Your home state of New Mexico is a member of the Drivers License Compact (DLC) while Tennessee is not, however the state has decided to report ticket back to the home state of out of state motorists who receive moving violations in TN.

New Mexico statute 66-5-23 discusses the records to be kept by the Motor Vehicle Division of the NM Taxation and Revenue Department. Here it states that the Division shall file all abstracts of court records of conviction or reports that it receives from the trial courts of this state or from a tribal court.

The statute continues on mentioning the DLC and saying that the MVD maintains convenient records or make suitable notations in order that the individual record of each licensee showing the convictions of the licensee in which he has been involved. From this information it would appear that convictions for violations received in another state (whether part of the DLC or not) would go on your New Mexico driving record but you should check with the MVD to find out for certain.

If the Tennessee speeding ticket is placed on your NM driver's history then your insurance company could see it the next time they pull your MVR. Whether this moving violation conviction will affect your insurance rates depends upon your insurance company's rating system.

You should be able to find out about your insurance provider's rating system from your insurance agent or by contacting the New Mexico Insurance Division with whom insurance companies must file their rates with.

Deciding whether or not to fight the ticket is a personal choice. You may want to call the court listed on the ticket to see what the fine amount is and if there are any other options such as traffic school available to you that would keep the ticket from being reported back to NM.