One statewide district for New Mexico
The District of New Mexico is the federal trial court for the whole state. Congress made it a single district, and 28 U.S.C. § 111 says so in one sentence: "New Mexico constitutes one judicial district." The same section adds: "Court shall be held at Albuquerque, Las Cruces, Las Vegas, Roswell, Santa Fe, and Silver City." The court describes itself as "a federal court serving the entire state of New Mexico." The U.S. Attorney's Office says the district has 33 counties. This page is part of our wider guide to federal courts, which covers other districts, including neighboring Arizona, Colorado and Utah.
The source of the court's power over criminal cases is 18 U.S.C. § 3231: district courts have "original jurisdiction, exclusive of the courts of the States, of all offenses against the laws of the United States." That is why a drug, firearms, fraud or immigration case that arises in New Mexico can be charged here instead of in state court.
This district also has a feature most others lack. The U.S. Attorney's Office says the state is home to 22 Native American communities: nineteen pueblos, two Apache tribes and the Navajo Nation. Crimes in Indian Country fall within the General Crimes Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1152, and the Major Crimes Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1153, and the office says those cases are its responsibility to prosecute. If your case arose on tribal land, tell your lawyer exactly where and when at the first meeting.
How cases are divided, and what the court does not say
The statute creates no divisions and lists no counties. It names six places where court shall be held, but the court's own location pages list only four courthouses: Albuquerque, Las Cruces, Santa Fe and Roswell. Las Vegas and Silver City appear in the statute, and the court does not explain the difference.
The court does not publish a rule that says which county's criminal cases are heard at which courthouse. The papers in your case name the courthouse, and those papers control. The local criminal rules say only that preliminary and release hearings are held "in a location where a District Judge or a full-time Magistrate Judge normally presides."
There is one official county grouping, and it is easy to misread. The court's Jury Selection Plan, adopted October 27, 2015, sets up two jury divisions, and its purpose is to decide where jurors are drawn from. It is a jury plan, not a rule on where a defendant is prosecuted. The plan's Northern Division includes these counties: Bernalillo, Cibola, Colfax, Curry, De Baca, Guadalupe, Harding, Los Alamos, McKinley, Mora, Quay, Rio Arriba, Roosevelt, San Juan, San Miguel, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Socorro, Taos, Torrance, Union and Valencia. Its Southern Division includes Catron, Chaves, Doña Ana, Eddy, Grant, Hidalgo, Lea, Lincoln, Luna, Otero and Sierra. The plan's grand jury divisions follow the same lines. Use the lists to understand where jurors come from, not to predict your courthouse.
The four courthouses and the clerk's offices
The court lists these locations:
- Pete V. Domenici U.S. Courthouse, 333 Lomas Blvd NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102. The public lobby is open weekdays from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, closed on federal holidays, and government photo ID is required for entry.
- U.S. Historic Courthouse, 421 Gold Ave SW, Albuquerque, NM 87102.
- U.S. Courthouse, 100 N. Church Street, Las Cruces, NM 88001. The public lobby is open weekdays 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
- Santiago E. Campos U.S. Courthouse, 106 S. Federal Place, Santa Fe, NM 87501. The public lobby is open weekdays 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
- U.S. Courthouse, 500 N. Richardson, Roswell, NM 88201. It is open weekdays 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM and closed for lunch from 12:00 to 1:00. There is no staffed Clerk's Office in this courthouse.
The main Clerk's Office is on the 2nd Floor of the Pete V. Domenici U.S. Courthouse, Suite 270, phone 505-348-2000. The intake counter is open weekdays from 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM and 1:00 PM to 4:30 PM. The Las Cruces Clerk's Office is at 100 N. Church Street, Suite 280, phone 575-528-1400. The Santa Fe Clerk's Office is at 106 S. Federal Place, phone 505-988-6481. In Roswell, the court says "There is no staffed Clerk's Office in this courthouse," and lists 575-637-7960. For electronic filing help, the court lists 505-348-2075.
Sealed filings work differently from ordinary ones. The court says "Sealed/restricted documents are stored in a secure system and are not available for electronic viewing or service via CM/ECF." Ask your lawyer what is sealed in your case and how you will see it.
Who prosecutes: the United States Attorney's Office
Federal charges here are brought by the United States Attorney's Office for the District of New Mexico. Its main office is at 201 3rd Street NW, Suite 900, Albuquerque, NM 87102, phone (505) 346-7274. It also has a Las Cruces bureau office at 200 N. Church Street, Las Cruces, NM 88001-3512, phone (575) 522-2304. The office says the Las Cruces branch is "approximately 225 miles south of Albuquerque" and that it "is responsible for prosecutions arising out of the southern portion of New Mexico."
The office says its Criminal Division "is the largest of the District's divisions, consisting of over seventy Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSAs) in Albuquerque and Las Cruces." It lists four sections in the Albuquerque office, covering Indian Country Crimes, Violent and Community Crimes, Fraud and Public Corruption, and Narcotics, plus the Las Cruces Branch Office. An Asset Recovery Unit handles criminal and civil forfeiture, and an Appeals Division handles criminal appeals to the Tenth Circuit.
The office says its prosecutors handle "violent crime in Indian Country, complex white collar crime, public corruption, illegal immigration, national security, child exploitation, firearms offenses, human trafficking, and drug trafficking." The Las Cruces branch "prosecutes principally narcotics and immigration-related offenses." Depending on the charge, you may want to read about federal drug trafficking, drug importation, firearms charges or white collar cases. If you got a letter saying you are under investigation, see our page on target letters.
Appointed counsel: the Federal Defender and the CJA panel
The Office of the Federal Defender for the District of New Mexico says its mission is "to provide high quality, client-centered representation to people charged with federal crimes in New Mexico," and that it handles both trials and appeals. It has two offices. Albuquerque is at 111 Lomas Blvd. NW, Suite 501, phone 505-346-2489, toll-free 877-511-4686. Las Cruces is at 506 S. Main, Suite 400, phone 575-527-6930, toll-free 855-527-6930. Staff include trial and appellate lawyers, investigators, interpreters, mitigation specialists or social workers, and paralegals.
The court says it "has established and implemented a plan to provide for adequate representation to any individual who is financially incapable of retaining counsel." Under the Criminal Justice Act, that can mean the Federal Defender or a private lawyer from the court's CJA panel. The court directs questions on the Act to the Office of the Federal Defender. If you cannot afford a lawyer, ask the judge for appointed counsel at your first appearance. Counsel appointed by the court need not file an entry of appearance.
Pretrial Services and Probation
The court has a separate United States Probation & Pretrial Office with locations in Albuquerque, Las Cruces, Roswell, Gallup, Santa Fe and Farmington. It explains that "Pretrial is the time period after an individual has been arrested but before they have been convicted of a crime." The pretrial services officer "will gather information about the defendant through interviews and record checks" and reports to the judge, "so the judge can decide whether the defendant can be released on pretrial supervision or should be detained."
The local rules protect your first interview. A defendant "will be given an opportunity to consult with counsel before his or her initial interview with the Pretrial Services Officers," and Pretrial Services must notify retained counsel or the Federal Public Defender beforehand. Be accurate and careful in that interview, and let your lawyer advise you on it.
The same office later prepares the presentence report, which is covered below and on our presentence report page.
The first days: appearance, detention, indictment
After an arrest, you are brought before a judge for an initial appearance, where you are told of the charge and your rights and the question of counsel is addressed. In this district, local rules also cover undocumented alien material witnesses: the United States Attorney files an affidavit under 18 U.S.C. § 3144, and counsel is appointed under the Criminal Justice Act if the person is eligible.
Release is decided at a detention hearing under 18 U.S.C. § 3142. A judge orders detention before trial only if the judge finds that "no condition or combination of conditions will reasonably assure the appearance of the person as required and the safety of any other person and the community". Pretrial lists alternatives to detention that include supervision, substance abuse treatment, electronic monitoring, a halfway house, curfew and third party custody. Our detention hearing page goes deeper. Local Rule 47.3 requires that a motion about release or detention conditions state the position of Pretrial Services.
Felony charges usually come by indictment from a grand jury, followed by arraignment, where you enter a plea. At arraignment the Magistrate Judge sets the motions deadline.
Local criminal rules that change what you do
The local criminal rules are cited as D.N.M.LR-Cr. The court's rules page lists them as effective December 1, 2009 and amended November 14, 2025. Several affect a defendant directly.
Discovery
Rule 16.1 says "The Parties will comply with the Standard Discovery Order." Under that order the defendant is deemed to have requested discovery "unless he or she files with the Court no later than 7 days from the entry of this Order a waiver of request for discovery." The government must produce Rule 16(a) discovery "within 14 days of the entry of" the order, and the defendant's reciprocal production is due "within 14 days of the Government's compliance." The order also says: "No later than 14 days after arraignment, the attorney for the Government and the Defendant's attorney will confer regarding pretrial discovery." Rule 404(b) information must be disclosed "at least 7 days prior to trial unless otherwise ordered by the Court."
Plea agreements
Rule 11.1 says "The Court must be advised of a plea agreement sufficiently in advance of trial to avoid assembling a jury panel unnecessarily." Under Rule 11.2, "The Court will defer a decision on the acceptance or rejection of the plea agreement until the Court has reviewed the presentence report, even in instances where the Court has accepted the guilty plea." So the court decides on a plea agreement only after it has read the presentence report.
Motions
Under Rule 47, a response is due "within fourteen (14) days after service of the motion" and a reply "within fourteen (14) days after service of the response." A motion and supporting brief combined "must not exceed twenty-seven (27) double-spaced pages," and a motion that does not recite concurrence of each party "may be summarily denied." Rule 47.5 requires motions to continue trial to "address with particularity 18 U.S.C. §3161(h)," the Speedy Trial Act exclusions.
Sentencing
Rule 32 sets a tight schedule. The probation officer files the initial presentence report "at least 35 days prior to the sentencing hearing." The parties must confer about objections "within fourteen (14) days after the filing of the presentence report." Unresolved objections and any motion for departure "must be filed at least fourteen (14) days prior to the sentencing hearing," and the final report is filed "at least seven (7) days before the sentencing hearing." Defense counsel must answer a request to schedule the report interview "within seven (7) days," or the disclosure time limits of Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32(e)(2) are waived. Read our pages on federal sentencing and mandatory minimum sentences for the larger picture.
Appeals go to the Tenth Circuit
An appeal from this court leaves the state. The statute sends appeals "From a district court of the United States to the court of appeals for the circuit embracing the district;" and the circuit table lists New Mexico in the Tenth Circuit with Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming. The court's history page says the district was assigned to the Tenth Circuit in 1929.
The deadline is short. Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(b)(1)(A) says "In a criminal case, a defendant's notice of appeal must be filed in the district court within 14 days after the later of:" the entry of the judgment or the order being appealed, or the filing of the government's notice of appeal. The notice is filed in the district court, not the Tenth Circuit. Our federal appeals page explains the process.
A note on penalties
This page does not predict outcomes. Any penalty figures on charge pages across this site are statutory maximums or guideline ranges, not forecasts. Drug quantity, loss amount, criminal history, and the judge's view of the facts all move the real number.
Talking to a lawyer about a case in this court
Bring what you have to the first conversation, and be ready to explain how the case started. Useful items:
- Every document you received: a summons, complaint, indictment, release order, search warrant inventory or target letter.
- The name of the courthouse and the date and time you are told to appear. If the papers do not say where, call the Clerk's Office number for the nearest courthouse listed above.
- The agency or officer who contacted you, and the date and place of any arrest, stop or search.
- A list of your ties to the community: where you live, work, your family and any prior record, which matter at a detention hearing.
- Any pretrial release conditions and the name of your pretrial services officer.
Do not discuss the facts with agents, co-defendants or on social media, and do not agree to an interview or a proffer session before you have talked with a lawyer. If you cannot afford counsel, contact the Office of the Federal Defender or ask the judge to appoint a lawyer. If you want to discuss your situation, request a consultation.
Federal representation outside California is subject to applicable court admission requirements. Pro hac vice admission and association with local counsel may be required.