HOUSE BILL 235

57th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2026

INTRODUCED BY

Stefani Lord and Rebecca Dow and Mark Duncan

AN ACT

RELATING TO VITAL STATISTICS; EXPANDING REPORTING AND INVESTIGATIONAL REQUIREMENTS RELATED TO SUDDEN UNEXPECTED DEATHS OF YOUNG PERSONS.

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

     SECTION 1. A new section of the Vital Statistics Act is enacted to read:

     "[NEW MATERIAL] REPORTS OF SUDDEN UNEXPECTED DEATHS OF YOUNG PERSONS.--

          A. Each of the following types of deaths shall be investigated through an autopsy that includes microscopic and toxicologic studies and a review of the person's immunization and medical records and reported to the state registrar and the sudden unexpected infant death and sudden death in the young case registry if the person was younger than twenty years of age at the time of death:

                (1) a sudden and unexpected death due to cardiac arrhythmia, as determined by performance of an autopsy or a clinical investigation, of a young, apparently healthy person with no previously diagnosed structural heart disease;

                (2) a sudden, unexpected and unexplained death of a person younger than twenty years of age due to natural causes; and

                (3) a sudden and unexpected death of an infant younger than one year of age, whether explained or unexplained.

          B. An autopsy performed pursuant to this section shall include a report on any immunizations administered to the deceased person within ninety days of the person's death.

          C. For the purposes of this section, "sudden unexpected infant death and sudden death in the young case registry" means the national surveillance system coordinated by the federal centers for disease control and prevention and the national institutes of health that collects standardized data on sudden and unexpected deaths in persons younger than twenty years of age."

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