New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez announced Thursday that the state Department of Justice had reopened the criminal investigation into illegal activities at renowned sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch in Santa Fe County.
NMDOJ Chief of Staff Lauren Rodriguez noted in a statement that the state closed a previous investigation into Zorro Ranch in 2019 at the request of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. But information outlined in previously sealed FBI files “warrant further examination,” she said, and the NMDOJ will be seeking access to the un-redacted files.
Former New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas in a Tuesday email to Source NM said that his office investigated Epstein’s and conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell’s actions at Zorro ranch before federal officials asked him to shelve the query.
Rodriguez said the NMDOJ will also be working with the newly formed New Mexico House subcommittee approved during the 30-day session to investigate Epstein’s activities at the ranch during his time in New Mexico. The new Epstein “truth commission,” which has $2 million in funding for its work, held its first meeting on Tuesday, and will be hiring investigators, legal experts and support staff, Chair state Rep. Andrea Romero (D-Santa Fe) has said.
“As with any potential criminal matter, we will follow the facts wherever they lead, carefully evaluate jurisdictional considerations, and take appropriate investigative action, including the collection and preservation of any relevant evidence that remains available,” Rodriguez said. “We are moving quickly and deliberately on this issue and will provide updates as appropriate.”
Asked about the new criminal investigation and commission on Thursday during a news conference following the end of the legislative session, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham touted the latter as an example of the Legislature being willing to wade into “tricky” issues and “another environment where we aren’t shy about accountability in a multitude of ways.”
Lujan Grisham also referred to recently unveiled allegations of potential victims’ bodies being buried near the Zorro Ranch in southern Santa Fe County.
“We don’t care who you are here,” she said. “If you did something and you’re associated in these Epstein cases, and you perpetrated a crime, and there are still victims, there are potentially deaths and bodies, we will find it.”
The effort to discover what occurred in New Mexico, she said, “will be a statewide effort” and she thanked the Legislature and Romero for recognizing “we all have an obligation to find the truth.”
This story originally appeared on Source New Mexico on February 19, 2026. It is published under a Creative Commons license (CC BY-ND 4.0).
Source New Mexico is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Source New Mexico maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Julia Goldberg for questions: info@sourcenm.com.
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