Establish the Anti-Corruption Sovereign Fund

A.

There is hereby created a permanent trust fund to be known as the "Anti-Corruption Sovereign Fund." The fund shall be held in trust for the people of New Mexico and dedicated to supporting anti-corruption initiatives, independent forensic auditing, public education, water rights and infrastructure projects, and other essential public purposes as provided by law. The principal of the fund shall remain inviolate and shall not be expended except as expressly authorized in this section.

B.

Initial Capitalization and Deposits.

The fund shall be initially capitalized with an appropriation of twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) from the general fund or other available sources as directed by the legislature in the first regular session following ratification of this section. All investment earnings, interest, dividends, and capital gains shall generally be credited to the fund. In addition, a statutorily determined portion of all net savings, recoveries, judgments, settlements, or other amounts realized by the state or its political subdivisions from anti-corruption, fraud, waste, abuse, or mismanagement cases, audits, investigations, or enforcement actions shall be deposited into the fund. "Net savings" shall be calculated through independent verification processes established by law, subtracting audit and enforcement costs.

C.

Management and Investment.

The fund shall be invested and managed by the State Investment Council and the State Investment Officer pursuant to the prudent investor rule and in accordance with policies applicable to other permanent funds under this constitution and state law. The council shall prioritize diversification, long-term growth, risk management, and full transparency in all investment decisions and reporting.

D.

Distributions.

Annual distributions from the fund shall be limited to a sustainable portion of earnings, as determined by law, and shall be appropriated by the legislature solely for purposes consistent with the fund’s mission, including funding independent audits, anti-corruption programs, education, and water-related initiatives. The principal shall not be invaded except in a declared fiscal emergency approved by a supermajority vote of each house of the legislature. Distributions shall be structured to preserve and grow the fund’s real value over time.

E.

Independent Anti-Corruption Citizen Oversight Panel.

There is hereby created the Independent Anti-Corruption Citizen Oversight Panel (the “Panel”), which shall operate independently of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches to ensure robust, impartial oversight of public expenditures.

1. Composition and Terms. The Panel shall consist of seven (7) primary members and seven (7) alternates, all New Mexico residents. Members shall serve staggered four-year terms and may serve no more than two consecutive terms. Panel members shall receive per diem compensation and reimbursement of necessary expenses as provided by law, but shall otherwise serve without salary. Vacancies shall be filled from the pool of alternates according to the order established in the original lottery.

2. Selection Process. The selection of Panel members shall be conducted in a transparent, impartial, and randomized manner designed to minimize nepotism, political influence, favoritism, and self-selection bias while promoting broad demographic representation of New Mexico’s population. The process shall be administered by the Secretary of State under the oversight of the Screening Committee and shall include the following steps:

   1. Eligibility. An individual is eligible only if they: (i) have been a registered New Mexico voter for at least five (5) years immediately preceding application; (ii) have no felony convictions; and (iii) in the five (5) years preceding application, have not held elected or appointed public office (except precinct-level positions), been employed by or contracted with (including as a vendor or consultant) any New Mexico state or local government entity, served as a registered lobbyist, made aggregate political contributions exceeding five hundred dollars ($500) to candidates, parties, or political committees, or had an immediate family member (spouse, parent, child, or sibling) who meets any of the foregoing disqualifiers. Additional conflict-of-interest and cooling-off rules may be established by law.
   2. Public Application Period. The Secretary of State shall issue a broad public call for applications, with aggressive multilingual outreach across all regions and media platforms, for a minimum of sixty (60) days at least once every four years.
   3. Screening Committee. A nonpartisan Screening Committee of three (3) retired justices or judges from the New Mexico Supreme Court or Court of Appeals (selected by the Chief Justice) shall review applications. The Committee shall verify eligibility, assess basic qualifications (such as civic engagement, integrity, and aptitude in public finance, auditing, law, accounting, or governance without regard to political affiliation), and select the one hundred (100) most qualified applicants while striving for diversity in geography (urban/rural and regional balance), age, gender, ethnicity, and other demographic factors reflective of the state’s population.
   4. Stratified Random Lottery. From the pool of one hundred (100) screened applicants, the Secretary of State shall conduct a transparent public lottery to select the seven (7) primary members and seven (7) alternates. The lottery shall use certified random number generation or equivalent verifiable methods, conducted publicly with live streaming, independent observers, and audit trails. Stratification shall be applied to achieve demographic balance consistent with the most recent federal census or official state data (including geographic regions, urban/rural distribution, age bands, gender, and major ethnic groups) while preserving near-equal selection probabilities for individuals within the pool, as provided by law. The results shall be immediately certified and subject to limited challenge procedures established by law.
   5. Independence and Support. The Panel shall have dedicated funding from the earnings of the Anti-Corruption Sovereign Fund (as appropriated by law), minimal necessary staff, training and facilitation support, and shall be subject to its own annual independent audit. All proceedings, contracts, and decisions shall comply with open meetings and public records laws, with narrow exceptions for ongoing investigations.

3. Powers and Duties. The Panel shall have exclusive authority to:

   1. Contract with and oversee qualified independent forensic auditors and firms (including out-of-state experts with no recent conflicts of interest with New Mexico state or local government) for comprehensive performance and forensic audits of state agencies, programs, expenditures, and high-risk areas, scheduled at least every two years for major agencies or as otherwise determined;
   2. Initiate additional audits upon credible tips or Panel vote;
   3. Review audit findings, independently verify net savings for deposit into the Fund, and issue public recommendations for remediation to the legislature and agencies; and
   4. Maintain strict transparency, including public reporting of all contracts and findings.

F.

Implementation. The legislature shall enact implementing legislation within two (2) years of ratification of this section, including detailed procedures for Panel operations, stratification criteria and algorithms, lottery technology standards, definitions of qualifying recoveries and net savings verification, ethics rules, and mechanisms to ensure accessibility and high participation. This section shall be self-executing to the maximum extent possible, and laws or rules adopted to implement it shall be construed consistently with its purposes of independence, transparency, and anti-corruption.

G.

Any conflicting provisions of this constitution shall be harmonized with this section."