City of Kent v. Mann

253 P.3d 409
Court of Appeals of Washington·Decided April 11, 2011·No. 64672-9-I·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

253 P.3d 409 (2011)
161 Wash.App. 126

CITY OF KENT, Petitioner,
v.
Raymond MANN, Respondent.

No. 64672-9-I.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 1.

April 11, 2011.

Julie Marie Stormes, City of Kent Law Dept., Kent, WA, for Appellant.

David Richard Kirshenbaum, Att. at Law, Kent, WA, for Respondent.

SPEARMAN, J.

¶ 1 The City of Kent 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 chapter 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 III, which concluded in Becerra v. City of Warden, 117 Wash.App. 510, 71 P.3d 226 (2003) that a similar code provision was invalid under All Around Underground, Inc. v. Washington State Patrol, 148 Wash.2d 145, 60 P.3d 53 (2002).[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 2, I placed a 30 day hold on his vehicle."

*410 ¶ 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 impound 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(1)(a). The City argued that Brennan exercised discretion regarding the impoundment and that the impoundment period was properly imposed because RCW 46.55.120(1)(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(1)(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(1)(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(1)(a) and is therefore in violation of the statute and Article XI, Section 11 of the Washington State 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 Wash.App. at 515, 71 P.3d 226. 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 whenever possible, statutes must be read in harmony and each must be given effect.

Columbia Phys. Therapy, Inc., P.S. v. Benton Franklin Ortho. Ass'n., PLLC, 168 Wash.2d 421, 432-33, 228 P.3d 1260, 1265 (2010) (internal citations and quotation marks omitted).

¶ 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 Wash.2d at 154-55, 60 P.3d 53. The statute further provides, in RCW 46.55.120(1)(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 *411 days at the written direction of the agency ordering the vehicle impounded."[4]

Pursuant to these statutes, the City of Kent promulgated KCC 9.39.030.

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City of Kent v. Mann, 253 P.3d 409 (Wash. Ct. App. 2011).

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