SENATE BILL 13

50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2011

INTRODUCED BY

Vernon D. Asbill

AN ACT

RELATING TO LIVESTOCK; PROVIDING FOR EXCLUSIONS FROM IMPOUNDMENT OF ESTRAYS; LIMITING ISSUANCE OF BRAND INSPECTION CERTIFICATES ON FEDERALLY SEIZED LIVESTOCK.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. Section 77-9-30 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1891, Chapter 34, Section 3, as amended) is amended to read:

     "77-9-30. EXPORTED LIVESTOCK--INSPECTION OF BRANDS AND EAR MARKS--RECORD.--

          A. The board shall cause the brands and ear marks upon livestock shipped or driven from a district or out of this state to be inspected and a true and correct record of the result of such inspections to be kept in the office of the director for three years. The record shall set forth the date of the inspection; the place where and the person by whom made; the name and current address of the owner, shipper or claimant of the livestock inspected or the names and current addresses of all persons in charge of the livestock at the time of the inspection; the destination of the livestock; a list of all brands and ear marks upon the livestock inspected; and the number and classification of the livestock.

          B. If a federal government entity seizes any privately owned livestock subject to brand inspection pursuant to this section, the board or its authorized inspector shall not issue brand inspection certificates to remove the livestock or for the transfer of ownership of the livestock by sale or otherwise unless one of the following occurs:

                (1) the board receives consent from the owner;

                (2) the owner is unknown; or

                (3) before the seizure, the federal government entity obtains approval for the seizure from a court of competent jurisdiction and submits a copy of the order approving the seizure to the board or its authorized inspector.

          C. The provisions of this section do not apply to:

                (1) a feral animal;

                (2) a wild, free-roaming horse or burro defined pursuant to 16 U.S.C. 1332; or

                (3) a stray animal."

     SECTION 2. Section 77-13-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1907, Chapter 80, Section 2, as amended) is amended to read:

     "77-13-2. IMPOUNDMENT OF ESTRAYS.--

          A. A person shall not impound an estray except when the estray is found on property the person owns or controls. When a person impounds an estray, [he] the person shall, within five days of the impoundment, notify the director or an inspector of the impoundment.

          B. A person having knowledge of an estray upon any public or private range, fenced or unfenced, may notify the director or an inspector, giving a description of the estray, and, upon instructions from the board or inspector, the estray shall be turned over to an inspector for disposition as the board may direct according to law.

          C. It is lawful for a person [having] who has knowledge of an estray grazing on public land, public highways or other lands used for grazing purposes in conjunction with public land and who has the prior approval of or is acting in cooperation with an agent of the board to impound and detain the estray for the purpose of ascertaining ownership by brand or other means of identification. The owner of the estray found to be in trespass shall be allowed forty-eight hours from receipt of notice of impoundment within which to claim the [animal] estray and make settlement for trespass damage. If the owner fails to claim the [animal] estray and effect a settlement for trespass damages within the time allowed, the estray detained shall be turned over to an inspector or other agent of the board for disposition in the same manner as provided for other estrays under Chapter 77, Article 13 NMSA 1978.

          D. The provisions of this section do not apply to livestock for which the conditions of a federal permit, federal allotment or federal lease are in dispute."

- 4 -