The first and only arrest for Santa Fe resident Ryan Campos — who considers himself a “relatively law-abiding citizen” — came as a complete surprise.

When Campos, 21, was pulled over on N.M. 599 one morning in July on his way out of town, a Santa Fe County sheriff’s deputy informed him there was a warrant out for his arrest and that he was going to jail.

Campos said he was unaware of the warrant, which stemmed from a speeding ticket in 2023 — the only one he has ever received. He believes he paid the ticket’s $61 fine in cash at Santa Fe County Magistrate Court that year.

He didn’t keep the receipt from the court clerk, he said, because “I didn’t think I would need it.”

The arrest, caused by what Campos says was a “clerical error,” is a recent example of how court fees and fines still

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