SENATE BILL 2
51st legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2014
INTRODUCED BY
Michael S. Sanchez
AN ACT
RELATING TO THE STATE FAIR; PROVIDING FOR QUARTERLY MEETINGS; PROVIDING AN ADDITIONAL POWER FOR STATE FAIR COMMISSIONERS.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. Section 16-6-4 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1913, Chapter 46, Section 4, as amended) is amended to read:
"16-6-4. POWERS AND DUTIES OF COMMISSION AND COMMISSIONERS--ANNUAL FAIR--EXHIBITS--PREMIUMS.--
A. The state fair commission shall have power and authority to hold annually on suitable grounds a state fair at which shall be exhibited livestock, poultry, vegetables, fruits, grains, grasses and other farm products, minerals, ores and other mining exhibits, mining machinery and farm implements and all other things [which] that the commissioners or a majority thereof deem consonant with the purposes of a state fair for the purposes of advancing the agricultural, horticultural and stock raising, mining, mechanical and industrial pursuits of the state and shall have the care of its property and be entrusted with the entire direction of its business and its financial affairs consistent with the provisions of Sections 16-6-15 and 16-6-16 NMSA 1978.
B. The state fair commission, among other duties, shall prepare, adopt, publish and enforce all necessary rules for the management of the New Mexico state fair, its meetings and exhibitions and for the guidance of its officers, employees and exhibitors. The commission shall determine the duties, compensation and tenure of office of all of its officers and employees and may remove from office or discharge any person appointed or employed by it at will and shall have the power to appoint all necessary fairgrounds police to keep order on the grounds and in the buildings of the state fair. The fairgrounds police so appointed shall be vested with the same authority for such purposes as peace officers. The commission shall have the power to charge entrance fees and admissions and lease stalls, stand and restaurant sites, give prizes and premiums, arrange entertainments and do all things which by the commission may be considered proper for the conduct of the state fair not otherwise prohibited by law. The commission shall prohibit the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages on the grounds of the state fair except in controlled access areas within the licensed premises. The commission or its designees shall meet with the director of the alcohol and gaming division of the [department of] regulation and licensing department and other parties in interest to designate the controlled access areas on which the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages may be permitted. As used in this subsection, "alcoholic beverages" means distilled or rectified spirits, potable alcohol, brandy, whiskey, rum, gin and aromatic bitters bearing the federal internal revenue strip stamps or any similar alcoholic beverage, including blended or fermented beverages, dilutions or mixtures of one or more of the foregoing containing more than one-half of one percent alcohol, but excluding medicinal bitters.
C. The commission or an individual commission member may request and shall receive public records of the state fair, without resort to another law, rule or procedure; without paying a fee; and without stating a reason for a request. For the purpose of this section, "public records" has the same meaning as provided in the Inspection of Public Records Act. The state fair, its officers, employees and exhibitioners shall provide requested public records within three days of the receipt of a written request for state fair public records from the commission or an individual commission member. For the purpose of this section, "written request" includes an electronic communication, including email or facsimile, that identifies the records sought with reasonable particularity."
SECTION 2. Section 16-6-6 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1913, Chapter 46, Section 5, as amended) is amended to read:
"16-6-6. [ANNUAL MEETING] QUARTERLY MEETINGS OF COMMISSION--BUSINESS--ELECTION--REPORT TO GOVERNOR.--[SEC. 5.] The state fair commission shall hold [annual] quarterly meetings on the first Monday in January, April, July and August of each year, at which [meeting the chairman and the secretary and treasurer shall be selected and such other] meetings business shall be transacted as the interests of [said] the state fair [shall] require. At the January meeting each year, the commission shall elect a commission chair, secretary and treasurer. On the first Monday in January in each year after [said] the fair is held, the state fair commission shall prepare and transmit to the governor [of the state] a full financial statement, signed by each member of the commission, showing all funds received and disbursed and all assets and liabilities, being a full and detailed account of its transactions and containing such statistics and information as may be of value to the various industries of the state."
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