The New Mexico State Ethics Commission last week issued an advisory opinion concluding legislators can legally use campaign funds for certain security expenses.

The opinion — which commissioners voted to approve and issue at an Oct. 10 meeting and which was published Tuesday on the state's official online law database — comes as state lawmakers in New Mexico and nationally have faced a rise in high-profile threats of violence.

So long as security expenses are "reasonably attributable to the legislator’s duties of office" and are not used to fulfill needs that would exist regardless of the person's office, a candidate can use campaign funds for the costs, the commission concluded. Candidates for public office also have discretion to spend campaign funds on security, the commission no

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