Section 19-3-1 - Possessory rights of occupant; notice and record; abandonment. - New Mexico Statutes

19-3-1. [Possessory rights of occupant; notice and record; abandonment.]

Any person who has taken or may hereafter take possession of any lands being a part of the public domain of  the United States, either for agriculture or stock-raising, may make out a notice setting forth that he has taken possession  of such land, giving a description of the same according to legal subdivisions, if known, if not, then the best description possible, which said land shall not exceed three hundred and twenty acres, which said notice shall be dated and acknowledged  as conveyances of real estate, and may then be recorded in the record of conveyances in the county where the property is  situate, after which it shall be a notice to all persons of the contents thereof. And the person so making and recording the same shall have the right to the possession of said lands described therein, as against every other person except the United  States, and those holding or deriving title from the United States, and may maintain an action of ejectment or forcible entry  and detainer for the same: provided, that if such person shall not occupy said lands for the period of six months at any one  time, he shall be deemed in law to have abandoned the same: and provided, further, that if such person shall fail to occupy said lands for one-half of the time in each year, counting from the date of recording said notice, he shall be deemed in law  to have abandoned the same, but if he shall reenter upon the same before anyone else may take possession thereof, then he  shall not be held to have abandoned the same.