Davis v. Shepperd

139 So. 2d 668, 243 Miss. 519, 1962 Miss. LEXIS 370
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedApril 9, 1962
DocketNo. 42242
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 139 So. 2d 668 (Davis v. Shepperd) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Davis v. Shepperd, 139 So. 2d 668, 243 Miss. 519, 1962 Miss. LEXIS 370 (Mich. 1962).

Opinion

McElroy, J.

This case involves the revocation by the Insurance Commissioner of Mississippi, Walter Dell Davis, of the license of an insurance agent, appellee E. L. Shepperd, to engage in the business of operating an insurance agency. After a lengthy hearing, the Commissioner held that the agent had wrongfully withheld from several insurance companies premiums which such companies were lawfully entitled to receive; and that therefore the Commissioner could not license him further to conduct the business of an insurance agency, although he would authorize appellee to serve as a solicitor for any reputable insurance agency. Thereafter Shepperd appealed to the Circuit Court of Hinds County by certiorari, as authorized by Miss. Code 1942, Rec., Sec. 5723-05.

The circuit court heard the matter on the record, pleadings, documents and transcript of testimony taken before the Insurance Commissioner. It held that there was insufficient proof of wrongful withholding of premiums from insurance companies lawfully entitled to receive .them; that the record was indefinite as to an accounting for such funds; that Shepperd turned his insurance business over to another insurance agency in Meridian, under a contract with the companies, whereby he would work on a salary for such agency and amortize over a period of time his debt to the company; that, although there was “apparently no substantial denial” by Shepperd as to the companys’ claims that Shepperd owed them collected premiums, since the value of the [522]*522business which he turned over was substantial and the evidence did not show its value, revocation of the license was improper. Hence the circuit court set aside the revocation of Shepperd’s license. This appeal is from that judgment.

The statute involved is Chap. 352, Miss. Laws 1948, regulating insurance agents and solicitors. It grants this power to the Commissioner of Insurance with stated restrictions. Miss. Code 1942, Rec., Secs. 5723-01 to 5723-07.

The Commissioner is authorized to make such reasonable rules and .regulations as may be necessary for administration of the act. Sec. 2. Sec. 4 (b) of this statute provides:

“The commissioner may at any time, after hearing held upon not less than ten days written notice to any agent or solicitor specifying’ the matters to be considered at such hearing, suspend, revoke or cancel the license of such agent or solicitor or refuse to renew or issue another license to such agent or solicitor if upon such hearing the commissioner finds (1) that such license was obtained by fraud or misrepresentations; or (2) that such agent or solicitor has violated any insurance law of this state; or (3) that such agent or solicitor has wrongfully withheld from any insurance company or assured any premiums, refund premiums, or dividends which such insurance company or assured are lawfully entitled to receive; 'or (4) that such agent or solicitor is not qualified to act as agent or solicitor.” (Emphasis supplied.)

A license is not a contract between the sovereign and the licensee, and is not property in any constitutional sense, in that it does not confer a vested right but only a personal privilege to be exercised under existing restrictions. 33 Am. Jur., Licenses, Sec. 21. Administrative boards may be vested with the power to determine whether the facts or conditions comprehended [523]*523by a licensing statute exist, and may be given power to determine the unfitness of the licensee. The determination of the officer entrusted with the duty of revocation of licenses should not be set aside by the courts, except for clear and manifest abuse of discretion. If the board or official acts arbitrarily, unreasonably or capriciously, or beyond the power of the agency to act, or violates some statutory or constitutional right, a reviewing court has the power to set the order aside, but only under such circumstances. 33 Am. Jur., Licenses, Secs. 65-67; Dixie Greyhound Lines, Inc. v. Miss. Public Service Commission, 190 Miss. 704, 713, 200 So. 579 (1941). The principal issue here is whether the Commissioner’s order is supported by substantial evidence. Notice and hearing are required by the statute and were given in this instance. Stone v. Farish, 199 Miss. 186, 23 So. 2d 911 (1945), held:

“It is true that ordinarily a license may have aspects of property, but the control here retained strips it of that quality which requires divestiture only by judicial process. Much less is it an inalienable rig*ht; it has become but an alienable privilege. * * * Discussion of the legislative power upon an assumption that we are here dealing with private legal rights is out of place. Yet, even such rights end where the conflicting rights of others begin. * * * There is a vast differenct between depriving a citizen of property without due process of law and revoking a privilege by due process of procedure. * * * Administrative questions belong within the legislative orbit, while judicial questions of necessity fall within the judicial province. Baur, op. cit. supra, Secs. 506, 509, 511; Landis, op. cit. supra, p. 147. Judicial oversight can never be absolutely forbidden, yet it is measured by the same considerations which apply to direct legislative acts. The Commissioner is pro hac vice, an extended arm of the Legislature. * * * There is no legal reason why the citizen may not, in availing [524]*524of this' act of legislative grace, pursue an unmolested and profitable existence. If perchance its life is strangled, it is because of entanglement with the administrative cords by which it is bound. Too much rope is always a hazard in the hands of one with too little concern.” See 1 Am. Jur. 2d, Secs. 19, 20, pp. 823-4.

The right of a state to regulate and control the insurance business includes the right to regulate and control the agents and brokers through whom such business is carried on. 29 Am. Jur., Insurance, Sec. 61. The same text in Sec. 62, with reference to revocation of licenses, states:

“The power of the state to enact laws prescribing and fixing the qualifications of agents and requiring them to obtain certificates of registration and licenses also includes the power to revoke such certificates and licenses for cause * * * Among the grounds upon which an agent’s or broker’s license may be suspended or revoked are the withholding or misappropriation of premiums, illegal or improper conduct, incompetency to act as agent, the offering of a rebate or other financial benefit to prospective insurants, the selling of insurance at rates varying from those filed, and the sale of insurance of property under the agent’s control.”

To the same effect is Anno. “Constitutionality, Construction, and Application of Statutes Respecting’ Cancellation or Suspension or Renewal of License of Insurance Agent,” 154 A. L. R. 1146 (1945).

44 C. J. S., Insurance, Sec. 85, p. 593 states the governing rules as follows: “The duties of the insurance officer in revoking licenses have been said to be .purely administrative, so that his findings are conclusive and cannot be interfered with by the court unless his action is shown to be arbitrary, corrupt, oppressive, prejudicial, or in excess of authority; and, where his ruling of revocation is supported by substantial evidence, it will [525]*525not be disturbed through certiorari or other legal process.”

16 Appleman, Insurance Law and Practice (1945), Secs.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
139 So. 2d 668, 243 Miss. 519, 1962 Miss. LEXIS 370, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/davis-v-shepperd-miss-1962.