N.M. Stat. § 33-2-6
The corrections division [corrections department] shall decide what improvements shall be made in the penitentiary and on property owned by the penitentiary, whether the same shall be enlarged, or the erection of the extension of the prison or prison walls, the erection of workshops or other buildings or improvements shall be made; provided that the corrections division [corrections department] shall not make any improvements that will require an expenditure of money in excess of the appropriations made by the legislature for that purpose, which improvements shall be made under the direction of the warden on plans furnished by the division [department] and he shall employ such number of convicts in making such improvements as the division [department] may deem advisable, and shall employ the remainder of the convicts as may be most advantageous to the state or the penitentiary.
All amounts received by the penitentiary of New Mexico from the sale or mortgaging of any real property is [are] hereby appropriated to be used for the purchase of equipment for prison industries, or for the construction of buildings or structures for prison industries, or used to pay interest on, or to retire any bonds issued by the penitentiary commissioners or the corrections division [corrections department].
NMS § 33-2-6