BERNALILLO — Sandoval County’s top lawyer and a former clerk for the city of Rio Rancho have been named to a new statewide body in charge of reforming New Mexico’s primary public records law.
Sandoval County Attorney Michael Eshleman and Rebecca Martinez, an official with the New Mexico Municipal League and New Mexico Self-Insurers’ Fund, are part of the eight-member Inspection of Public Records Act task force, according to the New Mexico Department of Justice website. The task force held a kickoff meeting April 30 at the University of New Mexico.
The task force was convened by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez following the passage of New Mexico House Joint Memorial 2 earlier this year. The legislation calls for a study of IPRA’s “implementation and effectiveness” to see if legislative changes are needed in response to the outdated law and a growing backlog of records requests. The task force will also propose legislation and issue a report to the Legislature ahead of the next session…