GIFT OF
1909
COMPILATION
OF THE
SCHOOL LAWS
OF THE
Territory of New Mexico
ACASIO GALLEGOS
Assistant Superintendent of Public Instruction
Under the Supervision of
J. E. CLARK
Superintendent of Public Instruction
Santa Fe, New Mexico
ALBUaUERaUE MORNINO JOURNAL
ALBUQUERQUE, N. M.
1909
COMPILATION
OF THE
SCHOOL LAWS
OF THE
Territory of New Mexico
Prepared by
ACASIO GALLEGOS
Assistant Superintendent of Public Instruction
Under the Supervision of
J. E. CLARK
Superintendent of Public Instruction
Santa Fe, New Mexico
ALBUaUERQUE MORNING JOURNAL
ALBUQUERQUE, N. M,
THIS VOLUME
IS
TERRITORIAL PROPERTY
And is for the use of
of School District No.
County of Territory of New Mexico.
School officers on retiring from office are required by law
to deliver this volume, with all other books and documents of
an official character, to their successors in office.
"A
COMPILATION
OF THE
School Laws of New Mexico
A COMPILATION OF" THE SCHOOL LAWS OF THE TERRITORY OF
NEW MEXICO^ INCLUDING THOSE ENACTED BY THE LEGIS-
LATIVE ASSEMBLY AT ITS THIRTY-EIGHTH SESSION IN 1909.
ORGANIC ACT.
CONTENTS.
Sec. 15. Sections sixteen and thirty-six of each township in the Ter-
ritory to be reserved for school purposes.
Sec. 15. "AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That
when the lands in said territory shall be surveyed under the
direction of the government of the United States, preparatory
to bringing the same into market, sections numbered sixteen
and thirty-six in each township in said territory shall be, and
the same are hereby reserved for the purpose of being applied
to schools in said territory, and in the states and territories
hereafter to be erected out of the same."
244292
U. S. STATUTES.
Forty-Ninth Congress, First Session.
CCCLXII.
AN ACT TO Provide for the Study oe the Nature oe
Aecohoeic Drinks and Narcotics and oe their
EEEEcTs UPON The Human System, in connection
WITH The Several Divisions oe the Subject oe
Physioeogy and Hygiene, by the pupils in the
Public Schools of the territories and oe the Dis-
trict oe Columbia, and in the Military and Naval
Academies, and Indian and Colored Schools in
THE Territories oe the United States.
CONTENTS.
Sec. 1. Instruction regarding alcoholic drinks and narcotics.
Sec. 2. School officers to enforce provisions of Section 1.
Seo; 3. Teachers certificates to be not granted to persons lacking in
knowledge concerning alcoholic drinks and narcotics.
Sec. 1. — Special Instruction Regarding Effects of Alcoholic
Drinks and Narcotics on Human System to be Taught in
Territorial Schools.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress Assembled :
Sec. 1. That the nature of alcohoHc drinks and narcotics,
and special instruction as to their effects upon the human
system, in connection with the several divisions of the subject
of physiology and hygiene, shall be included in the branches
of study taught in the common or public schools, and in the
military and naval schools, and shall be studied and taught
as thoroughly and in the same manner as other like required
branches are in said schools, by the use of text boolcs in the
hands of pupils where other branches are thus studied in said
schools, and by all the pupils in all said schools throughout the
OP The territory oe new mexico 5
Territories, in the military and naval academies of the United
States, and in the District of Columbia, and in all Indian and
colored schools in the territories of the United States.
Sec. 2. — School Officers to Enforce Provisions of Sec. i., and
Failing to do so, Shall he Removed from Office.
That it shall be the duty of the proper officers in control
of any school described in the foregoing section to enforce the
provisions of this act; and any such officer, school director,
committee superintendent, or teacher, who shall refuse or
neglect to comply with the requirements of this act, or shall
neglect or fail to make proper provisions for the instruction
required and in the manner specified by the first section of
this act, for all the pupils in each and every school under his
jurisdiction, shall be removed from office, and the vacancy
filled as in other cases.
Sec. 3. — Teachers' Certificates to be Refused Persons not Pass-
ing Satisfactory Examination in Physiology and Hygiene
With Special Reference to Systematic Effects of Alcoholic
Drinks and Narcotics.
That no certificate shall be granted to any person to teach
in the public schools of the District of Columbia or Terri-
tories, after the first day of January, Anno Domini 1888, who
has not passed a satisfactory examination in physiology and
hygiene, with special reference to the nature and the effects
of alcoholic drinks and other narcotics upon the human system.
Approved May 20, 1886.
CHAPTER DCCCXVIII.
CONTENTS.
Sec. 1. Territorial legislatures shall not pass local or special laws in
certain cases.
Sec. 3. Territorial legislatures shall not contract debts in certain
cases.
Sec. 4. Territorial counties shall not incur debts aggregating more
than 4 per cent on the taxable property of the county.
Sec. 5. Legislative assemblies not to grant private charters.
United States Revised Statutes. Sec. 1890. Religious corporations not
to acquire more than $50,000.00 worth of real estate.
United States Revised Statutes. Sec. 2004. Right of citizens to vote.
6 â– COMPUTATION 0^ THE SCHOOI^ LAWS
Territorial Legislatures Shall Not Pass Local or Special Laws
in Certain Cases.
"That the legislatures of the territories of the United
States now or hereafter to be organized shall not pass local or
special laws in any of the following enumerated cases, that
is to say:
* * * "For the assessment and collection of taxes
for territorial, county, township, or road purposes."
* * * "Providing for the management of common
schools."
* * * "The opening and conducting of any election
or designating the place of voting."
* * * "Remitting fines, penalties or forfeitures."
* * * "Creating, increasing or decreasing fees, per-
centage or allowances of public officers during the term of
which said officers are elected or appointed."
* * * "Granting to any corporation or association
or individual any special or exclusive privilege, immunity, or
franchise whatever."
"In all other cases where a general law can be made appli-
cable, no special law shall be enacted in any of the territories of
the United States by the territorial legislatures thereof."
Sec. 3. — Territorial Legislatures Shall not Contract Territorial
Debts Except in Certain Cases Bnumerated.
That no law of any territorial legislature shall authorize
any debt to be contracted by or on behalf of such territory
except in the following cases : To meet a casual deficit in the
revenues, to pay the interest upon the territorial debt, to
suppress insurrections, or to provide for the public defense,
except that in addition to any indebtedness created for such
purposes, the legislature may authorize a loan for the erection
of penal, charitable or educational institutions for such ter-
ritory, if the total indebtedness of the territory is not thereby
made to exceed one percentum upon the assessed value of the
taxable property in such territory as shown by the last general
assessment for taxation. And nothing in this act shall be con-
strued to prohibit the refunding of any existing indebtedness
of such territory or any political or municipal corporation,
county, or other sub-division therein.
01? THB TERRITORY 01? NEW MEXICO 7
Sec. 4. — Territorial Counties and Other Sub-Divisions Shall
not Incur Debts Aggregating More than Four Percentum
on the Value of Taxable Property of Such Sub-Division.
That no political or municipal corporation, county, or
other subdivision in any of the territories of the United States
shall ever become indebted in any manner or for any purpose
to any amount in the aggregate, including existing indebted-
ness, exceeding four percentum on the value of the taxable
property within such corporation, county, or sub-division, to
be ascertained by the last assessment for territorial and county
taxes previous to the incurring of such indebtedness, and all
bonds or obligations in excess of such amount given by such
corporation shall be void : That nothing in this act contained
shall be so construed as to affect the validity of any act of any
territorial legislature heretofore enacted, or of any obligations
existing or contracted thereunder, nor to preclude the issuing
of bonds already contracted for in pursuance of excess pro-
visions of law ; nor, to prevent any territorial legislature from
legalizing the acts of any county, municipal corporation, or
sub-division of any territory as to any bonds heretofore issued
or contracted to be issued.
Sec. 5. — Legislative Assemblies not to Grant Private Charters,
but may by General Incorporation Acts Permit Incorpora-
tion of Colleges, etc.
That section eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, title twenty-
three of the Revised Statutes of the United States be amended
to read as follows :
The legislative assemblies of the several territories
shall not grant private charters or special privileges, but they
may, by general incorporation acts, permit persons to associate
themselves together as bodies corporate for mining, manufac-
turing, and other industrial pursuits, and for conducting the
business of insurance, banks of discount and deposit (but
not of issue), loan, trust and guarantee associations, and for
the construction or operation of railroads, wagon roads, irri-
gating ditches, and the colonization and improvement of lands
in connection therewith, or for colleges, seminaries, churches,
libraries, or any other benevolent, charitable or scientific asso-
ciation.
8 COMPILATION OP the; SCHOOI. IvAWS
U. S. Revised Statutes. — Sec. 1890. Religious or Charitable
••- Corporations of Associations in Territories Shall not Ac-
quire More than Fifty Thousand Dollars Worth of Real
Estate.
No corporation or association for religious or charitable
purposes shall acquire or hold real estate in any territory, dur-
ing the existence of a territorial government, of a greater
value than fifty thousand dollars; and all real estate acquired
or held by such corporation or association contrary hereto
shall be forfeited and escheat to the United States; but exist-
ing vested rights in real estate shall not be impaired by the
provisions of this chapter.
U. S. Revised Statutes. — Sec. 2004. Citizens Otherwise Quali-
fied not Barred From Voting at Any Election Because of
Race, Color or Pr(h'ious Condition of Servitude.
All citizens of the United States who are otherwise
qualified by law to vote at any election by the people in any
state, territory, district, county, city, parish, township, school
district, municipality, or other territorial sub-divisions, shall
be entitled and allowed to vote at all such elections, without
distinction of race, color or previous condition of servitude :
any constitution, law, custom, usage, or regulation of any
state or territory, or by or under its authority, to the contrary
notwithstanding.
FIFTY-FIRST CONGRESS.
CONTENTS.
Sec. 2275. Sections sixteen and thirty-six and lieu lands therefor.
Sec. 2276. (As Amended) Rules for selection of lieu lands.
Sec. 38. Sections sixteen and thirty-six reserved for the use of the
common schools.
Fifty-First Congress, Sess. II. — Chap. 384, Sec. 2275. Pre-
emption or Homestead Settlements Made Before Survey on
Sections Sixteen and Thirty-Six Subject to Claims of Their
Settlers; If Such Sections Reserved for Schools, Lieu
Lands May Be Granted. Territories Untitled to Lieu
Lands Where Such Sections are Mineral, or Included
Within Indian, Military or Other Reservation, or Other-
wise Disposed of by the United States. Proviso.
Be it enacted * That sections twenty-two hundred and
OS' THE TERRITORY OE NEW MEXICO 9
seventy-five and twenty-two hundred and seventy-six of the
Revised Statutes of the United States be amended to read
as follows :
Where settlements with a view to preemption or home-
stead have been, or shall hereafter be made, before the survey
of the lands in the field, which are found to have been made
on sections sixteen or thirty-six, those sections shall be sub-
ject to the claims of such settlers; and if such sections or
either of them, have been or shall be granted, reserved, or
pledged for the use of schools or of colleges in the State or
Territory in which they lie, other lands of equal acreage are
hereby appropriated and granted, and may be selected by said
State or Territory, in lieu of such as may be thus takei;i
by preemption or homestead settlers. And other lands of
equal acreage are also hereby appropriated and granted, and
may be selected by said State or Territory where sec-
tions sixteen or thirty-six are mineral land, or are included
within an Indian, military, or other reservation, or are other-
wise disposed of by the United States : Provided, Where
any state is entitled to said sections sixteen and thirty-six, or
where said sections are reserved to any Territory, notwith-
standing the same may be mineral land or embraced within. a
military, Indian, or other reservation, the selection of such
lands in lieu thereof by said State or Territory shall be a
waiver of its right to said sections. And other lands of equal
acreage are also hereby appropriated and granted, and may be
selected by said State or Territory to compensate deficiencies
for school purposes, where sections sixteen or thirty-six are
fractional in quantity, or where one or both are wanting by
reason of the township being fractional, or from any natural
cause whatever. And it shall be the duty of the Secretary of
the Interior, without awaiting the extension of the public
suryeys, to ascertain and determine, by protraction or other-
wise, the number of townships that will be included within
such Indian, military or otner reservations, and thereupon the
State or Territory shall be entitled to select indemnity lands to
the extent of two sections for each of said townships, in lieu of
sections sixteen and thirty-six therein ; but such selections may
not be made within the boundaries of said reservations : Pro-
vided, however, That nothing herein contained shall prevent
any State or Territory from awaiting the extinguishment of
any such military, Indian or other reservation and the restora-
tion of the lands therein embraced to the public domain and
then taking the sections sixteen and thirty-six in place thereof ;
10 COMPIIvATlON OF THE) SCHOOIv IvAWS
but nothing in this proviso shall be construed as conferring
any right not now existing.
Fifty-First Congress, Sess. II. — Chap, 384, Sec. 2276 (As
Amended). Rules for Selection of Lieu Lands Where
- School Sections are Unavailable or Deficient.
That the lands appropriated by the preceding section
shall be selected from any unappropriated, surveyed public
lands, not mineral in character, within the State or Territory
where such losses or deficiencies of school sections occur; and
where the selections are to compensate for deficiencies of
school lands in fractional townships, such selections shall be
made in accordance with the following principles of adjust-
ment, to-wit : For each township, or fractional township, con-
taining a greater quantity of land than three-quarters of an
entire township, one section; for a fractional township, con-
taining a greater quantity of land than one-half, and not more
than three-quarters of a township, three-quarters of a section ;
for a fractional township, containing a greater quantity of
land than one-quarter, and not more than one-half of a town-
ship, one-half section; and for a fractional township contain-
ing a greater quantity of land than one entire section, and not
more than one-quarter of a township, one-quarter section of
land : Provided, That the States or Territories which are, or
shall be entitled to both the sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections
in place, shall have the right to select double the amounts
named, to compensate for deficiencies of school land in frac-
tional townships.
Fifty-First Congress, Sess. II, Chap. 543. — Sec. 38. Sections
Sixteen and Thirty-Six Reserved for Support of Common
Schools, Unless Mineral in Character.
f
No provision for settlement on or sale of the lands in the
various agreements hereinbefore mentioned shall apply to
section sixteen and thirty-six thereon, which lands in the
States are hereby granted to the State in which they are situ-
ated, for the support of the common schools of such State
under the limitations prescribed by law, and such sections in
the Territories of the United States are reserved from occu-
pancy, entry, or sale, under any land law of the United States ;
but this provision shall not apply to mineral land which may be
disposed of under the laws applicable thereto.
OF THE TERRITORY OF NEW MEXICO 11
New Mexico Compiled Laws 1897.
CONTENTS.
Sec. 128. Turning cattle loose on range occupied by another.
Sec. 129. Violation of provisions of preceding section a misdemeanor.
Fine applied to the School Fund.
Sec. 130. Each days' violation of Section 128, a separate cause of
action.
Sec. 138. Estray animals; sale of.
Sec. 176. Estray animals at round-ups to be advertised and sold,
money going to the School Fund.
Sec. 128. — Persons, Companies or Corporations Turning Cat-
tle on Range Occupied by Others, Must Own or Possess on
Such Range Permanent Living Water, Free and Unfenced,
Sufficient for Their Needs.
Whenever any person, company or corporation turns
loose on any range in this territory, already occupied or in the
possession of another or others by virtue of their having com-
plied with the provisions of section one hundred and twenty-
seven, he or they must be the owner or owners of, or. must be
lawfully entitled to the possession of some other living, per-
manent water upon such range, sufficient for the proper main-
tenance of all such additional cattle so turned loose, other than
that owned by or lawfully possessed, or lawfully in the pos-
session of any other person, company or corporation that may
have previously appropriated, stocked, or taken possession of
such range in accordance with the provisions of this act; and
such person, company or corporation so turning loose cattle
upon such range must at all times furnish, supply and main-
tain upon such range such other permanent living water free
and unfenced and upon the surface of the ground.
Sec. 129. — Violation of Provisions of Preceding Section a
Misdemeanor. Fines to be Applied to County School Fund.
Any person, company or corporation violating the pro-
visions of section one hundred and twenty-eight shall be guilty
of a misdemeanor and punishable by imprisonment in the
county jail, wherein the offense was committed, for a period
not to exceed six months, or by a fine of not less than one
hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars, which
fine shall be applied to the school fund of the county wherein
12 COMPUTATION 01^ THE SCHOOL LAWS
the offense is committed; and" such person, company or cor-
poration violating^ such provision as aforesaid shall further
be liable to any party or parties injured for all damages which
such party or parties may sustain; the same to be recoverable
by a civil suit. All fines and costs so assessed and all damages
which may at any time be awarded shall be and constitute a
lien upon such herd of cattle.
Sec. 130. — Each Day's Violation of Provisions of Sec. 128 a
Separate Cause of Action.
Each day's violation of the provisions of this act shall be
and constitute a separate cause of action against any person,
company or corporation violating the same.
ROUND-UPS.
Sec. 176. — Unclaimed Bstrays at Ronnd-Ups to be Advertised
and Sold at End of Year, and Proceeds, Less Fees, to be
Paid Into School Fund.
Whenever any of the above described animals (strays,
etc.) have remained under the charge of any person by the
authority of any justice of the peace for the term of one year
without any person claiming them, the said justice of the
peace, after being informed by the person or persons in charge
of said animals, that the same exist, then and in such case he
shall, through public notices, fix the day in which said ani-
mal or animals are to be sold at public auction for cash to the
highest bidder, by the constable of his precinct, the expenses
of herding to be paid from the proceeds of such sale as above
stated, fifty cents to the justice of the peace for each record,
and twenty-five cents for the order to sell the same and the
recording of his file, and one dollar to the constable effecting
such sale ; the surplus of such sale shall be paid into the school
fund by said constable for the use of the same upon a certified
list of said justice of the peace.
BONDS AND WARRANTS.
(Chap. 42, L. 1897.)
CONTENTS.
Sec. 285. Determination of indebtedness, other than bonded.
Sec. 286. Claimants feeling aggrieved, may appeal to district court.
OF The territory of new MEXICO 13
Sec. 287. Filing of statement and bond necessary for appeal.
Sec. 288. Other steps required of claimant.
Sec. 289. District Attorneys to represent County Commissioners and
other bodies or boards not provided with counsel.
Sec. 290. Issue of claimant bonds in lieu of execution.
Sec. 291. Persons proving claims entitled to coupon bonds therefor.
Sec. 292. Bonds to bear 6 per cent interest from date of issue.
Sec. 293. Form of bonds and coupons, how signed and attested.
Sec. 294. How bonds are registered and recorded.
Sec. 295. County Commissioners to levy tax to pay annual interest.
Sec. 296. County Commissioners to levy tax for sinking fund.
Sec. 297. Funds remaining after payment of bonded indebtedness to
be transferred to respective expense funds.
Sec. 298. Payment of bonds and interest when due.
Sec. 299. Unlawful to contract debts which cannot be paid from
money actually collected during that year.
Sec 300. Reduction of fees and salaries of officers.
See. 301. Officers and creditors to be paid pro rata.
Sec. 302. Void indebtedness of Sec. 299 to remain valid.
Sec. 303. Payment of claimants.
Sec. 304. Current year to begin January first, except that of boards
of education, which shall begin September first.
Sec. 305. Funds for next current year and for current year.
Sec. 306. No bonds to be issued after first Monday .in August, 1897,
except in case of appeal and judgment rendered.
Sec. 285. — County Commissioners, Boards of Education, Mu-
nicipal Officials and District School Directors to Determine
Indebtedness of Respective Jurisdictions, Other Than
Bonded. Method of Procedure.
That after the passage of this act, it shall be the duty of
the board of county commissioners of the several counties of
the territory, and of the boards of education in all municipali-
ties in the territory, the proper officials and representatives
of municipal corporations of all kinds whatsoever, and of
the school directors of the several school districts in the dif-
ferent counties in the territory, to ascertain and determine
the amount of the indebtedness other than bonded indebted-
ness of the several counties, boards of education, municipal
corporations and school districts that may be floating, out-
standing, and unpaid, however evidenced. For the purpose of
notifying the different creditors that the same will be done
and finally passed upon on the first Monday in May, A. D.
1897. it shall be their respective duties to publish or cause to be
published in some weekly newspaper in their county for two
consecutive weeks, and if there is no weekly newspaper in
the county, then in some paper having a general circulation
14 COMPILATION Of THE SCHOOL LAWS
in the county, a statement to the effect that on the first Mon-
day in May, A. D. 1897, proceedings will be commenced for
the purpose of ascertaining and determining such indebted-
ness, at a place to be named, which shall be the county seat
of said county, and that at such time they will continue in
session for a sufficient length of time to transact the busi-
ness before them. It shall be the duty of the several bodies
or boards above named to consider and pass upon the claims
of all creditors, as well those not present as- those present,
either in person or by attorney. Their proceedings shall be