New Mexico Nursing Home Camera Laws: The Patient Care Monitoring Act

New Mexico gives a patient in a covered long-term care facility, or their surrogate, the right to authorize a video or audio monitoring device in the patient's own room, under the Patient Care Monitoring Act, NMSA 1978 Sections 24-26-1 through 24-26-12, and it is one of the very few states nationally where tampering with the device is a felony.

Information last verified on 2026-08-14. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

This article covers New Mexico's Patient Care Monitoring Act, NMSA 1978 Sections 24-26-1 through 24-26-12. It does not cover New Mexico's general one-party consent recording law in full, which has its own dedicated page linked below.

What New Mexico's Patient Care Monitoring Act Grants

A "facility" under Section 24-26-2, as amended in 2023, means a long-term care facility licensed under Section 24-1-5, other than an intermediate care facility for individuals with developmental or intellectual disabilities. The definition then lists what may also be included: a skilled nursing facility, an intermediate care nursing facility, a nursing facility, an adult residential shelter care home, a boarding home, any adult care home or adult residential care facility, and any swing bed in an acute or extended care facility.

A "monitoring device" means a surveillance instrument that broadcasts or records activity, but does not include a still camera. "Patient" means a resident of a facility, and "surrogate" means a legal guardian or legally appointed substitute decision-maker.

Does New Mexico's Law Cover Assisted Living?

This is a real nuance, not a simple yes. The statute never uses the phrase "assisted living facility." Coverage instead runs through New Mexico's own licensing categories, "adult residential shelter care home," "boarding home," and "adult care home or adult residential care facility," which cross-reference Section 24-1-5. Assisted-living-type settings in New Mexico are typically licensed under one of these categories rather than under a facility literally named "assisted living facility." The fair reading is functionally broad coverage of long-term-care-type residential settings, but a family should not expect the statute's text to say "assisted living" verbatim, and should confirm their specific facility's licensing category if the distinction matters to them.

Authorization and Roommate Consent

Under Section 24-26-3, a patient or surrogate may authorize installation and use of a device, provided: the facility receives notice of the installation, visual recordings include a date and time stamp, the patient pays for the device and all installation and maintenance costs, and written consent is given by each patient or surrogate of each patient occupying the same room. The patient may set, and the facility must accommodate, limits on the device's time of operation, direction, focus, or volume.

At admission, a patient must be offered the option to have a monitoring device, and the facility must keep a record of that choice, accessible to the long-term care ombudsman program. "The facility shall cooperate to accommodate the installation of the monitoring device, provided the installation does not place undue burden on the facility." New Mexico's accommodation language is softer and more general than the explicit room-transfer rights Texas, Minnesota, and Louisiana spell out; the Act does not describe a specific room-swap right if a roommate simply refuses to consent.

Consent, Waiver, and Withdrawal

Consent may be given only by the patient or surrogate, and must include a release of the facility from privacy-violation liability connected to the device's use. "A patient or the surrogate may reverse a choice to have or not have a monitoring device installed and used at any time," on notice to the facility and the ombudsman program, using an agency-prescribed form.

Notice and Signage

New Mexico's entire signage requirement is a single sentence: "The facility shall post a notice in a conspicuous place at the entrance to a room with a monitoring device that a monitoring device is in use in that room of the facility." The duty falls on the facility, not on the patient or the family. There is no bilingual English/Spanish signage mandate in the statute's text, and no separate main-entrance or building-entrance notice requirement beyond that single room-entrance notice.

Refusal-to-Admit and Retaliation Ban

"No person or patient shall be denied admission to or discharged from a facility or be otherwise discriminated against or retaliated against because of a choice to authorize installation and use of a monitoring device." Section 24-26-11 then makes anyone who violates that ban subject to Section 28-17-19 NMSA 1978, the enforcement provision of New Mexico's Long-Term Care Ombudsman Act.

That section carries real money. Willfully interfering with the lawful actions of the ombudsman office draws a civil penalty of up to $5,000 per occurrence, and instituting discriminatory, disciplinary, or retaliatory action against a resident, employee, or other person for filing a complaint, giving information to, or otherwise cooperating with a representative of the office draws a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per occurrence. The agency assesses and collects the penalty after notice and an opportunity for a hearing before a designated hearing officer, and any party may appeal to district court under Section 39-3-1.1 NMSA 1978.

Tampering Is a Felony in New Mexico

New Mexico is an outlier on tampering penalties among the states that have a nursing home camera statute. Section 24-26-12 states:

"Any person other than a patient or surrogate found guilty of intentionally hampering, obstructing, tampering with or destroying a monitoring device or a recording made by a monitoring device installed in a facility pursuant to the Patient Care Monitoring Act is guilty of a fourth degree felony and shall be sentenced pursuant to Section 31-18-15 NMSA 1978."

That offense applies only to a person other than the patient or surrogate, and it is a criminal felony outright, not the misdemeanor-tier penalty most other states with an authorized electronic monitoring statute use for the same conduct.

Using Recordings as Evidence of Abuse or Neglect

Compliance with the Act is a complete defense against civil or criminal action against the patient, surrogate, or facility over the device's use or presence, but a recording made without following the Act's process cannot be used against the facility in a civil action. Footage that appears to show abuse or neglect in a New Mexico long-term care facility can support a report to the facility, the state's Aging and Long-Term Services Department, or the long-term care ombudsman program, and it can support a civil claim.

Camera vs. Microphone: New Mexico's Consent Law

New Mexico is a one-party consent state for recording generally: see New Mexico Recording Laws for the full framework. Because only one participant needs to consent, a patient present in their own room who consents to their own device generally satisfies the general consent rule for their own conversations.

The exposure case is different. A device that also picks up a staff member's conversation with a visitor, where the patient is not a participant, falls outside that reasoning, and clearing the Act's own patient and roommate consent process does not answer it. New Mexico's interception law applies independently. Under NMSA 1978 Section 30-12-1, interference with communications includes reading, taking, or copying a message intended for another by telephone or telegraph without the consent of a sender or intended recipient, a misdemeanor. Section 30-12-11 adds a civil claim for any person whose wire or oral communication is intercepted, disclosed, or used in violation of that act, with actual damages, liquidated damages of at least $1,000, punitive damages, and attorney fees.

The practical fix is built into the Act. Section 24-26-3 lets the patient set limits on the device's time of operation, direction, focus, and volume, and the facility must accommodate them. Turning the audio off, or aiming and limiting the device so it captures the patient's own care rather than the room at large, is the cleanest way to keep a camera from sweeping in conversations nobody agreed to record.

Installing a Camera in a New Mexico Facility

1. Confirm the facility's licensing category. Coverage runs through New Mexico's own licensing terms, not a facility literally named "assisted living."
2. Take the admission-time offer. Facilities must offer the monitoring option and record the patient's choice.
3. Obtain written consent from every patient or surrogate sharing the room.
4. Set any limits on the device's operating hours, direction, focus, or volume that the patient wants.
5. Budget for the device's full cost, including purchase, installation, and maintenance. Posting the room-entrance notice is the facility's job under Section 24-26-9, not yours.

If You Suspect Abuse or Neglect

New Mexico residents and families can report suspected abuse or neglect to the state's Aging and Long-Term Services Department or to the state's long-term care ombudsman program, which the Act itself requires be kept informed of a patient's monitoring records and any reversal of a monitoring choice. The federal Long-Term Care Ombudsman program, operating in every state under the Older Americans Act, covers assisted-living-type settings as well as certified nursing facilities.

Related Resources

• Nursing Home Camera Laws by State covers the national picture across all 18 statute states.
• New Mexico Recording Laws covers New Mexico's general one-party consent rule for audio recording.
• Nursing Home Abuse & Neglect covers how an abuse or neglect claim works once evidence, including camera footage, is in hand.

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Last updated: 2026-08-14.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a patient install a camera in a New Mexico long-term care facility?

Yes. The Patient Care Monitoring Act, NMSA 1978 Sections 24-26-1 through 24-26-12, lets a patient, or their surrogate, authorize a monitoring device in the patient's own room, with notice to the facility and consent from any roommate.

Does New Mexico's Patient Care Monitoring Act cover assisted living?

Functionally, likely yes, though the statute never uses the phrase assisted living facility. It covers a long-term care facility licensed under Section 24-1-5, plus categories including adult residential shelter care home, boarding home, and adult care home or adult residential care facility, New Mexico's own licensing terms for assisted-living-type settings.

Is it a felony to tamper with a nursing home camera in New Mexico?

Yes, for anyone other than the patient or surrogate. NMSA 1978 Section 24-26-12 makes intentionally tampering with, obstructing, or destroying a monitoring device or its recording a fourth degree felony, sentenced under Section 31-18-15.

Who has to post the sign on a monitored room in New Mexico?

The facility. Section 24-26-9 says the facility shall post a notice in a conspicuous place at the entrance to a room with a monitoring device. It is not a duty the patient, the surrogate, or the family has to carry out, and there is no bilingual English/Spanish mandate and no separate building-entrance notice requirement in the statute.

What happens to a New Mexico facility that retaliates over a camera?

Section 24-26-11 bars denying admission, discharging, discriminating against, or retaliating against anyone over a monitoring-device choice, and makes a violator subject to Section 28-17-19 NMSA 1978. That section allows a civil penalty of up to $5,000 per occurrence for willfully interfering with the long-term care ombudsman office and up to $10,000 per occurrence for discriminatory, disciplinary, or retaliatory action, assessed by the agency after notice and a hearing.

Can a New Mexico patient change their mind about a monitoring device?

Yes, at any time. Section 24-26-5 lets a patient or surrogate reverse a choice to have, or not have, a monitoring device installed and used, on notice to the facility and the state's long-term care ombudsman program, using an agency-prescribed form.

Who pays for a monitoring device in a New Mexico facility?

The patient pays for the device and all installation and maintenance costs under Section 24-26-3. The facility must cooperate to accommodate installation, provided it does not place an undue burden on the facility.