Where we actually practice.
New Mexico is organized into 13 judicial districts covering 33 counties. We handle matters across the state, but the bulk of our work runs through four — the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 13th — that wrap the central New Mexico corridor where most clients live.
Four districts. Most of our cases.
These four are the population centers and the courthouses we appear in regularly. If your matter lives in any of them, you're working with a firm that already knows the clerks, the rules, and the timing of the docket.
Santa Fe corridor.
Santa Fe, Rio Arriba, Los Alamos. State-government work, estate planning for relocators, real-estate volume.
Albuquerque.
Bernalillo County. Our ABQ office is here. Highest volume of work — small business, real estate, NIL, criminal defense.
Doña Ana.
Las Cruces, Mesilla, southern NM. Our Las Cruces office is here. Real estate, NMSU NIL, retirement estate planning.
The ABQ ring.
Sandoval (Rio Rancho), Valencia (Belen, Los Lunas), Cibola (Grants). Wraps Bernalillo to the west, north, and south.
The four, in depth.
2nd Judicial District — Bernalillo County.
The 2nd is the state's largest district by population and our highest-volume practice area. The 2nd Judicial District Court sits downtown at the Bernalillo County Courthouse, alongside the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court (which handles misdemeanors and minor civil matters under $10,000). Our Albuquerque office is a short drive from both.
- 2nd Judicial District Court — felonies, civil over $10K, domestic relations, probate
- Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court — misdemeanors, DWI, traffic, small civil
- City of Albuquerque Municipal Court — ordinance violations
- Federal District of New Mexico (Albuquerque) — via separate counsel if federal
3rd Judicial District — Doña Ana County.
Doña Ana is southern New Mexico's hub. The 3rd Judicial District Court sits on Picacho Avenue in Las Cruces, a few minutes from our Lucero Avenue office. The 3rd covers an unusually wide range of matter types because of the border, the university (NMSU), and the military communities nearby.
- 3rd Judicial District Court — Las Cruces & Anthony divisions
- Doña Ana County Magistrate Court — misdemeanors, DWI, civil under $10K
- Las Cruces & Sunland Park Municipal Courts — ordinance, traffic
- Cross-border real estate, NMSU NIL, military-relocation estate planning
13th Judicial District — Sandoval, Valencia, Cibola.
The 13th wraps around Bernalillo County and covers most of the metro's commuter belt. Rio Rancho (Sandoval) alone is the state's third-largest city. Los Lunas, Belen, Bernalillo town, Grants — everything that "feels like ABQ" but isn't technically in the 2nd lives here. We handle real-estate, small-business, and personal matters across all three counties from the Albuquerque office.
- 13th JDC — Sandoval (Bernalillo town), Valencia (Los Lunas), Cibola (Grants) divisions
- Magistrate Courts in each county for smaller matters
- Rio Rancho Municipal Court — ordinance work in Sandoval
- High volume of cross-county real-estate transactions with the 2nd
1st Judicial District — Santa Fe, Rio Arriba, Los Alamos.
The 1st covers Santa Fe and the high-north counties. Real-estate transactions north of the metro, state-government employees with personal legal questions, Los Alamos-area estate planning, and probate work for the steady stream of out-of-state retirees buying property along the Santa Fe corridor. The 1st Judicial District Court sits at the Steve Herrera Judicial Complex on Catron Street in Santa Fe.
- 1st JDC — Santa Fe (Catron St), Rio Arriba (Tierra Amarilla), Los Alamos divisions
- Santa Fe County Magistrate Court — misdemeanors, civil under $10K
- City of Santa Fe Municipal Court
- Most 1st-district work happens by video and portal from our ABQ office
Two New Mexico offices, statewide service.
Most subscription work happens by phone, video, and the secure portal — geography matters less than it used to. For in-person matters and court appearances, we work from offices in two of the four focus districts.
The full New Mexico map.
We can take work in any of the 13 judicial districts, but matters outside the four focus districts are handled remotely or with a per-case decision about cost and travel. Use the table to find your district by county.
| District | Court seat(s) | Counties |
|---|---|---|
| 1st★1st JDC | Santa Fe · Tierra Amarilla · Los Alamos | Santa Fe · Rio Arriba · Los Alamos |
| 2nd★2nd JDC | Albuquerque | Bernalillo |
| 3rd★3rd JDC | Las Cruces · Anthony | Doña Ana |
| 4th4th JDC | Las Vegas, NM | San Miguel · Mora · Guadalupe |
| 5th5th JDC | Roswell · Carlsbad · Lovington | Chaves · Eddy · Lea |
| 6th6th JDC | Silver City · Deming · Lordsburg | Grant · Luna · Hidalgo |
| 7th7th JDC | Socorro · Truth or Consequences · Estancia · Reserve | Socorro · Sierra · Torrance · Catron |
| 8th8th JDC | Taos · Raton · Clayton | Taos · Colfax · Union |
| 9th9th JDC | Clovis · Portales | Curry · Roosevelt |
| 10th10th JDC | Tucumcari · Mosquero · Fort Sumner | Quay · Harding · De Baca |
| 11th11th JDC | Aztec · Gallup | San Juan · McKinley |
| 12th12th JDC | Alamogordo · Carrizozo | Otero · Lincoln |
| 13th★13th JDC | Bernalillo · Los Lunas · Grants | Sandoval · Valencia · Cibola |
Note. District-by-county assignments reflect New Mexico's 13-district structure under NMSA Chapter 34. Each district has its own district court (general jurisdiction over felonies, civil matters over $10,000, domestic relations, and probate) plus magistrate courts (misdemeanors, smaller civil), municipal courts (city ordinances), and in Bernalillo County only, a Metropolitan Court. Federal matters are heard in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico and are outside this firm's practice scope.
Find your district. Book the call.
Tell us which county the matter sits in. We'll tell you how we'd handle it — or refer you cleanly if it's not a fit.