Albuquerque Santa Fe, NM, October 21, 2026 —

New Mexico professional outfitters are challenging Attorney General Raúl Torrez’s conclusion that a state policy reserving 10% of hunting tags for hunters who contract with outfitters is unconstitutional.

The outfitters council disputes the attorney general’s legal interpretation and has emphasized the industry’s economic importance to rural New Mexico. The dispute centers on the policy’s allocation of a share of hunting tags to hunters who use outfitters, and on whether that arrangement is consistent with the state constitution.

The information available does not identify the specific constitutional provisions cited in Torrez’s opinion or explain the legal reasoning behind his conclusion. It also does not provide the council’s detailed legal arguments, the name of the policy, or when the opinion was issued. The opinion is described as the attorney general’s conclusion; no court ruling or other final legal determination is specified.

The council’s economic argument points to the role it says outfitters play in rural New Mexico, but no figures or further details about the industry’s economic contribution were provided. The available information also does not describe the policy’s history, how many tags are affected, or how the allocation works beyond the 10% reservation for hunters who contract with outfitters.

It remains unclear from the information provided what steps, if any, state officials or the council intend to take next. No response from Torrez beyond the described opinion, position from other state officials, or timeline for further action was included. For now, the reported disagreement is between the attorney general’s constitutional assessment and the outfitters council’s objection to that interpretation, alongside its emphasis on the industry’s importance to rural communities.


Story summarized from the original created by Patrick Lohmann on sourcenm.com, see more information here.

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