HB 273

                                1  HOUSE BILL 273
                                2      57TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - SECOND SESSION, 2026
                                3  INTRODUCED BY
                                4  Rod Montoya and Andrea Reeb and John Block
                                5  and William A. Hall II and Nicole Chavez
                                6
                                7
                                8
                                9
                                10  AN ACT
                                11   RELATING TO PUBLIC SAFETY; ENACTING THE WOMEN'S SAFETY AND
                                12   PROTECTION ACT; PROVIDING DEFINITIONS; REQUIRING SINGLE-SEX
                                13   SPACES IN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTERS, PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND
                                14   JUVENILE DETENTION FACILITIES IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES.
                                15
                                16   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
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                                17        SECTION 1.    [NEW MATERIAL] SHORT TITLE.--This act may be
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                                18   cited as the "Women's Safety and Protection Act".
                                19        SECTION 2.    [NEW MATERIAL] DEFINITIONS.--As used in the
                                20   Women's Safety and Protection Act:
                                21  A.   "domestic violence shelter" means a facility
                                22   that provides shelter to victims of domestic violence,
                                23   nonconsensual sexual conduct or stalking;
                                24  B.   "juvenile detention facility" means a facility
                                25   operated by the children, youth and families department for the
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                                1    secure detention and treatment of people younger than eighteen
                                2    years of age, including persons under the jurisdiction of the
                                3    children's court, who are serving a sentence pursuant to a
                                4    conviction in a state court or who are detained while awaiting
                                5    disposition of charges against them;
                                6  C.   "multiple occupancy restroom or changing room"
                                7    means an area designed or designated to be used by more than
                                8    one person at the same time and in which one or more people may
                                9    be in various stages of undress in the presence of other
                                10   individuals and includes:
                                11  (1)   restrooms;
                                12  (2)   locker rooms; and
                                13  (3)   shower rooms;
                                14  D.   "public school" means that part of a school
                                15   district that is a single attendance center in which
                                16   instruction is offered by one or more teachers and is
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                                17   discernible as a building or group of buildings generally
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                                18   recognized as an elementary, middle, junior high or high school
                                19   or any combination of those and includes a charter school; and
                                20  E.   "sleeping quarters" means a room with more than
                                21   one bed and in which more than one person is housed overnight.
                                22        SECTION 3.    [NEW MATERIAL] SEX-BASED PROTECTIONS--
                                23   PERMITTED.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the
                                24   contrary, no state agency or other arm of the state shall
                                25   prohibit distinctions between the sexes with respect to
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                                1    athletics, correctional facilities, juvenile detention
                                2    facilities, domestic violence shelters or other accommodations
                                3    where biology, safety or privacy are implicated that result in
                                4    separate accommodations that are substantially related to the
                                5    important government interest of protecting the health, safety
                                6    and privacy of individuals in such circumstances.
                                7  SECTION 4.    [NEW MATERIAL] SAFETY AND PRIVACY--DOMESTIC
                                8    VIOLENCE SHELTERS.--
                                9  A.   To ensure the privacy and safety of women in
                                10   domestic violence shelters, each such domestic violence shelter
                                11   shall:
                                12  (1)   designate sleeping quarters and multiple
                                13   occupancy restrooms or changing rooms for the exclusive use of:
                                14  (a)   females; or
                                15  (b)   males; and
                                16  (2)   provide a reasonable accommodation to an
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                                17   individual who is unwilling or unable to use sleeping quarters
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                                18   or a multiple occupancy restroom or changing room designated
                                19   for such individual's sex; provided that a reasonable
                                20   accommodation pursuant to this paragraph:
                                21  (a)   may include allowing such people to
                                22   access a single-occupancy sleeping area, restroom or changing
                                23   area; and
                                24  (b)   shall not include allowing such
                                25   people to access a sleeping quarter, restroom or changing area
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                                1    that is designated for use by members of the opposite sex while
                                2    members of the opposite sex are present or may be present in
                                3    the sleeping quarter, restroom or changing area.
                                4  B.   This section shall not be construed or applied
                                5    to prohibit a person from entering a multiple occupancy
                                6    restroom or changing room or sleeping quarters designated for
                                7    the opposite sex when that person enters such area for one of
                                8    the following reasons:
                                9  (1)   for authorized custodial, maintenance or
                                10   inspection purposes;
                                11  (2)   to render medical assistance;
                                12  (3)   for law enforcement to render assistance;
                                13  (4)   to provide services or render aid during a
                                14   natural disaster, a declared emergency or when necessary to
                                15   prevent a serious threat to order or safety; or
                                16  (5)   for young children to accompany an adult
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                                17   caretaker.
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                                18  C.   Nothing in this section shall be construed to
                                19   prohibit a domestic violence shelter from adopting policies
                                20   necessary to accommodate persons protected pursuant to the
                                21   federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
                                22        SECTION 5.     [NEW MATERIAL] SAFETY AND PRIVACY--PUBLIC
                                23   SCHOOLS.--
                                24  A.   To ensure the privacy and safety of students,
                                25   each public school shall:
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                                1  (1)   designate multiple occupancy restrooms or
                                2    changing rooms:
                                3  (a)   for the exclusive use of females;
                                4    and
                                5  (b)   for the exclusive use of males; and
                                6  (2)   provide a reasonable accommodation to a
                                7    person who is unwilling or unable to use a multiple occupancy
                                8    restroom or changing area designated for that person's sex;
                                9    provided that a reasonable accommodation pursuant to this
                                10   paragraph:
                                11  (a)   may include allowing that person to
                                12   access a single-occupancy restroom or changing area; and
                                13  (b)   shall not include allowing that
                                14   person to access a restroom or changing area that is designated
                                15   for use by members of the opposite sex while members of the
                                16   opposite sex are present or may be present in the restroom or
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                                17   changing area.
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                                18  B.   A public school that sponsors or supervises an
                                19   overnight trip involving public school students shall ensure
                                20   that a public school student attending the overnight trip
                                21   either:
                                22  (1)   shares sleeping quarters with a member or,
                                23   if necessary, multiple members, of the same sex; or
                                24  (2)   is provided single-occupancy sleeping
                                25   quarters, except that a public school student attending an
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                                1    overnight trip may share sleeping quarters with a member of the
                                2    opposite sex if the member of the opposite sex is a member of
                                3    such student's immediate family.
                                4  C.   This section shall not be construed or applied
                                5    to prohibit a person from entering a multiple occupancy
                                6    restroom or changing room designated for the opposite sex when
                                7    that person enters such area for one of the following reasons:
                                8  (1)   for authorized custodial, maintenance, or
                                9    inspection purposes;
                                10  (2)   to render medical assistance;
                                11  (3)   to render assistance by law enforcement;
                                12  (4)   to provide services or render aid during a
                                13   natural disaster, a declared emergency, or when necessary to
                                14   prevent a serious threat to order or safety; or
                                15  (5)   for young children to accompany an adult
                                16   caretaker.
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                                17  D.   Nothing in this section shall be construed to
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                                18   prohibit a public school from adopting policies necessary to
                                19   accommodate persons protected pursuant to the federal Americans
                                20   with Disabilities Act of 1990.
                                21        SECTION 6.     [NEW MATERIAL] SAFETY AND PRIVACY--
                                22   CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES--JUVENILE DETENTION FACILITIES.--
                                23  A.   To ensure the privacy and safety of incarcerated
                                24   women and girls, each correctional facility and juvenile
                                25   detention facility shall:
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                                1  (1)   designate sleeping quarters and multiple
                                2    occupancy restrooms or changing rooms:
                                3  (a)   for the exclusive use of females;
                                4    and
                                5  (b)   for the exclusive use of males; and
                                6  (2)   provide a reasonable accommodation to a
                                7    person who is unwilling or unable to use sleeping quarters or a
                                8    multiple occupancy restroom or changing area designated for
                                9    that person's sex; provided that a reasonable accommodation
                                10   under this paragraph:
                                11  (a)   may include allowing that person to
                                12   access a single-occupancy sleeping area, restroom or changing
                                13   area; and
                                14  (b)   shall not include allowing that
                                15   person to access a sleeping quarter, restroom or changing area
                                16   that is designated for use by members of the opposite sex while
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                                17   members of the opposite sex are present or may be present in
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                                18   the sleeping quarter, restroom or changing area.
                                19  B.   This section shall not be construed or applied
                                20   to prohibit a person from entering a multiple occupancy
                                21   restroom, changing room or sleeping quarter designated for the
                                22   opposite sex when that person enters such area for the
                                23   following reasons:
                                24  (1)   for authorized custodial, maintenance or
                                25   inspection purposes;
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                                1  (2)   to render medical assistance;
                                2  (3)   to render assistance by law enforcement;
                                3  (4)   to provide services or render aid during a
                                4    natural disaster, a declared emergency or when necessary to
                                5    prevent a serious threat to order or safety; or
                                6  (5)   for young children to accompany an adult
                                7    caretaker.
                                8  C.   Nothing in this section shall be construed to
                                9    prohibit a correctional facility or juvenile detention facility
                                10   from adopting policies necessary to accommodate persons
                                11   protected pursuant to the federal Americans with Disabilities
                                12   Act of 1990.
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