Municipal Court

Court Schedule Due to COVID-19

Municipal Court will reopen to the public on Tuesday, May 26 with the following measures imposed:

  • Decrease docket sizes while increasing frequency to allow for at least 6 feet of distance between each individual in the Courtroom at all times.

  • Sanitation of the Courtroom in between each session

  • Face masks to be worn by staff and public at all times (Court will not provide masks to the public)

  • Temperature being checked on all employees reporting to work each morning

  • Temperature being checked for each defendant entering the building, in addition to
screening questions provided by the New Mexico Judicial Branch Emergency Response Team

  • Court room attendance is limited to parties of a case only.

  • Social distancing stickers have been adhered to the floor in the lobby of the Courthouse

  • Hand sanitizer is available in the Court room and at each clerks window station

  • All staff members with direct public contact are behind a glass window and required to wear a mask

The Rio Rancho Municipal Court is one of 81 municipal courts in New Mexico tasked with handling local issues. The court hears traffic citations and arrests, animal control cases, code enforcement cases, and other petty misdemeanors.

The court has no jurisdiction over civil matters.

Judge G. Robert Cook is the only elected judge, but has two alternate judges that fill in for him, in his absence.

Cook was elected to his third, four-year term in March 2018. The municipal court judge is elected at-large in a non-partisan election to a four-year term. The next municipal court judge election will be March 2022.