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New Mexico County
Colfax County, New Mexico
Philmont Scout Ranch and the Cimarron Canyon - from Philmont Scout Ranch (the 140,177-acre Boy Scout high adventure base in Cimarron - the largest youth camp in the world by area - where over a million Scouts have hiked, climbed, and camped since 1938 in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, making Philmont the most significant youth outdoor education facility in the United States) to Cimarron Canyon State Park (the spectacular Cimarron River canyon carved through Precambrian granite and Mississippian limestone - one of the most dramatic river canyon drives in New Mexico, whose gold-tinged canyon walls and blue ribbon trout stream draw hikers and anglers to the northeast New Mexico mountains).
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Office: Colfax County Emergency Management – 230 N. Third St, Raton, NM 87740 | (575) 445-7050 | Cell: (575) 707-3579 | Fax: (575) 445-2902; Emergency Manager Thomas Vigil, [email protected]. Enhanced emergency notification system available (calls landlines and registered cell/text/email contacts).
Sheriff: Colfax County Sheriff’s Office – Raton, NM 87740; online non-emergency reporting portal available via co.colfax.nm.us.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911. Main county office: (575) 445-9661.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-25 crosses Raton Pass, the highest point on the historic Santa Fe Trail, just north of Raton, the county seat and largest city.
Notes: Colfax County, created 1869 during the New Mexico gold rush, is named for Schuyler Colfax, the 17th U.S. Vice President under Ulysses S. Grant. Raton was founded around the railroad’s arrival in 1880, built at the old Santa Fe Trail watering stop known as Willow Springs.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Colfax County Courthouse – 230 N. Third St, Raton, NM 87740.
Notes: Colfax County is genuinely home to Philmont Scout Ranch near Cimarron – the oldest and largest national high-adventure base of the Boy Scouts of America (Scouting America), donated in 1938 by oil baron Waite Phillips, spanning over 200 square miles of Sangre de Cristo Mountains wilderness. The ranch hosts the National Scouting Museum and the Ernest Thompson Seton Memorial Library. The county also contains the NRA Whittington Center, a major national shooting sports facility, and genuine Santa Fe Trail ruts still visible on the landscape. Legendary frontiersman Kit Carson settled at Rayado, in the county, in 1841.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Colfax County Veterans Service – confirm current contact via co.colfax.nm.us. A DAV Vietnam Veterans National Memorial is located in the county, and a Veterans Monument stands at the Colfax County Courthouse in Raton.
Federal: Albuquerque VA Medical Center (long distance).
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Raton: Arthur Johnson Memorial Public Library – confirm current address/hours via co.colfax.nm.us or ratonnm.gov.
Other county libraries: Angel Fire Community Public Library and Shuter Library (Angel Fire); Seton Memorial Library (Cimarron, at Philmont); Eagle Nest Public Library (Eagle Nest); Fred Macaron Public Library (Springer).
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Philmont Scout Ranch, the NRA Whittington Center, Sugarite Canyon State Park, Cimarron Canyon State Park, Eagle Nest Lake State Park, Capulin Volcano, and the historic Santa Fe Trail are the county’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine Philmont Scout Ranch – a legendary institution known nationwide to generations of Scouts – is a distinctive local fact.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Colfax County Assessor – confirm current contact via co.colfax.nm.us.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Raton maintains animal shelter agreements coordinated through the City of Raton and county government; confirm current contact via ratonnm.gov or co.colfax.nm.us.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Colfax County Solid Waste – confirm current contact via co.colfax.nm.us (online ticket system available).
NOTES: Colfax County is the fifth county in the New Mexico v3 A+ sourced redo’s first batch (Bernalillo, Catron, Chaves, Cibola, Colfax, Curry, De Baca). The genuine Philmont Scout Ranch – the largest and oldest Boy Scouts of America high-adventure base – is a distinctive, nationally recognized local fact. All contact information above was sourced via web search as of early August 2026 and should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit, deadline-sensitive filing, or emergency-adjacent decision.
About Colfax County
Colfax County is Philmont Scout Ranch country – the 140,000-acre high adventure base where over a million Scouts have experienced the Sangre de Cristo Mountains is the world’s largest youth camp, and the Cimarron Canyon’s spectacular granite walls provide the dramatic backdrop for northeast New Mexico’s mountain communities.
Raton (the county seat, population ~6,000) is the Santa Fe Trail gateway community on I-25 near the Colorado border – Raton Pass’s historic importance as a wagon road and railroad crossing defines the community’s heritage.
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Colfax County Assessor at 230 N. 3rd Street, Suite 1, Raton, NM 87740, phone 575-445-9435. NM assessed at one-third of market value.
Courts & Legal
Colfax County District Court at 230 N. 3rd Street, Raton, NM 87740, phone 575-445-5585, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
230 N. 3rd St., Raton, NM 87740
(575) 445-5551
COUNTY CLERK — ELECTIONS
230 N. 3rd St., Raton, NM 87740
(575) 445-5551
Genealogy
PRIMARY STATEWIDE RESEARCH CENTERS (same across all New Mexico counties)
New Mexico State Records Center and Archives, 1205 Camino Carlos Rey, Santa Fe, NM 87507.
New Mexico Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 8283, Albuquerque, NM 87198.
County-level record sources
Colfax County Probate Court, Raton (probate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Colfax County genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
Colfax County Probate Court 230 North 3rd Street, Raton, NM 87740 (575) 445-2220 Colfax County is in northeastern New Mexico, seated in Raton.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
New Mexico adopted the Uniform Probate Code. New Mexico has a dual court system: the county PROBATE COURT handles informal, uncontested probate matters with minimal court involvement, and has concurrent jurisdiction with the DISTRICT COURT over informal proceedings. The District Court alone handles formal probate – contested cases, determinations of heirship, and trust matters.
Small Estate Affidavit / Affidavit of Successor in Interest (N.M. Stat. § 45-3-1201) – available when the value of the entire estate (after liens and encumbrances) does not exceed $50,000 and does NOT include any real property. At least 30 days must have passed since death. This skips probate court entirely – the affidavit is presented directly to banks, the DMV, or other institutions holding the property.
Homestead Transfer Affidavit for Surviving Spouse (N.M. Stat. § 45-3-1205) – available 6 months after death, when the surviving spouse and decedent owned a homestead as community property valued at $500,000 or less (for property tax purposes). The affidavit is recorded with the county clerk and can avoid formal probate for the residence, but only if funeral expenses, expenses of last illness, and all unsecured debts have already been paid.
Informal Probate – the most common path for uncontested estates, filed with either the Probate Court or the District Court in the county where the decedent was domiciled. No hearing required.
Formal Probate – required for contested cases, disputes over heirship, or trust matters. Only the District Court can hear these.
Step 2: filing for informal or formal probate
File a petition with the Probate Court or District Court in the county where the decedent was domiciled. A probate may be started up to 3 years after death.
The court appoints the personal representative and issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration.
The personal representative notifies creditors; New Mexico’s creditor claim period is 2 months from notice to creditors – one of the shortest in the country.
The personal representative inventories the estate’s assets, pays debts and expenses, and distributes the remaining assets according to the will or New Mexico’s intestacy statute.
The estate is closed, typically within 6 to 12 months for straightforward, uncontested cases.
What it costs
The filing fee for probate in Probate Court is generally around $30 – notably lower than in most states. District Court filing fees run higher, commonly $100–$232 depending on the county and complexity.
New Mexico does not set a fixed statutory percentage for personal representative compensation; courts typically look to a reasonable guideline of about 2–4% of the estate’s value.
New Mexico has no state estate tax and no state inheritance tax. Only the federal estate tax could apply, and only to very large estates.
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
230 N. 3rd St., Raton, NM 87740
(575) 445-8071
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK — ELECTIONS
230 N. 3rd St., Raton, NM 87740
(575) 445-5551
ELECTIONS
230 N. 3rd St., Raton, NM 87740
(575) 445-5551
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Office: Colfax County Extension Service (NMSU) – PO Box 370, Raton, NM 87740 | (575) 445-8071 | Fax: (575) 445-2618 | [email protected].
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County Facts
County Seat: Raton
Population: 12,000
Area: 3,757 sq mi
Established: 1869
Tier: 3
Public Records
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