New Mexico reopened its criminal investigation of Jeffrey Epstein's Zorro Ranch in February 2026, searched the former property on March 9, and sued the Justice Department on August 5 for access to unredacted federal records. The federal case is State of New Mexico v. U.S. Department of Justice, No. 1:26-cv-02762 (D.D.C.).123
The 2019 investigation and the stand-down
New Mexico's attorney general began investigating potential crimes at Zorro Ranch in February 2019. The state's August 2026 complaint alleges that, on a July 23, 2019 call, federal prosecutors told New Mexico to stand down, that the state agreed to cease its sex-trafficking inquiry and share what it had gathered, and that the Department of Justice promised to pass along information about state crimes in New Mexico's jurisdiction.2 Those assertions are allegations in a complaint, not findings of a court. The New Mexico Department of Justice later stated that the prior investigation was closed in 2019 at the request of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.1
Federal agents did not search the ranch in 2019. See Property Raids.
Reopening, the House committee, and the March search
On February 16, 2026, the New Mexico House of Representatives adopted House Resolution 1, creating a special investigatory committee of two majority and two minority members with subpoena power to examine allegations of criminal activity and public corruption connected to Zorro Ranch. The resolution requires an interim report by July 31, 2026 and a final report by December 31, 2026.45
On February 19, Attorney General Raúl Torrez ordered the criminal investigation reopened. The state's statement said recently released Justice Department records warranted further examination and that special agents would seek the complete, unredacted federal case file.1
On March 9, the New Mexico Department of Justice searched the former Zorro Ranch with the New Mexico State Police and a Sandoval County Fire and Rescue K-9 team. The spokesperson said the current owners granted access and asked the public to stay away. No public search inventory has been released. No finding of buried bodies has been verified. A tip or an allegation cited in later court papers is not a discovery.6
The August 2026 records suit
On August 5, 2026, New Mexico sued the Justice Department and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche in the District of Columbia. The complaint seeks declaratory and injunctive relief under the Administrative Procedure Act. It alleges that federal officials secured the 2019 stand-down with a promise of later cooperation and then refused to provide unredacted investigative files needed for the reopened criminal inquiry. It asks the court to order production or, in the alternative, to require a prompt decision under the Justice Department's Touhy regulations.23
Those claims remain unadjudicated. The suit uses existing administrative-law avenues. The proposed Epstein Files Transparency Act II is not law and is not the cause of action.
The complaint also alleges that publicly released files contain thousands of references to New Mexico and the ranch and that federal records include evidence of grooming, trafficking, and sexual abuse tied to the property. The court had not ruled on those allegations as of September 6, 2026.2
References
Footnotes
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Statement from the New Mexico Department of Justice Regarding Zorro Ranch, February 19, 2026 ↩ ↩2 ↩3
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Complaint, State of New Mexico v. U.S. Department of Justice, No. 1:26-cv-02762 (D.D.C. Aug. 5, 2026) ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4
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New Mexico Sues DOJ For Blocking Access to Unredacted Epstein Investigative Files, New Mexico Department of Justice, August 5, 2026 ↩ ↩2
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House Resolution 1, 57th Legislature, Second Session, 2026 ↩
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House Passes Resolution to Investigate Epstein's Ties to New Mexico, New Mexico House Democrats, February 16, 2026 ↩
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Statement from New Mexico Department of Justice Spokesperson Regarding Today's Search of the Former Zorro Ranch, March 9, 2026 ↩