The judicial branch consists of a supreme court, an appeals court, district courts, probate courts, magistrate courts, and other inferior courts as created by law.
The supreme court is composed of a chief justice and four associate justices; the appeals court, created to take over some of the supreme court's caseload, is composed of 10 judges. All are elected for eight-year terms.
The state's 33 counties are divided into 13 judicial districts, served by 72 district judges, each elected for a six-year term. District courts have unlimited general jurisdiction and are commonly referred to as trial courts. They also serve as courts of review for decisions of lower courts and administrative agencies. Each county has a probate court, served by a probate judge who is elected from within the county for a two-year term.
In 2001, New Mexico had a total crime rate of 5,324.0 per 100,000 persons, including a total of 14,288 violent crimes and 83,095 crimes against property in that year. In June 2001, there were 5,288 inmates held in state and federal correctional facilities, an increase of 0.2% over the previous year. The state's incarceration rate stood at 281 per 100,000 inhabitants.
New Mexico imposes the death penalty but has only executed one person since 1976. In 2003, there were three prisoners under sentence of death.