HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS AND FINANCE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

HOUSE BILL 73

57th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2025

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AN ACT

RELATING TO LIMITATIONS ON ACTIONS; EXTENDING THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS ON ACTIONS FOR DAMAGES DUE TO CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABUSE; TEMPORARILY REVIVING CERTAIN TIME-BARRED ACTIONS FOR DAMAGES DUE TO CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABUSE.

 

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

     SECTION 1. Section 37-1-30 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1993, Chapter 136, Section 1, as amended) is amended to read:

     "37-1-30. ACTION FOR DAMAGES DUE TO CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABUSE--LIMITATION ON ACTIONS.--

          A. An action for damages based on personal injury caused by childhood sexual abuse shall be commenced by a person before [the latest of the following dates:

                (1) the first instant of the person's twenty-fourth birthday; or

                (2) three years from the date that a person first disclosed the person's childhood sexual abuse to a licensed medical or mental health care provider in the context of receiving health care from the provider] the person's fifty-eighth birthday if the action is against a private person; provided that such an action may not be commenced, pursuant to this subsection, against the state, a political subdivision of the state or a public employee acting within the scope of the employee’s duties.

          B. As used in this section, "childhood sexual abuse" means conduct that, if prosecuted in a criminal matter, would constitute a violation of:

                (1) Section 30-9-11 NMSA 1978, regarding criminal sexual penetration of a minor;

                (2) Section 30-9-13 NMSA 1978, regarding criminal sexual contact of a minor; or

                (3) the Sexual Exploitation of Children Act.

          C. The provisions of Section 37-1-8 NMSA 1978 and any statutes of limitation therein shall not apply to causes of action for childhood sexual abuse.

          D. An action for damages pursuant to Subsection A of this section that is time-barred prior to the effective date of this 2025 act is retroactively revived and may be commenced during the period of three consecutive years beginning on the effective date of this 2025 act."