Candelaria Law LLC, 510 Slate Avenue NW, Albuquerque, NM (2026)

09/18/2026

Nusenda Credit Union let one of its employees rob an eighty-year-old man.

She drained his cards. She drained his accounts. Then she forged a notarized IOU in his name to cover it — with a stolen notary stamp that Nusenda kept in an open drawer at its Enchanted Hills branch. Nusenda had been asked to lock those stamps up. A lock bag costs thirty dollars. Nusenda refused.

When an honest employee caught the theft and reported it, Nusenda's vice president wrote back that they could "try to make it valid." Nusenda lied to her about a police report that was never filed. Nusenda accused her. Nusenda pulled her notary bond. Nusenda ran her out of the building. The thief kept her job.

That is "The Power of WE."

Tomorrow we file Guardado Chavez v. Nusenda Credit Union in Sandoval County. The forged IOU, the "make it valid" message, the photographs of the drawer — all of it goes public.

Nusenda's members own that credit union. Tomorrow they find out what it did with their trust.

On Your Side. De tu lado. Siempre.

09/10/2026

What the Inspection of Public Records Act produced in thirty days, and what is being proposed to change it.

Over the past month, Candelaria Law obtained the New Mexico Department of Transportation's own emails on Prestigious Paving LLC, a contractor owned on paper by the sons of Senate Finance Committee Chairman George Muñoz. They show a District Engineer writing "I got a call from Sen Munoz concerning striping," $175,000 moved within four days, and the DOT's traffic engineer stating the company was "NOT the lowest bidder" while asking for "a work around this technicality." No written justification for bypassing the low bidder exists.

Those records came out because IPRA sets a deadline, requires a written denial, awards damages when a request goes unanswered, and awards attorney fees to a requester who wins.

An Attorney General's task force, created by House Joint Memorial 2 at the request of New Mexico Counties and the Municipal League, owes the Legislature a report by October 1 on changes to the Act. Proposals raised on its listening tour, and in the three bills that failed in 2025, include hourly fees to search and redact records, a 60-day notice period before suit, elimination of attorney fees, a cap on damages, and a "vexatious requester" designation (Nixon called this an enemies list) that would allow an agency to stop responding to a person for three years.

Jacob Candelaria has written a detailed account of the bills, the task force, and the individuals and organizations behind each proposal, and applied each one to the records in the Muñoz matter. It is linked below.

Candelaria Law currently has enforcement actions pending against the General Services Department, the Department of Public Safety, the Economic Development Department, the Health Care Authority, and the Department of Finance and Administration. Each was filed because a request went unanswered or based on other clear IPRA violations.

https://jacobcandelaria.substack.com/p/the-senator-the-phone-call-and-the?r=5mqb3&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

09/09/2026

Over the past month, Candelaria Law has used the Inspection of Public Records Act to obtain the New Mexico Department of Transportation's files on Prestigious Paving LLC, a striping contractor owned on paper by the sons of Senate Finance Committee Chairman George Muñoz.

The records speak for themselves. On November 1, 2024, the DOT's District 6 Engineer wrote to her superior: "I got a call from Sen Munoz concerning striping," and asked for $175,000 to buy paint the senator's son had on hand. Four days later the Executive Director of Highway Operations replied: "Please ROB $175K from my budget." Twelve days after that, the DOT's own traffic engineer wrote that the company was "NOT the lowest bidder" and asked whether there was "a work around this technicality so that we can get this work done quickly and by Prestigious." The work proceeded by change order. The DOT's price agreement requires written justification when a low bidder is bypassed. The DOT produced none.

The records also show that the company's listed phone number belongs to the senator's construction company, that its P.O. box is the senator's, and that the senator's own financial disclosures report his wife's income from it. The Financial Disclosure Act and the Governmental Conduct Act require a legislator to disclose a financial interest in a business that contracts with the state.

Candelaria Law has filed a complaint with the State Ethics Commission and referred the matter, with the records, to the New Mexico Attorney General and the United States Attorney. When the General Services Department refused to release the state's leases with the senator and entities tied to him, citing "current confidential procurement negotiations" with him, we filed suit in the First Judicial District Court on September 8 to compel their release.

Public records belong to the public. Every document in this video was obtained under IPRA and is available to anyone who asks for it and is willing to insist.

09/08/2026

A girl on his team was facing surgery.

Her coach asked if he could pray with her. She said yes. She took his hand. Her own mother was standing right there, in a gym full of parents.

His school district called that sexual harassment.

His name is Troy Schmidt. Thirty-one years coaching. Capitan Municipal Schools hired outside contractors to investigate him. They never interviewed him. He never faced an accuser. The decision that ended his career was signed in March — and they hid it from him until the end of May.

Nine months later, he has not been fired. He has not been cleared. No termination letter. No hearing. No appeal, even though their own report says they had to offer one. No contract for this school year. And someone flagged his teaching license, which cost him two more jobs at another district.

That is not a process. That is a public body doing whatever it wants to a man, because they can.

In New Mexico, your employer cannot punish you because of your religion. That is the Human Rights Act. And a public employee cannot be stripped of his job without notice and a hearing. That is the Constitution. Neither of those is a technicality, and neither of them is optional for a school district.

We are going to hold Capitan Municipal Schools accountable. Records requests. A discrimination charge. Whatever it takes.

If a government employer has done something like this to you, call us. You have rights, and we know how to fight for them.

📞 505-295-5118 🌐 candelarialawnm.com

Candelaria Law — On Your Side. ¡El Pueblo Primero!

09/05/2026

In June the Supreme Court again explained what the Fourteenth Amendment has said since 1868: a child born in the United States, subject to its laws, is a citizen. Justice Thomas dissented in ninety pages, and his argument rests on a word — “domicile” — that does not appear in the Amendment at all.

In Part II of his series on birthright citizenship, Jacob Candelaria grades that dissent by textualism’s own rules: the text, the history, and no legislative history. The dissent fails all three. The opinion that took the words seriously is the majority, written by the Chief Justice and joined by Justice Barrett.

For families in New Mexico, this is not an academic question. Under the dissent’s reading, a child’s citizenship would have turned on a government lawyer’s later argument about the parents’ intentions. The Constitution does not say that. The Court did not let the President’s executive order say it either.

Candelaria Law is on your side. Link in the first comment.

09/01/2026

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Cinco años. Tres semanas.

Durante casi cinco años, el caso de Servet siguió sin resolverse. Había contratado a otro despacho en Albuquerque, pagó honorarios considerables, y aun así no tenía ningún resultado.

Entonces llegó a Candelaria Law. En sus propias palabras:

“En aproximadamente tres semanas, logró lo que no se había logrado en los cinco años anteriores, y resolvió el caso a mi favor.” — Servet A.

Profesional. Atento. Y sobre todo, efectivo. Después de años de espera, Servet por fin tuvo una resolución — y su único lamento fue no habernos encontrado antes.

Si tu caso se siente estancado, no tiene por qué seguir así. A veces solo hace falta el abogado indicado y una nueva estrategia.

Gracias, Servet, por confiarnos tu caso. 🙏

📞 ¿Tienes un asunto legal que no ha avanzado? Llámanos al 505-295-5118 para una consulta gratis, o visita candelarialawnm.com.

09/01/2026

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Five years. Three weeks.

For nearly five years, Servet's case sat unresolved. He'd hired another Albuquerque firm, paid significant legal fees, and still had no outcome to show for it.

Then he came to Candelaria Law. In his own words:

"Within approximately three weeks, he was able to accomplish what had not been accomplished in the previous five years, and successfully resolve the case in my favor." — Servet A.

Professional. Responsive. Effective. After years of waiting, Servet finally had resolution — and his only regret was not finding us sooner.

If your case feels stuck, it doesn't have to stay that way. Sometimes it just takes the right attorney and a fresh strategy.

Thank you, Servet, for trusting us with your case. 🙏

📞 Facing a legal matter that's gone nowhere? Call **505-295-5118** for a free consultation, or visit **candelarialawnm.com**.

¡El Pueblo Primero!

08/27/2026

Otras firmas le dijeron que no a Frank. Nosotros no.

Hoy recibió sus documentos, y la compensación por la que luchó apoyará a su familia por muchos años. Por eso hacemos esto.

"Gracias por aceptar mi caso cuando otros no quisieron. Estoy agradecido con usted y con su equipo por trabajar para mí. Aprecio todo su arduo trabajo y su experiencia. Hoy recibí los documentos. Esta compensación nos ayudará a mí y a mi familia por muchos años." — Frank R. (traducido del inglés)

Los casos que otras firmas rechazan suelen ser los que cambian el futuro de una familia. Si a usted ya le dijeron que no, vale la pena una llamada.

¡El Pueblo Primero! · Candelaria Law LLC · 505-295-5118 · candelarialawnm.com

08/27/2026

Other firms turned Frank away. We didn't.

Today he received his paperwork, and the compensation he fought for will support his family for years to come. That is why we do this.

"Thank you for taking my case when others wouldn't. I am grateful for you and your team for working for me. I appreciate all your hard work and expertise. I received the paperwork today. This compensation will help me and my family for years to come." — Frank R.

The cases other firms walk away from are often the ones that change a family's future. If you've been told no, that is worth a phone call.

¡El Pueblo Primero! · Candelaria Law LLC · 505-295-5118 · candelarialawnm.com

08/26/2026

She wasn't fired. She wasn't demoted. She didn't lose a dollar. So the government says she wasn't retaliated against.

New Mexico law says otherwise. The Whistleblower Protection Act prohibits any adverse — or discriminatory — employment action against a public employee. Two different things. A write-up meant to punish someone for speaking up counts.

Our founder, Jacob Candelaria, on the appeal we filed this week for a client who gave the State of New Mexico 23 years and had never been written up once.

The appeal also presents a question no New Mexico court has answered: whether a state agency can be sued for damages in court, outside the workers' comp system, for retaliating against a worker who seeks workers' compensation benefits.

Don't take our word for it — the brief is in the first comment.

Shared with our client's permission.

Candelaria Law LLC | Putting People First | El Pueblo Primero

Candelaria Law LLC

09/18/2026

09/10/2026

09/09/2026

09/08/2026

09/05/2026

09/01/2026

09/01/2026

08/27/2026

08/27/2026

08/26/2026

Address

Website

Alerts

Contact The Business

Shortcuts

Share

Category

Listing takedown request