LIMITING STUDENT RESTRAINT & SECLUSION

HB0120

HOUSE BILL 120

57th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2026

INTRODUCED BY

Yanira Gurrola and
E. Diane Torres-Velásquez

and
Natalie Figueroa
and
Elizabeth "Liz" Thomson

and
Patricia Roybal Caballero

FOR THE LEGISLATIVE EDUCATION STUDY COMMITTEE

AN ACT

RELATING TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS; ADDRESSING ALLOWABLE RESPONSES TO
STUDENT BEHAVIOR; LIMITING THE USE OF PHYSICAL RESTRAINT AND
SECLUSION; PROHIBITING OTHER TYPES OF RESTRAINT AND SECLUSION;
REQUIRING TRAINING; REQUIRING DOCUMENTATION OF BEHAVIORS AND
TECHNIQUES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

SECTION 1.
Section 22-5-4.12 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2017,
Chapter 33, Section 1) is amended to read:

"22-5-4.12. USE OF
PHYSICAL
RESTRAINT AND SECLUSION--

PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES
--TECHNIQUES--REQUIREMENTS.--

A. As used in this section:

(1) "chemical restraint" means a medication
used to control behavior or movement; provided that "chemical
restraint" does not include the administration of medication
prescribed by a health care provider as standard treatment for
the mental or physical condition of a student;

(2) "de-escalation" means a process that
involves using communication or other techniques to reduce the
intensity of a potentially violent situation or conflict;

(3) "elopement" means a student leaving an
assigned area without permission from or knowledge of a school
employee;

(4) "first responder" means a person based
outside of a public school who functions within the emergency
medical services system and who is dispatched to a public
school to provide initial emergency aid;

(5) "less restrictive intervention" includes
positive behavior interventions and supports and de-escalation;

(6) "mechanical restraint" means the
application of a device or an object to a student's body that
restricts the student's free movement; provided that
"mechanical restraint" does not include adaptive devices,
mechanical supports, vehicle safety restraints or other devices
or objects that are prescribed by a health care provider or
authorized by parental consent for a student;

(7) "physical escort" means touching or
holding of the hand, wrist, arm, shoulder or back to induce a
student to walk to a safe location;

(8) "physical restraint" means the use of
physical force without the use of any device or material that
restricts the free movement of all or a portion of the
student's body but does not include physical escort;

(9) "prone restraint" means a method of
intervention in which a student's face and frontal part of the
body are placed in a downward position touching a surface for
any amount of time;

(10) "seclusion" means the involuntary
confinement of a student alone in a room or area from which
egress is prevented; provided that "seclusion" does not mean
the use of other behavior management techniques, including
time-out, as part of a student's education plan, individual
safety plan, behavior intervention plan or individualized
education program that involves the student's separation from a
larger group for purposes of calming the student; and

(11) "time-out" means a continuum of behavior
management techniques designed to address inappropriate student
behavior that begins with minimally intrusive strategies up to
separation of the student from classmates for some amount of
time before a return to the classroom.

B. The following activities are prohibited in
public schools:

(1) seclusion without continuous line-of-sight
supervision;

(2) chemical restraint;

(3) mechanical restraint; and

(4) prone restraint.

[
A.
]
C.
A
local
school
board or governing body
may
[
permit
]
allow
the use of
physical
restraint or seclusion
[
techniques
] on [
any
]
a
student only if [
both of the following
apply
]:

(1) the student's behavior presents an
imminent danger of serious physical harm to the student or
others; and

(2) less restrictive interventions [
appear
insufficient
]
are not sufficient
to mitigate the imminent
danger of serious physical harm;

[
B. If a restraint or seclusion technique is used
on a student:

(1) school employees shall maintain continuous
visual observation and monitoring of the student while the
restraint or seclusion technique is in use;

(2) the restraint or seclusion technique shall
end when the student's behavior no longer presents an imminent
danger of serious physical harm to the student or others;

(3) the restraint or seclusion technique shall
be used only by school employees who are trained in the safe
and effective use of restraint and seclusion techniques unless
an emergency situation does not allow sufficient time to summon
those trained school employees;

(4) the restraint technique employed shall not
impede the student's ability to breathe or speak; and

(5) the restraint technique shall not be out
of proportion to the student's age or physical condition.
]

However, if the student is eloping and the conditions in
Paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection are also met, the
student may be restrained. For elopement that falls short of
the conditions in Paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection,
physical restraint is not authorized, but physical escort may
be appropriate.

[
C. Schools
]
D. A local school board or governing
body
shall establish policies and procedures for the
training
and
use of
positive behavior interventions and supports, de-escalation, physical
restraint, [
or
] seclusion
or other
behavior management
techniques in a school safety plan;
provided that [
(1)
] the school safety plan shall:

(1) be in accordance with guidance issued by
the department;

(2)
not be specific to [
any
]
an
individual
student,
but may be specific to individual public schools
; [
and

(2) any school safety plan shall
]
(3)
be
drafted by a planning team that includes at least one special
education expert
and at least one person trained and certified
in positive behavior interventions and supports, de-escalation
and restraint techniques;

(4) address supports and strategies applicable
to physical restraint or seclusion for school employees to
successfully reintegrate a student who has been physically
restrained or secluded back into the school or classroom;

(5) address elopement in a separate section
and have procedures for managing elopement that requires
physical restraint and elopement that requires less restrictive
interventions; and

(6) be approved by the department.

E. Training of school employees

designated in the
school safety plan shall occur biannually and in the same year
as hiring for a new school employee. All training shall be
approved by the department. At least one school administrator
at each public school shall receive training addressing
Paragraphs (1), (2) and (5) of this subsection, and other
school employees shall be designated to receive training as
necessary to carry out the provisions of this section, as
approved by the department. Training shall include:

(1) less restrictive interventions, including
positive behavior interventions and supports and de-escalation;

(2) hypothetical-situation training for
triaging the use of less restrictive interventions than
physical restraint or seclusion;

(3) practice sessions on the use of physical
restraint or seclusion;

(4) the use of physical restraint or seclusion
that is in proportion to the student's age or physical
condition; and

(5) monitoring, documenting and reporting when
physical restraint or seclusion is used.

F. If physical restraint or seclusion is used on a
student:

(1) school employees shall maintain continuous
visual observation and monitoring of the student while the
student is being restrained or secluded;

(2) physical restraint or seclusion shall end
immediately when the student's behavior no longer presents an
imminent danger of serious physical harm to the student or
others;

(3) physical restraint or seclusion shall be
used only by school employees who are trained in the safe and
effective use of restraint or seclusion unless an emergency
situation does not allow sufficient time to summon those
trained school employees and the imminent danger to the student
or others is greater than the risk of harm of the physical
restraint or seclusion to the student;

(4) the physical restraint or seclusion
employed shall not impede the student's ability to breathe or
communicate; and

(5) physical restraint or seclusion shall not
be out of proportion to the student's age or physical condition
and shall be consistent with the medical or other needs of the
student known to the person applying the physical restraint.

G. Time-out shall not be used as a punishment.

[
D. Schools
]
H. A local school board or governing
body
shall establish reporting and documentation procedures to
be followed when a
physical
restraint or seclusion [
technique
]
has been used on a student. The procedures shall include the
following provisions:

(1) a school employee shall provide the
student's parent [
or guardian
] with written or oral notice on
the same day that the incident occurred, unless circumstances
prevent same-day notification. If the notice is not provided
on the same day of the incident, notice shall be given within
twenty-four hours after the incident;

(2) within [
a reasonable time
]
three school
days
following the incident, a school employee shall provide
the student's parent [
or guardian
] with
more specific
written
documentation [
that includes information about any persons,
locations or activities that may have triggered the behavior,
if known, and specific information about the behavior and its
precursors, the type of restraint or seclusion technique used
and the duration of its use; and
]
on a department-issued form
that includes:

(a) any known precursors that may have
triggered the behavior, such as specific persons, locations or
activities;

(b) a description of the behavior;

(c) the reason for physical restraint or
seclusion;

(d) any less restrictive interventions
attempted or, if none were attempted, why;

(e) the duration of the physical
restraint or seclusion;

(f) the location of the physical
restraint or seclusion;

(g) the behavior management techniques
used;

(h) the staff involved in the physical
restraint or seclusion; and

(i) the date of the involved staff's
last training pursuant to this section
;

(3) [
schools
]
a public school
shall review
strategies used to address a student's dangerous behavior
with
a person trained and certified in de-escalation techniques,
physical restraint or seclusion
if use of
physical
restraint or
seclusion [
techniques
] for an individual student has occurred
[
two or more times
]
more than one time
during [
any thirty-calendar-day period
]
a school year
. The review shall include:

(a) a review of the incidents in which

physical
restraint or seclusion [
techniques
] were used and an
analysis of how future incidents may be avoided, including
whether the student
may be eligible for special education or

requires a functional behavioral assessment; and

(b) [
a meeting of the student's
]
if the
student has an
individualized education program team,
[
behavioral
]
a behavior
intervention plan team or
a
student
assistance team,
a requirement that the team must meet
within
two weeks of each use of
physical
restraint or seclusion [
after
the second
]
when more than one
use
occurs
within a [
thirty-calendar-day period
]
school year
to provide
written

recommendations for avoiding future incidents requiring the use
of
physical
restraint or seclusion;
and

(4) a parent has a right to request an
individualized education program team, a behavior intervention
plan team or a student assistance team meeting after an
instance of physical restraint or seclusion
.

[
E.
]
I.
If a
public
school summons law enforcement
instead of using [
a
]
physical
restraint or seclusion
[
technique
] on a student, the school shall comply with the
reporting, documentation and review procedures established
pursuant to [
Subsection D of
] this section.

[
F. Policies regarding restraint and seclusion
shall consider school district support and strategies for
school employees to successfully reintegrate a student who has
been restrained or secluded back into the school or classroom
environment.

G.
]
J.
The provisions of this section shall not be
interpreted as addressing the conduct of law enforcement or
first responders.

[
H.
]
K.
The provisions of this section do not apply
to [
any
]
a public
school located within a county juvenile
detention center or a state-operated juvenile facility.

[
I. For the purposes of this section:

(1) "first responder" means a person based
outside of a school who functions within the emergency medical
services system and who is dispatched to a school to provide
initial emergency aid;

(2) "mechanical restraint" means the use of
any device or material attached or adjacent to the student's
body that restricts freedom of movement or normal access to any
portion of the student's body and that the student cannot
easily remove, but "mechanical restraint" does not include
mechanical supports or protective devices;

(3) "physical restraint" means the use of
physical force without the use of any device or material that
restricts the free movement of all or a portion of a student's
body, but "physical restraint" does not include physical
escort;

(4) "restraint" when not otherwise modified
means mechanical or physical restraint; and

(5) "seclusion" means the involuntary
confinement of a student alone in a room from which egress is
prevented. "Seclusion" does not mean the use of a voluntary
behavior management technique, including a timeout location, as
part of a student's education plan, individual safety plan,
behavioral plan or individualized education program that
involves the student's separation from a larger group for
purposes of calming.
]"

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