A House committee voted 5-0 to advance a bill that would repeal a long-standing statute requiring district court clerks to receive and maintain deposited wills.

Katrina Watson, chief executive officer and clerk for the Second Judicial District Court, told the committee the law — enacted decades ago — has created an unwieldy repository system. "There was a bill that was passed, I wanna say, probably in the early to mid seventies that that requires the clerk's offices to receive wills, and maintain them," Watson said, and added that her office alone holds roughly 10,000 wills dating back to the 1970s.

Watson said the statute permits anyone to deposit a will in any district court, regardless of residence, and provides no practical way for clerks to reliably track testators or distinguish among people who share the same name. She said a Supreme Court rulemaking approach would better define retention periods and allow clerks to develop practical disposition procedures.

Public comment included suggestions for a centralized, digitized registry to protect testators' documents while reducing court storage burdens. The committee did not face opposition in the hearing; a due pass motion passed on a 5-0 voice vote.

The bill authorizes the judiciary to adopt court rules to guide retention and to require public notice before disposition. Committee members and court officials said the change was administrative and aimed at modernizing storage and access for testators and heirs.

With passage from committee, the bill moves forward; sponsors said they will bring proposed court rules to the Supreme Court and New Mexico Judicial Council to implement a plan for retained wills and eventual disposition where appropriate.