What the State Ethics Commission Does
Information about the Commission’s Structure and Function
The State Ethics Commission is an independent state agency created by Article V, Section 17 of the New Mexico Constitution to promote full compliance with the state laws that require our state government to be democratic, responsive to the public’s interest, and ethical. Those democracy and public accountability laws include: the Campaign Reporting Act, the Financial Disclosure Act, the Gift Act, the Lobbyist Regulation Act, the Voter Action Act, the Governmental Conduct Act, the Procurement Code, the State Ethics Commission, and Article IX, Section 14 of the New Mexico Constitution, commonly known as the “Anti-Donation Clause.”
The Commission works to achieve its goals by adjudicating ethics complaints, initiating civil enforcement actions in court, issuing advisory opinions, proposing amendments to ethics laws, drafting a model ethics code for other state agencies, and providing ethics trainings.
The Commission is bipartisan. Any action taken by the seven-member Commission requires the concurrence of two Commissioners of the largest political party in the state and two Commissioners of the second largest political party in the state. Furthermore, the State Ethics Commission Act provides that the Commission may not have more than three members of the same political party.
Commissioners
Who are the Commissioners and how are they Appointed?
The State Ethics Commission is comprised of seven commissioners. The State Ethics Commission Act sets forth a procedure for appointing commissioners that ensures an independent commission.
The Commission’s appointment structure is unique. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Minority Floor Leader of the House, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and the Minority Floor Leader of the Senate each appoint one Commissioner. The four legislatively-appointed Commissioners then appoint two additional Commissioners. Finally, the Governor appoints the Commission’s Chair, who must be a retired judge. No more than three Commissioners may be members of the same political party. Except for the initial Commissioners, the Commissioners are appointed for staggered terms of four years. No Commissioner may serve more than two consecutive four-year terms.
There are also statutory requirements regarding who can serve as a Commissioner. To qualify for appointment to the Commission, a person must be a New Mexico voter; not have changed party registration in the five years preceding appointment; and not have been in the two years preceding appointment a public official, a public employee, a candidate, a lobbyist, a government contractor, or an office holder in a political party at the federal or state level, as the State Ethics Commission defines those terms.
The current Commissioners are:
Hon. William F. Lang, Chair
Appointing authority: Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham
Initial term expires: June 30, 2022
Jeff Baker, Member
Appointing authority: Legislatively-Appointed Commissioners
Term expires: August 10, 2024
Stuart M. Bluestone, Member
Appointing authority: Speaker of the House, Brian Egolf
Initial term expires: June 30, 2023
Hon. Garrey Carruthers, Member
Appointing authority: Minority Floor Leader of the Senate, Stuart Ingle
Initial term expires: June 30, 2023
Ronald Solimon, Member
Appointing authority: Legislatively-Appointed Commissioners
Term expires: August 10, 2024
Dr. Judy Villanueva, Member
Appointing authority: Minority Floor Leader of the House, James Townsend
Initial term expires: June 30, 2021
Frances F. Williams, Member
Appointing authority: President Pro Tempore of the Senate, Mary Kay Papen
Initial term expires: June 30, 2021
Upcoming Commission Meetings
Click Here to view upcoming State Ethics Commission Meetings.
Commission Staff
Who Are the Staff?
The State Ethics Commission Act requires the Commission to appoint an attorney “knowledgeable about state ethics laws” to serve as the Commission’s Executive Director. The Executive Director can serve for no more than two six-year terms.
The State Ethics Commission Act requires the Executive Director to hire a General Counsel. The General Counsel reviews and investigates complaints filed with the Commission. The General Counsel can serve for no more than two five-year terms. The Executive Director hires other staff members in addition to the General Counsel.
The current staff includes:
Jeremy D. Farris
Executive Director
Jeremy is the first State Ethics Commission Executive Director. He previously served as General Counsel to New Mexico’s Department of Finance and Administration and practiced law at litigation firms both in Atlanta, Georgia and Albuquerque, New Mexico. Jeremy clerked for the Honorable Julia S. Gibbons on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit; the Honorable Judith K. Nakamura on the New Mexico Supreme Court; and the Honorable James O. Browning on the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico. He holds a law degree from Harvard Law School, a doctorate and masters degree from the University of Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and a Bachelors of Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Walker Boyd
General Counsel
Walker is the first State Ethics Commission General Counsel. He previously practiced law at Peifer, Hanson and Mullins, P.A., and clerked for the Honorable James A. Parker on the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico and the Honorable J. Miles Hanisee on the New Mexico Court of Appeals. He holds a law degree from the University of New Mexico, where he served as Editor in Chief of the New Mexico Law Review, and a Bachelor’s of Arts from Vassar College.
Rebecca Branch
DEPUTY General Counsel
Rebecca, a native New Mexican, serves as the State Ethics Commission’s Deputy General Counsel. She previously served as Deputy Director of Litigation and Deputy Director of Consumer Protection at the Office of the New Mexico Attorney General. She also was with the Office of the Superintendent of Insurance as Legal Counsel. Rebecca began her legal career at the Branch Law Firm. She holds a law degree from University of Denver, Sturm School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in History from Alfred University.
Wendy George
director of Finance and Administration
Wendy serves as the first State Ethics Commission Director of Finance and Administration. She previously served as Budget Manager to New Mexico’s Department of Finance and Administration and has over five years of governmental financial experience within the agency. She also has corporate financial and compliance experience working for Wells Fargo and Ameriprise Financial in Minneapolis, MN. She holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Management from Cardinal Stritch University.
Michael Kiley
Special projects coordinator ii
Michael Kiley (Mike) is the Special Project Coordinator leading the Commission’s research and planning efforts on local jurisdictional expansion. Mike specializes in organizational development and was founder and President of the Colorado Alpine Advanced Trauma Care Project, Inc. He has served in four levels of government, as Budget and Policy Analyst for Colorado and as Rescue Operations Supervisor with the California State Police, where he created a student-staffed paramedic service in central California . He was with the U.S. Postal Service and was a U. S. National Park Law Enforcement/Mountain Rescue Ranger. Mike also was the Manager for the Telluride Hospital District and worked on projects for the City of Boulder. Mike served as a paramedic for 6,000 advanced life support encounters, and hospital and clinic manager including for the Minimally Invasive Diagnostic Center of National Jewish Health in Denver. Mike trained at the University of California, earning a Ph.D in political science with specialization in public administration, public law and normative theory, at UCLA for a Masters of Public Health in hospital administration, and for bachelors and masters degrees at the University of Denver, where he was a member of the social science honor society Pi Gamma Mu. Mike won a National Merit Scholarship Commendation at South High School in Denver. Mike is a fifth generation Colorado native.
Sonny Christopher Haquani
Director of Communications
Sonny serves as the State Ethics Commission’s first Communications Director. Prior to joining Commission staff, Sonny served as a Community Liaison for the City of Albuquerque’s Office of Equity and Inclusion. Previously Sonny has served as Board Chairman of IBSG, an International business and global affairs think tank at the University of New Mexico’s Anderson School of Management. In partnership with the Anderson School, Sonny was the Executive Editor and co-author of Outside the Margins: The Bluebook on the Global Refugee Crisis. Sonny holds a Bachelor’s of Arts in International Studies and Political Science from the UNM.
Contact The Ethics Commission
History of the Commission
The landmark laws that create the State Ethics Commission
In the 2018 general election, New Mexicans voted to adopt Article V, Section 17 of the New Mexico Constitution, which established the State Ethics Commission. New Mexico became the 45th state to create an independent ethics commission.
The Commission is the product of over 40 years of work on the part of Governors, state legislators, advocacy organizations, and other New Mexicans. Gubernatorial task forces in 1992, under Governor Bruce King, and in 2006, under Governor Bill Richardson, proposed an independent ethics commission as the keystone of wider legislative reform. In 2017, the Legislature passed a joint resolution to amend the New Mexico Constitution to create an independent ethics commission. The House of Representatives unanimously passed this joint resolution (66-0), and the Senate passed it on a vote of 30-9. The legislation consequently gave the New Mexico electorate the final decision on whether to create an independent ethics commission.
In November 2018, New Mexicans voted on a ballot initiative to amend the Constitution to include a new section establishing an ethics commission. Over 75% of the voters voting on the ballot question elected to amend the Constitution to add Article V, Section 17. In the following 2019 legislative session, the Legislature unanimously enacted the enabling legislation, the “State Ethics Commission Act,” which established the Commission’s structure and powers.
Click Here to learn more about the legal foundations of the State Ethics Commission.
COVID-19 Response
NOTICE
March 16, 2020 – Due to the developing Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the State Ethics Commission office is open by appointment only. The Commission will accept ethics complaints and requests for advisory opinions via U.S. Mail or electronic mail. The Commission has adopted the Department of Health’s March 12, 2020 COVID-19 Self-Isolation Recommendations for State Employees. The office is locked during normal business hours, and commission staff have been authorized to work from home pursuant to the DOH’s recommendations. The Commission continues to accept and process complaints and requests for advisory opinions.
Commission staff may be reached at the following telephone numbers and email addresses:
Jeremy Farris, Executive Director, Telephone: (505) 490-0951
Email: Jeremy.Farris@state.nm.us
Walker Boyd, General Counsel, Telephone: (505) 554-7196
Email: Walker.Boyd@state.nm.us
Sonny Haquani, Director of Communications, Telephone: (505) 554-7706
Email: Sonny.Haquani@state.nm.us
Click Here to see the full notice.