DeLorean Bryson v. Kevin Carr

CourtCourt of Appeals of Wisconsin
DecidedJune 30, 2022
Docket2020AP001949
StatusUnpublished

This text of DeLorean Bryson v. Kevin Carr (DeLorean Bryson v. Kevin Carr) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
DeLorean Bryson v. Kevin Carr, (Wis. Ct. App. 2022).

Opinion

2022 WI APP 34

COURT OF APPEALS OF WISCONSIN PUBLISHED OPINION

Case No.: 2020AP1949

Complete Title of Case:

STATE OF WISCONSIN EX REL. DELOREAN BRYSON,

PETITIONER-APPELLANT,

V.

KEVIN CARR,

RESPONDENT-RESPONDENT.

Opinion Filed: June 30, 2022 Submitted on Briefs: May 12, 2022

JUDGES: Blanchard, P.J., Graham, and Nashold, JJ.

Appellant ATTORNEYS: On behalf of the petitioner-appellant, the cause was submitted on the briefs of DeLorean Bryson, pro se.

Respondent ATTORNEYS: On behalf of the respondent-respondent, the cause was submitted on the briefs of Steven C. Kilpatrick, assistant attorney general, and Joshua L. Kaul, attorney general. 2022 WI App 34

COURT OF APPEALS DECISION NOTICE DATED AND FILED This opinion is subject to further editing. If published, the official version will appear in the bound volume of the Official Reports. June 30, 2022 A party may file with the Supreme Court a Sheila T. Reiff petition to review an adverse decision by the Clerk of Court of Appeals Court of Appeals. See WIS. STAT. § 808.10 and RULE 809.62.

Appeal No. 2020AP1949 Cir. Ct. No. 2018CV2493

STATE OF WISCONSIN IN COURT OF APPEALS

APPEAL from an order of the circuit court for Dane County: DAVID CONWAY, Judge. Reversed in part and cause remanded with directions.

Before Blanchard, P.J., Graham, and Nashold, JJ.

¶1 GRAHAM, J. DeLorean Bryson is a Wisconsin inmate who challenges the authority of the Department of Corrections to deduct 50 percent of his prison wages and gifted funds to pay certain mandatory surcharges and court fees. Bryson’s argument is based on language in his judgment of conviction, which No. 2020AP1949

purports to limit the Department’s deductions to “25% of prison funds,” and his interpretation of the sentencing court’s statutory authority to set the percentage at which inmate funds are deducted to pay surcharges and court fees.

¶2 For the reasons set forth below, and consistent with this court’s recent decision in State ex rel. Ortiz v. Carr, 2022 WI App 16, ¶18, 401 Wis. 2d 450, 973 N.W.2d 786, we conclude that Bryson’s judgment of conviction unambiguously purports to limit the Department’s authority to deduct funds for surcharges and court fees to 25 percent. We further conclude that the Department has the exclusive authority to set the deduction percentage for the surcharges, but we accept the Department’s concession that it does not have that same authority as to court fees. Although we conclude that the sentencing court exceeded its authority by entering a judgment that purports to cap the deduction rate for the surcharges, we accept the Department’s concession that it is required to follow the language in Bryson’s judgment of conviction unless and until it is amended by the sentencing court. Therefore, we reverse in part and remand to the circuit court with directions.

BACKGROUND

¶3 Bryson was convicted in Milwaukee County Case No. 2013CF5740 and is serving his sentence in a Wisconsin prison. Following his conviction, and consistent with various statutes discussed below, Bryson was ordered to pay the following surcharges and costs: a crime victim and witness assistance surcharge (hereinafter “victim-witness surcharge”) in the amount of $184; a DNA analysis surcharge (“DNA surcharge”) in the amount of $500; a crime laboratories and drug law enforcement surcharge (“crime labs surcharge”) in the amount of $26; and court

2 No. 2020AP1949

fees in the amount of $326.1 Bryson was not ordered to pay restitution. Bryson’s September 30, 2014 judgment of conviction (JOC) states: “Pay DNA surcharge, all other applicable costs and any other surcharges and assessments. To be collected by DOC from 25% of prison funds[.]”

¶4 The Department maintains inmate trust accounts for the benefit of inmates in its custody.2 As we understand from the parties’ submissions, inmate trust accounts typically contain prison wages and gifted funds. For some time following his conviction, consistent with the above-quoted language in Bryson’s JOC, the Department deducted 25 percent from Bryson’s prison wages and gifted funds to pay the surcharges and fees. Then, in July 2016, the Department announced a new policy. Going forward, the Department would deduct 50 percent of Bryson’s prison wages and gifted funds to pay his surcharges and fees.3

¶5 Bryson filed an inmate complaint challenging this new deduction percentage rate. Among other things, he argued that deductions are capped at 25 percent by WIS. STAT. § 973.04 and the language of his JOC, and that neither the

1 The portion of the JOC that identifies the surcharges and court fees is not in the administrative record compiled by the Department. However, the circuit court took judicial notice of the nature and amount of the surcharges and fees from Bryson’s court records. See State ex rel. Hippler v. City of Baraboo, 47 Wis. 2d 603, 614, 178 N.W.2d 1 (1970); Lumby v. Lumby, 116 Wis. 2d 347, 349, 341 N.W.2d 725 (Ct. App. 1983). 2 See WIS. STAT. § 301.32(1) (providing that the warden or superintendent of a prison must establish trust accounts for inmate funds and further providing authority for the warden or superintendent to distribute such funds for certain purposes). 3 This policy, called the Division of Adult Institutions Policy No. 309.45.02, also addresses deductions for restitution.

3 No. 2020AP1949

new Department policy nor any recent legislative amendments could override that cap.

¶6 An inmate complaint investigator dismissed Bryson’s complaint. 4 Bryson appealed the dismissal to the corrections complaint examiner, who recommended that the appeal be denied. The examiner cited WIS. STAT. §§ 301.001, 301.03, 301.31, 301.32, 302.04, 973.045(4), 973.046(4), and the Department’s new policy as authority for the Department to determine the deduction percentage for surcharges and court fees. The Secretary of the Department agreed with this recommendation and denied Bryson’s appeal.5

¶7 Bryson then petitioned the circuit court for a writ of certiorari, requesting review of the Department’s decision.6 Following briefing by the parties, the circuit court issued a decision granting Bryson’s petition in part and denying it in part. As noted below, we review the agency decision and not the decision of the

4 By way of explanation, the investigator indicated that “DOC’s present policy … is supported by” WIS. STAT. § 973.20(11)(c), which “provides the DOC with authority to determine an amount or percentage reasonable to collect and remit restitution payments from inmate wages and from other moneys in the inmate’s account.” It is undisputed that this rationale is inapt. Section 973.20(11)(c) was created by 2015 Wis. Act 355 and specifically pertains to restitution. However, as noted above, Bryson did not owe any restitution, and the Department was instead deducting funds to pay his non-restitution obligations. The parties agree that neither § 973.20(11)(c) nor any other statutory changes made by Act 355 are material to the issues in this appeal. 5 Cathy Jess was the Secretary of the Department at the time that Bryson’s petition was filed, and Kevin Carr is the current Secretary. Because Bryson’s certiorari action named Jess in her official capacity, we order the caption amended to name Carr as the respondent in this action. See WIS. STAT. § 803.10(4)(a) (“When a public officer … is a party to an action in an official capacity and during its pendency … ceases to hold office, the action does not abate and the successor is automatically substituted as a party.”).

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Related

State Ex Rel. Hippler v. City of Baraboo
178 N.W.2d 1 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1970)
Lumby v. Lumby
341 N.W.2d 725 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 1983)
Otterstatter v. City of Watertown
2017 WI App 76 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 2017)
State ex rel. Markovic v. Litscher
2018 WI App 44 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 2018)
Victor Ortiz, Jr. v. Kevin A. Carr
2022 WI App 16 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 2022)

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Bluebook (online)
DeLorean Bryson v. Kevin Carr, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/delorean-bryson-v-kevin-carr-wisctapp-2022.