The bill amends Section 8-5-2.1 of the New Mexico Statutes to revise the method by which the Attorney General sets rates for legal services provided to state agencies. The new language allows the Attorney General to charge state agencies for legal services in noncriminal cases based on rates equivalent to those in a current contract between the risk management division of the general services department and the legal counsel providing services to that division.

Additionally, the bill clarifies the definition of "state agency" to include any department, institution, board, bureau, commission, district, or committee of the state government, as well as every office or officer thereof. The previous definition included a more limited scope and was tied to a fee schedule approved by the department of finance and administration, which has now been removed from the law.

Statutes affected:
introduced version: 8-5-2.1