Restoring Civil Rights After a Felony in New Mexico

Voting returns automatically on release from prison (House Bill 4, 2023). Other civil rights are restored by a governor's pardon, which under the state constitution (Art. V, Sec. 6) is at the governor's sole discretion; according to the Corrections Department's clemency policy, a pardon restores all or some of the rights of citizenship, removes state-imposed disabilities such as the right to vote and hold public office, and is generally applied for only after a waiting period free of arrest after discharge from supervision: 5 years for a fourth degree felony, 6 years for third degree, 7 years for second degree and 8 years for first degree (2 more years after an unsatisfactory discharge). For firearms, the state felon-in-possession ban applies only to a felony conviction for which less than 10 years have passed since the sentence or probation was completed, and does not apply after a pardon or to a deferred sentence (see the felon-in-possession page).