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New Mexico County
Valencia County, New Mexico
Los Lunas and Rio Grande Hispanic heritage - from Valencia County's deep Hispanic colonial heritage (Valencia County encompasses some of the oldest continuously settled communities in New Mexico, with Hispanic families tracing their roots to 17th-century Spanish colonization along the Rio Grande - the area's acequia irrigation systems, adobe churches, and traditional placitas reflect a living Spanish Colonial heritage that predates the United States by more than a century) to the county's rapid Albuquerque suburban growth (Los Lunas and Belen have become significant Albuquerque southern suburbs as residents seek more affordable housing while maintaining access to the metro area along I-25 and the Rail Runner commuter train corridor).
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Office: Valencia County Emergency Management – 444 Luna Avenue, Los Lunas, NM 87031 | (505) 866-2043.
Sheriff: Valencia County Sheriff’s Office – 123 Don Pasqual Rd NW, Los Lunas, NM 87031 | Non-emergency (505) 865-2039 or (505) 865-9130 | Fax (505) 206-0165; 50 sworn deputies, 8 court security officers.
Dispatch: Valencia Regional Emergency Communications Center (VRECC) – (505) 866-2040; dispatches Sheriff’s Office, 13 county Fire/EMS departments, and Animal Control.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-25 serves Los Lunas, the county seat, in central New Mexico along the Rio Grande, part of the Albuquerque metro area.
Notes: Valencia County, created 1852, was historically a nationally recognized political bellwether – it held the longest streak of predicting U.S. presidential election winners until 2020. The county lost roughly 81% of its original territory in 1981 when Cibola County was carved out of it.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Valencia County Courthouse – Los Lunas, NM 87031; confirm current phone via co.valencia.nm.us.
Notes: IMPORTANT: The Central New Mexico Correctional Facility (CNMCF), a large minimum/medium-security state prison with over 1,050 inmate capacity, is located at 1525 Morris Road, Los Lunas, NM – built 1980, operated by the New Mexico Corrections Department, housing Level 1/2/3 inmates plus a geriatric unit, Mental Health Treatment Center, Long Term Care Unit, and a minimum-security “Farm” housing unit reopened in 2025. This is directly relevant for InmateAid readers with a loved one incarcerated there. Los Lunas is also home to the genuinely mysterious and hotly debated Los Angeles Decalogue Stone (Los Lunas Decalogue Stone) – a large boulder inscribed with a Hebrew text resembling the Ten Commandments, whose age and authenticity remain a subject of ongoing archaeological controversy.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Valencia County Veterans Service – confirm current contact via co.valencia.nm.us.
Federal: Albuquerque VA Medical Center (nearby).
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Los Lunas Public Library – confirm current address/hours via loslunasnm.gov.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Tome Hill (El Cerro Tomé), a notable Catholic pilgrimage site near the historic village of Tome, and the University of New Mexico Valencia Campus are the county’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine, unresolved mystery of the Los Lunas Decalogue Stone is a distinctive local fact.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Valencia County Assessor – Property Search/Online Parcel via co.valencia.nm.us.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Valencia County Animal Shelter – 1209 Highway 314, Los Lunas, NM 87031 | (505) 866-2479 | Hours: Tue-Sat 8 AM-4 PM; adoption fees $92 (dogs/puppies) and $72 (cats/kittens), including spay/neuter, vaccinations, and microchip; picked-up animals held 3 business days for owner reclaim before becoming available for adoption; runs a volunteer transport program to partner shelters in Alamogordo, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Colorado.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Valencia County Public Works – confirm current contact via co.valencia.nm.us.
NOTES: Valencia County is the fifth and final county in the New Mexico v3 A+ sourced redo – completing all 33 New Mexico counties. The Central New Mexico Correctional Facility is directly relevant for InmateAid readers, and the mysterious Los Lunas Decalogue Stone is a distinctive 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 Valencia County
Valencia County is the Rio Grande’s Spanish Colonial heritage and Albuquerque southern suburb county – centuries of acequia-fed Hispanic agricultural traditions along the Rio Grande meet the expanding Albuquerque metro’s southern growth corridor, creating a county of deep cultural roots and rapid contemporary development connected to New Mexico’s largest city by Rail Runner and I-25.
Los Lunas (the county seat, population ~16,000) is Valencia County’s governmental hub, a growing Rio Grande community anchoring the county’s southern Albuquerque suburban expansion along the river valley.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Valencia County Assessor at 444 Luna Avenue, Los Lunas, NM 87031, phone 505-866-2038. NM assessed at one-third of market value.
Courts & Legal
Valencia County District Court at 1835 Hwy 314 SW, Los Lunas, NM 87031, phone 505-865-4641, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
444 Luna Ave., Los Lunas, NM 87031
(505) 866-2073
COUNTY CLERK — ELECTIONS
444 Luna Ave., Los Lunas, NM 87031
(505) 866-2073
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
Valencia County Probate Court, Los Lunas (probate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Valencia 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
Valencia County Probate Court 444 Luna Avenue (mail: P.O. Box 969), Los Lunas, NM 87031 (505) 866-2432 Valencia County is in central New Mexico, part of the Albuquerque metro area, seated in Los Lunas.
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. In Valencia County, the Probate Court has jurisdiction only over informal probates.
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 case can be filed more than 120 hours after death but less than 3 years after death.
The court appoints the personal representative and issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration. Anyone over age 18 can qualify as personal representative; close relatives of the decedent have priority.
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
444 Luna Ave., Los Lunas, NM 87031
(505) 865-9604
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK — ELECTIONS
444 Luna Ave., Los Lunas, NM 87031
(505) 866-2073
ELECTIONS
444 Luna Ave., Los Lunas, NM 87031
(505) 866-2073
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
NM HSD — Valencia
(505) 865-9677
University of New Mexico Valencia
hospitals.health.unm.edu (Los Lunas — UNM Health affiliate; quality community services; residents also access Albuquerque hospitals)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Valencia County Environmental Health – confirm current contact via co.valencia.nm.us.
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Editorial Trust
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Los Lunas
Population: 80,000
Area: 1,068 sq mi
Established: 1852
Tier: 2
Public Records
TruthFinder
Search public records for Valencia County residents.
