Public Records Request

Notice of Right to Inspect Public Records

By law, under the Inspection of Public Records Act, every person has the right to inspect public records of the City of Alamogordo, New Mexico. The Act also makes compliance with requests to inspect public records an integral part of the routine duties of the officers and employees of the City of Alamogordo, New Mexico.

Requests to inspect public records should be submitted to the records custodian, located at the City Clerk’s Office in Alamogordo City Hall.

A person desiring to inspect public records may submit a request to the records custodian orally or in writing. However, the procedures and penalties prescribed by the Act apply only to written requests. A written request must contain the name, address and telephone number of the person making the request. The request must describe the records sought in sufficient detail to enable the records custodian to identify and locate the requested records.

The records custodian must permit inspection immediately or as soon as practicable, but no later than fifteen calendar days after the records custodian receives the inspection request. If inspection is not permitted within three business days, the person making the request will receive a written response explaining when the records will be available for inspection or when the public body will respond to the request. If any of the records sought are not available for public inspection, the person making the request is entitled to a written response from the records custodian explaining the reasons inspection has been denied. The written denial shall be delivered or mailed within fifteen calendar days after the records custodian received the request for inspection.

If a person requesting inspection would like a copy of a public record, a reasonable fee may be charged. The fee for documents eleven inches by seventeen inches or smaller is fifty cents ($.50) per page. The cost for larger documents will be determined based on the type of document. If the information is in electronic form it can be put on a CD for five ($5) and if you want it emailed to you, there will be NO charge. If the person requesting inspection would like any public records faxed to them, then an additional fee of one dollar ($1) per page will be charged to the requester. If the person requesting inspection would like any public records mailed to them, then an additional fee to cover the actual postage rates will be charged to the requester. The records custodian may request those applicable fees for copying public records be paid in advance, before the copies are made. A receipt indicating that the fees have been paid for making copies of public records will be provided upon request to the person requesting the copies. For those individuals who are prevented from picking up their copies through some disability, accommodations will be made to deliver the copies.