Out-of-State Requests Consume Disproportionate Staff Time

ALBUQUERQUE – Out-of-state and non-U.S. public records requests made up a minority of submissions in the first quarter of FY 2026 but accounted for nearly half of the staff time spent processing Albuquerque Police Department records.

The data comes from the FY 2026 First Quarter IPRA Report, released yesterday by the Office of the City Clerk. The report examines demand, processing time, and workload trends across the City’s Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA) system.

Key findings from the report include:

• Overall public records requests increased 59 percent compared to the same quarter last year.
• Requests related to APD increased 70 percent year over year.
• Non-U.S. requests accounted for 10 percent of APD volume but nearly 20 percent of staff time.

While most IPRA requests continue to originate within New Mexico, the report shows that out-of-state and non-U.S. requests disproportionately affect staff workload. In FY26 Q1, those requests represented a minority of total submissions but nearly half of the staff time devoted to processing APD-related records.

“When a small number of complex, out-of-state requests consume such a large share of staff time, it slows our ability to respond to everyone,” said City Clerk Ethan Watson. “That includes New Mexicans seeking timely access to records about their communities and how their government is operating.”

Many of these requests involve extensive video review that must be processed manually under state law to protect privacy and comply with legal requirements.

All public records requests enter the same queue and are processed under the same legal standards, regardless of who submits them or where they originate.

Go deeper: View the FY 2026 Q1 IPRA Report

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The Office of the City Clerk is responsible for the proper preservation, maintenance, and availability of public records. We oversee a fair and equitable public finance program and carry out our mission by abiding by the provisions of federal, state, and local laws.