Patrick H. Lyons

Lyons served as New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands from January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2010.

New Mexico's commissioner of public lands is responsible for revenue generation through the management of more than 9 million surface acres and 13 million mineral acres held in trust for state’s 22 beneficiaries (including public schools, penal institutions and hospitals).

Lyons served as commissioner of the 2nd District of the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission from 2011 through 2018.

During his 2003-2011 tenure as Land Commissioner, Lyons faced criticism after he orchestrated a swap of 7,205 acres of state trust land in White Peak, an area highly valued by hunters, for 3,330 acres of a fellow rancher's land. Sportsmen roundly criticized the deal, pointing out that it put prime hunting land off-limits,[1] and after the state attorney general investigated, the Supreme Court ruled the swap illegal in 2010,[2] and Lyons' successor reversed the deal.

A 2010 audit by the New Mexico Auditor's Office found that Lyons' Land Office had mismanaged or wasted millions of dollars of taxpayer funds.[3]

In his 2018 campaign for another term as Commissioner of Public Lands, Lyons used a list of Land Office lessees from his time in office to solicit donations from them,[4] which drew allegations that such appeals invited the risk of special favors to lessees Lyons would be in charge of regulating if he were elected. A significant portion of Lyons' campaign funding came from the oil and gas industry, and Chevron paid $2 million to a mostly oil-funded PAC that supports Lyons.[5] The land commissioner has jurisdiction over lease rates, rules and air and water safeguards that govern oil and gas leases.

An investigation conducted by KRQE found that Lyons had violated state law by fabricating and awarding himself continuing education credits for routine meetings. According to state law, "to ensure expertise on technical aspects of the job... PRC Commissioners obtain 32 hours of annual continuing education relating to utility regulation. Lawmakers deemed this prerequisite to be so important that, according to statute, any Commissioner who fails to obtain the required education can't collect their salary."[6] The investigation also found that fellow commissioner Lynda Lovejoy did not have the required number of annual continuing education hours.