The municipal judge shall, before he enters the duties of office, if no corporate surety bond covering all municipal officials exists, execute a surety bond to the city in the amount of five thousand dollars conditioned upon the faithful performance of his duties and the paying over to the city of all fines, forfeited bonds and other money which comes into his hands by virtue of his office. The municipal judge shall take the oath of office as required in Section 3-10-2 NMSA, 1978. (Amended during 1992 codification: prior code § 5-2-3)
The mayor with the advice and consent of the city commission shall designate two qualified electors of the city as alternate municipal judges, one of whom shall serve as acting municipal judge during the vacation, temporary absence, unavailability or incapacity of the municipal judge. The municipal judge, before absenting himself shall select, or upon his failure to select, the mayor shall select, one designee from those set forth above to serve as temporary municipal judge to exercise all powers of the municipal judge until the return of the municipal judge. Compensation of alternate municipal judges shall be fixed by the city commission. (Prior code § 5-2-4)
In addition to those duties set forth in the laws of the state, the municipal judge shall hold court at least four hours each day. The municipal judge shall be available at all reasonable hours for the issuance of warrants and summons. The municipal judge shall also:
A. Receive fines and issue receipts therefor;
B. Receive and issue receipts for bail bonds;
C. Enter on the court docket the time for appearance of all persons coming before the court and notify the arresting officer to be present;
D. Notify the city attorney of such violations and complaints as may be designated by the city attorney;
E. Keep a record of all alleged violations of traffic ordinances together with a notation of final disposition. Such record shall indicate all types of offenses and the total of each type, and shall be maintained for a period of three years from the date of case closure;
F. Keep a record of all traffic accidents, warnings, arrests, convictions and complaints reported for each driver which shall be filed alphabetically under the name of the driver. Such record shall be available for use and information of the police department and city attorney's office;
G. Submit reports to the city manager, in,the manner and form prescribed by him of all citations issued and arrests made for violations of all ordinances, all fines collected and the final disposition of current status of every case. Such reports shall show all types of violations and the totals of each type. All receipts of fines shall be rendered promptly to the city clerk.
(Ord. 572, 2019: Ord. 313 (part), 1982; prior code § 5-2-7)
The municipal judge shall keep or cause to be kept a record of every traffic complaint, uniform traffic citation and other form of traffic charge filed in his court and every official action and disposition of the charge by his court. Within ten days after disposition of every charge of violating the traffic code of the city, the municipal judge shall upon forms furnished by the commissioner of motor vehicles prepare, certify as correct, and forward to the State Department of Motor Vehicles an abstract of the record. A report need not be made of any conviction involving illegal parking or standing of a vehicle except when a uniform traffic citation is used. When the uniform traffic citation is issued, the form of the abstract on the back of the officers first copy containing the above information shall be used. The failure or refusal of the municipal judge to comply with the provisions of this section is misconduct in office and ground for removal. (Prior code § 5-2-6)