{"data":{"id":"us-nm/12-2a-4","jurisdiction":"us-nm","citation":"12-2A-4","heading":"Construction of \"shall\", \"must\" and \"may\".","body":"A. \"Shall\" and \"must\" express a duty, obligation, requirement or condition precedent.\nB. \"May\" confers a power, authority, privilege or right.\nC. \"May not\", \"must not\" and \"shall not\" prohibit the exercise of a power, authority, privilege or right.","path":["Chapter 12 - Miscellaneous Public Affairs Matters","ARTICLE 2A Uniform Statute and Rule Construction Act"],"source_url":"https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa-unanno/en/item/18512/index.do","current_through":"2025-06-20","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-03T15:02:19Z","sha256":"55c211a8c784d24c638f0958182478e08bf753c9d7942f2bc04d6b80738c18bf","source_id":"us-nm","stale":false,"prev":"us-nm/12-2a-3","next":"us-nm/12-2a-5"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}