Burdine v. Arkansas Department of Finance & Administration

2010 Ark. 455, 379 S.W.3d 476, 2010 Ark. LEXIS 550
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedNovember 18, 2010
DocketNo. 10-275
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 2010 Ark. 455 (Burdine v. Arkansas Department of Finance & Administration) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Burdine v. Arkansas Department of Finance & Administration, 2010 Ark. 455, 379 S.W.3d 476, 2010 Ark. LEXIS 550 (Ark. 2010).

Opinions

PAUL E. DANIELSON, Justice.

liAppellant Troy Burdine appeals from the circuit court’s order affirming appellee Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration’s Office of Driver Services’s (DFA) decision disqualifying his commercial driver’s license (CDL). He asserts that the circuit court erred in so affirming. We affirm the circuit court’s order.

According to the record, Burdine was arrested in Missouri on or about July 1, 2007, and charged with driving while intoxicated. That charge was nolle prossed, and on October 23, 2007, the Missouri Department of Revenue (MDR) held an administrative hearing, which resulted in a suspension of Burdine’s driving privileges. In its findings of fact and conclusions of law, the MDR found, in pertinent part:

2. The sole issue to be decided is whether by a preponderance of the evidence, the person was driving a vehicle pursuant to the circumstances set out in Section 302.505, RSMo.
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4.Based upon the preponderance of the evidence presented at the administrative shearing, Petitioner is found to have been arrested/stopped upon probable cause to believe Petitioner was driving a motor vehicle while the alcohol concentration in the blood was at or above the limit required by Section 302.505, RSMo, or if under age twenty-one, was stopped while operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content of .02% or more by weight, and the Notice of Suspension/Revocation was therefore properly issued to or served upon Petitioner pursuant to Section 302.515 or 302.520, RSMo.
5. Administrative suspension or revocation of Petitioner’s privilege to drive in the State of Missouri is required by Sections 302.505 and 302.525, RSMo.1

Burdine subsequently moved to Arkansas and requested that his CDL be transferred from Oklahoma. On February 3, 2009, DFA notified Burdine that his commercial driving privilege would be disqualified on February 17, 2009, “for serious traffic violation(s).” It further notified him that a hearing had been scheduled for him on the same date. Subsequent notifications were also sent, and, eventually, a hearing was held on April 21, 2009. A hearing summary was then issued, which stated, in pertinent part:

STATUTE NUMBER AND CONCLUSION OF LAW:
§ 27-23-112 requires disqualification of commercial driving privilege for 1 year for a first offense of DWI, CMV DWI @.04, or refuse test IAW § 27-23-112(b)(1)(B) and IAW § 27-23-103(9). “Conviction” means an unvacated adjudication of guilt, a determination that a person has violated or failed to comply with the law in a court of original jurisdiction or by an authorized administrative tribunal.
DECISION OF HEARING OFFICER: This is a contested hearing. Atty Bick-ett states that there is no conviction on licensee’s driving record. The DWI in Missouri was dismissed by prosecutor nolle pros. The Office states the Missouri Dept, of Rev constitutes a “conviction” of the Missouri DUI offense for the purposes of disq. of licensee’s commercial driving privileges and because Missouri did not take action on the CDL, AR must impose the disq. pursuant to § 384.206 & § 384.231 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. Atty Bickett said the interpretation of the fed codes as listed above are misinterpreted in whole or by part. Atty Bickett states that Missouri did in fact impose a restriction of licensee’s driving privileges therefore Arkansas must give full faith and credit to ^Missouri’s decisions. Under the codes listed above, further reading of the codes does not disqualify licensee. The Office will uphold the disqualification. REINSTATEMENT REQUIREMENT:
May surrender CDL and downgrade to an NCL. CDL is disqualified from 04/21/09 to 04/21/10. Must retest to qualify for new CDL.

On April 21, 2009, Burdine filed a petition for de novo review in the circuit court. In it, Burdine asserted that the State could not meet its burden of proving that his driving privileges should be disqualified as a result of his arrest for DWI, which charges were dismissed with prejudice, and prayed that his CDL privileges be reinstated during the pendency of the circuit court’s review.2 DFA answered that the dismissal of Burdine’s criminal charge was immaterial due to the fact that Missouri law provided that the disposition of criminal charges shall not affect the suspension or revocation of an individual’s driver’s license. It further contended that its hearing officer correctly determined that disqualification of Burdine’s driving privileges was required.

A hearing was held on Burdine’s petition on November 3, 2009, at which time the circuit court heard arguments from both parties and ruled orally from the bench:

The record is also deficient as to whether or not Missouri told Oklahoma of the administrative tribunal’s findings of fact and conclusions of law suspending the plaintiffs driver’s license from November 14th, 2007 to February 12th, 2008. It is the finding of this Court that the Missouri agency was an authorized administrative tribunal, and that its finding is tantamount to a conviction.
Oklahoma did not suspend the plaintiffs commercial driver’s license as man — mandated by the Code of Federal Regulation. When the plaintiff began the renewal process in Arkansas in January 2009, all of the hands shook and the defendant’s convict) — the4 plaintiffs conviction in Missouri became known. Arkansas suspended his driver’s license. That suspension was reduced to the Driver Control Hearing Summary, Plaintiffs Exhibit 1.
It is the finding of this Court that the Department of Finance and Administration Office of Driver Services’ suspension is to be upheld for a period of nine months from the entry of an order in this matter, giving the plaintiff credit for the uncontroverted suspension he experienced from November 14th, 2007 to February 12th, 2008.

On November 30, 2009, the circuit court issued its order, in which it found, in pertinent part:

3.As a result of Petitioner’s July 1, 2007 arrest for DWI, in an October 30, 2007 administrative proceeding before the Missouri Department of Revenue (MDOR), the MDOR suspended Petitioner’s driving privileges for a period of three (3) months. The October 30, 2007 administrative decision constitutes a “conviction” of his July 1, 2007 arrest for DWI for purposes of Petitioner’s CDL. Neither the MDOR or the State of Oklahoma disqualified Petitioner’s CDL.
4. Petitioner transferred his CDL to the State of Arkansas on January 22, 2009. Respondent searched Petitioner’s driving record and determined neither the MDOR or the State of Oklahoma disqualified Petitioner’s CDL as a result of his July 1, 2007 arrest for DWI. Pursuant to 49 C.F.R. §§ 384.206 and 384.231, Respondent notified Petitioner that his CDL would be disqualified by Respondent for one (1) year.
5.

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Bluebook (online)
2010 Ark. 455, 379 S.W.3d 476, 2010 Ark. LEXIS 550, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/burdine-v-arkansas-department-of-finance-administration-ark-2010.