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Council adopts ordinances to revise compensation for elected county officials
Summary
Following a staff presentation on the effect of New Mexico Constitutional Amendment 4, the council adopted a package of ordinances updating pay for the county council, assessor, probate judge and municipal court judge; the council voted 5‑1 on the council pay ordinance and unanimously on the other three.
Los Alamos County Council on Jan. 6 adopted a set of ordinances to revise compensation for several elected county positions after staff explained the changes required by New Mexico Constitutional Amendment 4.
Miss Madison explained that the state amendment authorizes the county commission (board) to set salaries for specified county offices and that the county’s ordinances implement the new local salary schedules. She told the council that an added clause will require a salary review roughly every four years and that the previous practice of an additional stipend for the chair has been removed so that all councilors will receive the same compensation. Madison noted that any pay changes take effect on the first day of the next term after the November 2026 election, consistent with Article IV, Section 27 of the New Mexico Constitution, which forbids salary changes during an official’s term.
Councilors asked clarifying questions about the municipal court judge salary method; one councilor explained that the municipal court judge salary was set at 90% of the magistrate court salary to reflect local practice.
The council voted on each ordinance individually: • Ordinance No. 02‑374 (county council compensation) passed 5‑1 (Councilor Regor opposed). • Ordinance No. 02‑375 (county assessor compensation) passed 6‑0. • Ordinance No. 02‑376 (probate judge compensation) passed 6‑0. • Ordinance No. 02‑377 (municipal court judge compensation) passed 6‑0.
Council asked staff to publish summary forms of the ordinances as provided in county procedure. The ordinance package will take effect at the start of the next terms following the November 2026 elections.
