City of Kent v. Mann

161 Wash. App. 126, 2011 WL 1448126
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedApril 11, 2011
DocketNo. 64672-9-I
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 161 Wash. App. 126 (City of Kent v. Mann) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Kent v. Mann, 161 Wash. App. 126, 2011 WL 1448126 (Wash. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

Spearman, J.

¶1 — The city of Kent (City) asks this court to reverse the superior court’s ruling that Kent City Code (KCC) 9.39.030, which provides for fixed, mandatory periods of impoundment when the driver of a car is arrested for an enumerated offense, exceeds the City’s authority under [128]*128chapter 46.55 RCW. The undisputed facts establish that a Kent police officer had Raymond Mann’s car impounded for 30 days under KCC 9.39.030 because Mann was driving with a suspended license. Mann had a vehicle impound hearing in Kent Municipal Court, which ruled that KCC 9.39.030 exceeded the City’s authority under chapter 46.55 RCW to pass local impoundment rules to the extent that it mandated impoundment periods and limited the discretion of a police officer or trial court over impoundment periods. The King County Superior Court affirmed, and we granted review. We reverse the superior court and hold that chapter 46.55 RCW permits the City’s ordinance. In so holding, we disagree with Division Three, which concluded in In re 1992 Honda Accord, 117 Wn. App. 510, 71 P.3d 226 (2003) (Becerra) that a similar code provision was invalid under In re Impoundment of Chevrolet Truck, 148 Wn.2d 145, 60 P.3d 53 (2002) (All Around).1

FACTS

¶2 On March 13, 2009, Mann was driving his car and waiting at an intersection in Kent when Officer Brennan of the Kent Police Department ran his car’s license plate number and discovered that the registered owner of the car, named Raymond Mann, had his license suspended in the second degree. Brennan stopped the car and asked the driver whether his name was Raymond Mann. Mann said yes. Brennan arrested Mann and called for a tow truck to impound Mann’s car. In his report, Brennan wrote, “Since [Mann’s] driving status was DWLS [driving while license suspended] 2,1 placed a 30 day hold on his vehicle.”

¶3 Mann requested a vehicle impound hearing in Kent Municipal Court. Citing All Around and Becerra, he argued that the impoundment was improper because Officer Brennan failed to exercise discretion in deciding to im[129]*129pound and because KCC 9.39.030, by not permitting the officer to exercise discretion regarding the period of impoundment, exceeded the authority granted under RCW 46.55.120(l)(a). The City argued that Brennan exercised discretion regarding the impoundment and that the impoundment period was properly imposed because RCW 46.55.120(l)(a) granted municipalities the sole authority to determine the period of impoundment. The municipal court ruled that Brennan did exercise discretion in deciding to impound, but that KCC 9.39.030 was invalid under RCW 46.55.120(l)(a) because it did not permit the exercise of discretion by officers and trial courts over the impoundment period. The court relied on All Around and Becerra. It directed Mann’s car to be released immediately and directed the City to pay for costs incurred to date, less initial impound costs and storage fees. The City appealed to King County Superior Court. The superior court affirmed the municipal court’s ruling that KCC 9.39.030 violated chapter 46.55 RCW insofar as it mandated the period of impoundment and failed to allow discretion by the impounding officer. The superior court, like the municipal court, relied on All Around, Becerra, and RCW 46.55.120. It entered an order on December 11, 2009. We granted review.

DISCUSSION

¶4 The City argues, as it did below, that the plain language of RCW 46.55.120(l)(a) gives it the sole authority to determine how long to hold an impounded vehicle. The City contends that it validly exercised its discretion in opting for the maximum period of impoundment under the statute. Mann again relies on All Around and Becerra to argue that KCC 9.39.030 exceeds the authority granted under RCW 46.55.120(l)(a) and is therefore in violation of the statute and article XI, section 11 of the Washington [130]*130State Constitution.2 For the reasons set forth below, we agree with the City and reverse.

¶5 This case presents issues of statutory interpretation that we review de novo. Becerra, 117 Wn. App. at 515. These established principles of statutory interpretation guide our analysis:

Our purpose in interpreting a statute is “to discern and implement the intent of the legislature.” Our first inquiry is whether, looking to the entire statute in which the provision is found and to related statutes, the meaning of the provision in question is plain. If so, our inquiry is at an end. If, however, the statute is susceptible to more than one reasonable interpretation, it is ambiguous, and we “may resort to statutory construction, legislative history, and relevant case law.” It is also true that “[wjhenever possible, statutes must be read in harmony and each must be given effect.”

Columbia Phys. Therapy, Inc. v. Benton Franklin Orthopedic Assocs., 168 Wn.2d 421, 432-33, 228 P.3d 1260 (2010) (alteration in original) (citations omitted) (internal quotation marks omitted) (quoting City of Olympia v. Drebick, 156 Wn.2d 289, 295, 126 P.3d 802 (2006); Estate of Haselwood v. Bremerton Ice Arena, Inc., 166 Wn.2d 489, 498, 210 P.3d 308 (2009); Livingston v. Cedeno, 164 Wn.2d 46, 52, 186 P.3d 1055 (2008)).

¶6 RCW 46.55.113(1) permits agencies and municipalities to promulgate rules to govern vehicle impoundment procedures when, among other things, a driver is arrested for driving with a suspended or revoked driver’s license.3 But the statute contemplates that a law enforcement officer shall have the discretion, in the first instance, to decide whether to impound a vehicle. All Around, 148 Wn.2d at [131]*131154-55. The statute further provides, in RCW 46.55-.120(l)(a), that “[i]f a vehicle is impounded because the operator is [in a suspended or revoked status], the vehicle may be held for up to thirty days at the written direction of the agency ordering the vehicle impounded.”4

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Bluebook (online)
161 Wash. App. 126, 2011 WL 1448126, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-kent-v-mann-washctapp-2011.