Rule 1-088.1. Peremptory excusal of a district judge; recusal; procedure for exercising.

A. Limit on excusals or challenges. No party shall excuse more than one judge. A party may not excuse a judge after the party has attended a hearing or requested that judge to perform any act other than an order for free process or a determination of indigency. For the purpose of peremptory excusals, the term “party” shall include all members of a group of parties when aligned as co-plaintiffs or co-defendants in any of the following situations: (1) the parties are represented by the same lawyer or law firm; (2) the parties have filed joint pleadings; (3) the parties are related to each other as spouse, parent, child, or sibling; (4) the parties consist of a business entity or other organization and its owners, parents, subsidiaries, officers, directors, or major shareholders; or (5) the parties consist of a government agency and its subordinate agencies, commissions, boards, or personnel. If the interests of any parties grouped together as one party under this rule are found to be sufficiently diverse from one another, the assigned judge may grant a motion to allow separate peremptory excusals for the party or parties whose interests are shown to differ. B. Mass reassignment. A mass reassignment occurs when one hundred (100) or more pending cases are reassigned contemporaneously. C. Procedure for exercising peremptory excusal of a district judge. A party may exercise the statutory right to excuse the district judge before whom the case is pending by filing a peremptory excusal as follows: (1) A plaintiff may file a peremptory excusal within ten (10) days after service of notice of assignment of the first judge in the case. A defendant may file a peremptory excusal within ten (10) days after the defendant files the first pleading or motion under Rule 1-012 NMRA. (2) Any party may file a peremptory excusal within ten (10) days after the clerk serves notice of reassignment on the parties or completes publication of a notice of a mass reassignment. (3) In situations involving motions to reopen a case to enforce, modify, or set aside a judgment or order, if the case has been reassigned to a different judge since entry of the judgment or order at issue, the movant may file a peremptory excusal within ten (10) days after filing the motion to reopen and service of the notice of reassignment, and the non-movant may file a peremptory excusal within ten (10) days after service of the motion to reopen. (4) In addition to the other limits contained in this rule, no peremptory excusal may be filed by any original or later-added party more than one hundred twenty (120) days after the judge sought to be excused was assigned to a case. D. Notice of reassignment. After the filing of the complaint, if the case is reassigned to a different judge, the clerk shall serve notice of the reassignment to all parties. When a mass reassignment occurs, the clerk shall serve notice of the reassignments to all parties by publishing the notice for four (4) consecutive weeks on the State Bar web site and in two (2) consecutive New Mexico Bar Bulletins. Service of notice by publication is complete on the date printed on the second issue of the Bar Bulletin. E. Service of excusal. Any party excusing a judge shall serve notice of the excusal on all parties. F. Misuse of peremptory excusal procedure. Peremptory excusals are not to be exercised to hinder, delay, or obstruct the administration of justice. If it appears that an attorney or group of attorneys may be using peremptory excusals for improper purposes or with such frequency as to impede the administration of justice, the Chief Judge of the district shall send a written notice to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and shall send a copy of the written notice to the attorney or group of attorneys believed to be improperly using peremptory excusals. The Chief Justice may take appropriate action to address any misuse, including issuance of an order providing that the attorney or attorneys or any party they represent may not file peremptory excusals for a specified period of time or until further order of the Chief Justice. G. Recusal. Nothing in this rule precludes the right of any party to move to recuse a judge for cause. No district judge shall sit in any action in which the judge’s impartiality may reasonably be questioned under the provisions of the Constitution of New Mexico or the Code of Judicial Conduct, and the judge shall file a recusal in any such action. Upon receipt of notification of recusal from a district judge, the clerk of the court shall give written notice to each party. H. Objections to the validity of a peremptory excusal; excused judge to rule. An objection to the timeliness or validity of a peremptory excusal may be raised by any party or by the court on its own motion. The excused judge shall rule on the timeliness or validity of any such objection. If the excused judge determines that the excusal has met the applicable procedural and legal requirements in this rule, the judge shall proceed no further. If the excused judge determines that the excusal has not met the applicable procedural and legal requirements in this rule, the judge may proceed to preside over the case.