Andy Mohr West, Inc. v. Office of the Indiana Secretary of State

41 N.E.3d 704, 2015 Ind. App. LEXIS 578, 2015 WL 4760455
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 13, 2015
DocketNo. 49A02-1411-PL-812
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 41 N.E.3d 704 (Andy Mohr West, Inc. v. Office of the Indiana Secretary of State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Andy Mohr West, Inc. v. Office of the Indiana Secretary of State, 41 N.E.3d 704, 2015 Ind. App. LEXIS 578, 2015 WL 4760455 (Ind. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinions

NAJAM, Judge.

Statement of the Case

[1] Andy Mohr West, Inc. d/b/a Andy Mohr Toyota (Andy Mohr), Butler Motors, [706]*706Inc. d/b/a Butler Toyota (Butler), and TW Toy, Inc. d/b/a Tom Wood Toyota (Tom Wood) (collectively, the Dealers) appeal the trial court’s judgment affirming the dismissal of declaratory judgment actions the Dealers had filed with the Auto Dealer Services Division of the Office of the Secretary of State (the Division). According to the Dealers’ filings with the Division, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. (Toyota) proposed to relocate Ed Martin Toyota (Ed Martin) from Anderson, Indiana, to Fishers, Indiana, which the Dealers alleged was without good cause. The Division dismissed the Dealers’ claims after it interpreted recently enacted provisions of the Indiana Code to deny the Dealers standing. This appeal presents a question of first impression regarding an interpretation of the Indiana Dealer Services statutes. See Ind.Code §§ 9-32.

[2] As the .Supreme Court of the United States has reminded ús, “[a]' fair reading of legislation demands a fair understanding of the legislative plan.” King v. Burwell, - U.S. -, 135 S.Ct. 2480, 192 L.Ed.2d 483, 2015 WL 2473448 at *15 (June 25, 2015). Here, the legislative plan as it relates to the proposed relocation of a new-motor-vehicle (NMV) dealer into a new market evinces our legislature’s intent that the Division review the éffects of the proposed relocation on the marketplace before the relocation may be approved. We conclude, however, that the Division’s interpretation of the relevant statutes is inconsistent with the economic rationale of the legislative plan and is not, therefore, a reasonably correct interpretation of the statutes. Instead, the Division has misconstrued the relevant .statutes to deny the Dealers standing and potential remedies. In its interpretation, the Division has either disregarded or. overlooked the plain text of relevant statutory provisions and, in so doing, has rendered those provisions meaningless. We reverse'the trial court’s judgment and remand to the Division for further proceedings on the.Dealers’ claims against Toyota.,

Facts and Procedural History

[3] The facts underlying this appeal are not in dispute. Ed Martin is an NMV dealer and has been operating out of Anderson in Madison County for a number of years. Ed Martin is licensed in Indiana to"serve as a Toyota dealer. .Around September 27, 2013, Toyota informed each of the Dealers, which are also NMV dealers, that it intended to relocate Ed Martin from Anderson to Fishers. Fishers is located in Hamilton- County, which has a population in excess of 100,000 people.

[4] The Dealers engaged Toyota in negotiations to avoid the relocation of Ed Martin, but those discussions eventually broke down. As such, on December 23, 2013, Butler filed with the Division its protest against the relocation óf Ed Martin and its request for declaratory judgment, Tom Wood and Andy Mohr filed similar requests shortly thereafter. Collectively, the Dealers’ requests sought to have the Division determine whether good cause existed for the proposed move of Ed Martin. Subsequently, Toyota moved to dismiss the Dealers’ requests on the ground that the Dealers each lacked standing to file their requests with- the Division:

[5] On February 25, 2014, the Division entered Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Taw, Judgment, and Final Order with respect to each of the'Dealers. The Division determined that the relevant market area that would apply to Ed Martin’s relocated dealership consisted of a six-mile radius around that proposed location1 pursuant [707]*707to Indiana Code Section 9-32-2-20(1). Because each of the Dealers was located outside of that radius, the Division concluded that each Dealer lacked standing to file its declaratory judgment action. The Dealers petitioned the trial court for judicial review of the Division’s judgment, and, after consolidating the Dealers’ petitions, the court affirmed the Division’s judgment. This appeal ensued.

Discussion and Decision

Standard of Review

[6] This appeal involves a question of an agency’s interpretation of the Indiana Code. As we have explained:

“An. interpretation of a statute by an administrative agency charged with the duty of enforcing the statute is entitled to great weight, unless this interpretation would be inconsistent with the statute itself,” LTV Steel Co. v. Griffin, 730 N.E.2d 1251, 1257 (Ind.2000).... “Deference to an.agency’s interpretation of a statute becomes a consideration when a statute is ambiguous and susceptible of more than one reasonable interpretation.” State v. Young, 855 N.E.2d 329, 335 (Ind.Ct.App.2006). When a court is faced with two reasonable interpretations of a statute, one of which is supplied by an administrative agency charged with enforcing the statute, the court should defer to the agency. Id. If a court determines that an agency’s interpretation is reasonable, it should ter-mínate its analysis and not address the reasonableness of the other party’s; proposed interpretation. Id. ... However, an agency’s incorrect interpretation of a statute is entitled to no weight. Peabody Coal Co. v. Ind. Dep’t of Natural Res., 606 N.E.2d 1306, 1308 (Ind.Ct.App.1992). If an agency misconstrues a statute, there is no reasonable basis for the agency’s ultimate, action and the trial court, is required to reverse the agency’s action as being arbitrary and capricious. Id.

Pierce v. Dep’t of Corr., 885 M.E.2d 77, 89 (Ind.Ct.App.2008) . (emphases added). Further, insofar as this appeal is from the judgment of a trial court, “[i]t is well established that, where ‘only a paper record has been presented to the trial court, we are in as good a position as the trial court ... and will employ de novo review.. ” Norris Ave. Prof'l Bldg. P’ship v. Coordinated Health, LLC, 28 N.E.3d 296, 298 (Ind.Ct.App.2015) (quoting Munster v. Groce, 829 N.E.2d 52, 57, (Ind.Ct.App.2005)) (omissions original to Norris), trans. denied.

[7] The only ’issue on appeal is whether the agency’s interpretation of the relevant statutes is reasonably correct. The Indiana Supreme Court has long recognized the “basic principle” that ■

the foremost objective of the rules of statutory construction is to determine and effect the true intent of the legisla[708]*708ture. ■ It is also well settled that the legislative intent as ascertained from an Act as a whole will prevail over the strict literal meaning of any word or term used therein. When the court is called upon to construe words in a single •section of a statute, it must construe them with due regard for all other sections of the act and with due regard for the intent of the legislature in order that the spirit and purpose of the statute be carried out.

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41 N.E.3d 704, 2015 Ind. App. LEXIS 578, 2015 WL 4760455, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/andy-mohr-west-inc-v-office-of-the-indiana-secretary-of-state-indctapp-2015.