Unless otherwise provided by law, any violation of any provision of Chapter 69 NMSA 1978 by any operator, official, miner or other employee of a mine, mill or smelter is a misdemeanor and shall be punishable by a fine of not more than two hundred dollars ($200) or by imprisonment for three months in the county jail or by both such fine and imprisonment. The district attorney may initiate action in the district court as he deems appropriate to bring about compliance with the statutes, rules, regulations or orders. The district court has jurisdiction to issue temporary or permanent restraining orders, including orders closing all or any portion of a mine to regular operations, or grant other appropriate equitable relief to assure compliance with the provisions of Chapter 69 NMSA 1978 or any applicable rule, regulation or order.
History: Laws 1933, ch. 153, § 307; 1941 Comp., § 67-2901; 1953 Comp., § 63-29-1; Laws 1961, ch. 108, § 2; 1989, ch. 193, § 5.
ANNOTATIONS
The 1989 amendment, effective July 1, 1989, substituted “Chapter 69 NMSA 1978” for “Chapter 63, New Mexico Statutes Annotated, 1953 Compilation” and made minor stylistic changes in the first sentence; deleted the former second sentence which read: “It shall be the duty of the mine inspector to institute proceedings in the district or other proper courts in case of all such violations”; and substituted the present second and third sentences for the former third sentence, which read: “The state mining inspector may institute proceedings in the district court of the county within which any person charged with violating any of the provisions of Chapter 69, NMSA 1978, resides or maintains a place of business to enjoin such violation, and such court shall have jurisdiction to issue temporary or permanent restraining orders, including orders closing all or any portion of a mine to regular operations, or grant other appropriate equitable relief to assure compliance with the provisions of Chapter 69, NMSA 1978, or any applicable rules, regulation or order of the inspector”.
Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 53A Am. Jur. 2d Mines and Minerals § 377 et seq.
58 C.J.S. Mines and Minerals § 131.