Alec Baldwin surrenders his phone to authorities for 'Rust' shooting investigation

Actor Alec Baldwin has surrendered his cellphone to New Mexico authorities a month after the search warrant for the device was issued.

On Friday, the Santa Fe District Attorney's Office told ABC News that it had received Baldwin's phone, which was a day after the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office issued a statement saying that the device still hadn't been turned over.

The search warrant for the phone had been approved on Dec. 16. Baldwin's lawyer acknowledged the warrant had been received and the district attorney's office was negotiating with him to retrieve the device, according to the sheriff's office.

Authorities want to examine text messages on the phone for their investigation into the fatal on-set shooting of "Rust" in Sante Fe last year, which killed Halyna Hutchins, the film's cinematographer, and wounded the director, Joel Souza.

Baldwin said last week that he and his attorney were following a required process when one state seeks information or evidence from a resident in another state.

"It's a process that takes time" the actor said. "They have to specify what exactly they want. They just can't go through your phone and take, you know, your photos or your love letters to your wife or whatever. But, of course, we are 1,000% going to comply with all that. We're, you know, perfectly fine with that.