of Birth: Enter date by using slashes. Example: 09/05/1958

SEARCH BY CASE:

Enter the entire case number to search for a specific case by its assigned case number. Case numbers consist of 5 parts that indicate Type of Court, Court Location Code, Case Category, the Year, and the Case Number for the District, Magistrate, Metropolitan, Municipal Cases. For the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, the case numbers consist of 4 parts that indicate Type of Court, Court Location Code, Case Category, and sequential listing.

Type of Court: D
Court Location: 202
Case Category: CV
Year: 2009
Case Number: 00052

Type of Court: S = Supreme Court, A = Court of Appeals, D = District court, M = Magistrate court, T = Metropolitan court

Court Location Code: this is up to 4 digits. Examples are Second Judicial District = 202, Tenth Judicial District = 1010 or 1027, Santa Fe Magistrate = 49, Metropolitan Court = 4, Supreme Court = 1, Tularosa Municipal = 143

Case Category: CR = Criminal, TR = Traffic, CV = Civil

Case Number: For the District, Magistrate, Municipal and Metro cases this is a 10-character alpha-numeric field. Case numbers are constructed two different ways, depending on whether the case was filed before or after the year 2000. For the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals cases this is a 5 - character numeric field. 

Cases prior to 2000

Although there are exceptions in cases filed prior to 1998, generally the case numbers begin with the last two digits of the year, followed by five numeric digits

Type of Court: D
Court Location: 202
Case Category: CV
Year: 98
Case Number: 00132

Cases filed after 2000

The case number includes the 4-digit year, and then the five numeric case digits. It is not necessary to enter leading zeros

Type of Court: D
Court Location: 202
Case Category: CV
Year: 2002
Case Number: [00]132

SEARCH BY CITATION

Citation Number: Enter the entire citation number to search for a specific citation

SEARCH BY ATTORNEY

Attorney Information: First and Last Name are required; Middle name is optional

Case Status: Select All, Open, or Closed

Date Filed: Enter date by using slashes. Example: 09/05/1958

Sort By: Select Filed Date, Filed Date Reverse or Status

ADDITIONAL FILTERS FOR SEARCH RESULTS

Results returned can be filtered by:

Case Status: All (default), Open, or Closed

Date Filed: "On or After" a given date OR "On or Before" a given date

For assistance resetting your SOPA password, please email helpdesk@nmcourts.gov and include your User ID.