Courts resume in-person proceedings

Tucumcari Municipal Court resumed in-person court this week after being closed for months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Each defendant will have a set time and will be scheduled so there is time for cleaning the courtroom between each arraignment or trial. Early entry will not be allowed.

Each defendant will be required to wear a mask in one of the following ways:

• Two cloth masks one on top of each other;

• One cloth mask and one surgical mask, one on top of the other, or;

• An N-95 mask

The court will make masks available if a defendant does not have one. Anyone entering the courtroom will be screened for temperature and will be asked questions provided by the New Mexico Supreme Court before entry is allowed.

The City of Tucumcari also has reopened its lobby for customers to come in for payments/information daily from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Tucumcari Municipal Court will be open for payments on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 10 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 2 p.m. The court will not take payments on court days because its clerk will need to clean between arraignments and trials. To make a payment, the defendant must wear a mask.