Erbe v. Colorado Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division, Hearing Section

51 P.3d 1096, 2002 Colo. App. LEXIS 1031, 2002 WL 1339067
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 20, 2002
Docket01CA0566
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 51 P.3d 1096 (Erbe v. Colorado Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division, Hearing Section) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Erbe v. Colorado Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division, Hearing Section, 51 P.3d 1096, 2002 Colo. App. LEXIS 1031, 2002 WL 1339067 (Colo. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinions

Opinion by

Judge PLANK.

Plaintiff, Cheryl Erbe, appeals from the district court judgment affirming the revocation of her driver’s license by the Department of Revenue for refusing to submit to testing as required by the express consent statute. Because we conclude that the Department violated plaintiffs statutory right to counsel in the revocation proceedings under the circumstances here, we reverse and remand for a new revocation hearing.

The record reveals the following facts. After plaintiff was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol, she allegedly refused to submit to the required tests of her blood or breath. Consequently, plaintiffs driver’s license was subject to revocation pursuant to the provisions of § 42-2-126, C.R.S.2001.

Plaintiff made a timely request for a revocation hearing on February 3, 2000. On February 17, the Department sent plaintiff a notice that it had scheduled her revocation hearing for 2:30 p.m. on March 13. In a letter dated February 28, plaintiffs counsel requested the Department to reschedule the hearing because of a scheduling conflict, stating that he was scheduled to make a court appearance in another county at 2:00 p.m. on that date.

In response, the Department sent notice of its policy that “reschedule requests based on the unavailability of either the respondent or the respondent’s counsel will not be granted.” Based on the statutory sixty-day time limit for holding such hearings, the Depart-[1098]*1098merit’s “reschedule policy” provides that rescheduling beyond this time period “obviously is not a valid option” because it would result in a loss of jurisdiction. The Department’s policy further provides that rescheduling within the sixty-day limit at the request of licensees or their attorneys “is not feasible” because of “docketing pressures.”

On advice of counsel, plaintiff did not appear for the scheduled hearing under these circumstances, because she could not have the benefit of legal representation at the hearing by the counsel of her choice as a result of the scheduling conflict. The Department thereafter revoked plaintiffs driver’s license pursuant to § 42-2-126.

Plaintiff brought this action in the district court challenging the revocation on various grounds. On judicial review, the district court rejected plaintiffs arguments and affirmed the revocation. This appeal followed.

Plaintiff contends, among other things, that the Department’s policy against rescheduling any revocation hearings violates various statutory provisions. We agree with plaintiff that, under the circumstances here, the Department’s actions effectively violated her statutory right to counsel of her own choosing at the administrative hearing, and plaintiff is therefore entitled to a new revocation hearing.

The standard governing judicial review of express consent revocation proceedings is set forth in § 42-2-126(10)(b), C.R.S.2001. Under these provisions, a reviewing court may reverse a revocation order when, among other things, the Department has acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner or has made an erroneous interpretation of the law.

Section 42-2-126(l)(b), C.R.S.2001, provides that one purpose of the revocation statute is to “guard against the potential for any erroneous deprivation of driving privilege by providing an opportunity for a full hearing.” This statutory scheme is intended to provide for a prompt but fair revocation procedure. See Guynn v. State, 939 P.2d 526 (Colo.App.1997).

Thus, a revocation under § 42-2-126 may be reversed on review if a statutory violation by the Department causes prejudice to the substantial rights of the licensee. See Nye v. Motor Vehicle Div., 902 P.2d 959 (Colo.App.1995).

Under § 42-2-126(8)(e), C.R.S.2001, a revocation hearing must be held within sixty days after the request for such a hearing is received. As noted in the Department’s rescheduling policy, this statutory sixty-day time limit is jurisdictional. See Guynn v. State, supra; Wilson v. Hill, 782 P.2d 874 (Colo.App.1989). Moreover, although the statute authorizes exceptions to the sixty-day limit under certain circumstances involving the unavailability of a law enforcement officer or hearing officer, the statute provides no exception for the unavailability of a licensee or a licensee’s counsel.

Nevertheless, rescheduling requests within the sixty-day limit by a licensee or counsel are clearly authorized and anticipated under the pertinent statutory scheme. By statute, the effective date of a revocation is generally stayed upon a timely request for a hearing until a final order is issued following the hearing. However, § 42-2-126(6)(a), C.R.S. 2001, further provides that the revocation is not stayed during the period of “any delay in the hearing which is caused or requested by the subject person or counsel representing that person.”

In addition, § 42-2-126(11), C.R.S.2001, provides that the State Administrative Procedure Act (APA), § 24-4-101, et seq., C.R.S. 2001, is applicable to such revocation proceedings “to the extent it is consistent with” the provisions of the revocation statute relating to administrative hearings and judicial review.

There is a statutory right to counsel of a party’s own choosing in administrative proceedings under the APA. In this regard, § 24r-4-105(9)(a), C.R.S.2001, provides that any party in such proceedings “shall be entitled to the benefit of legal counsel of his or her own choosing and at his or her own expense.” Moreover, in scheduling hearings in APA proceedings, § 24-4H05(2)(a), C.R.S. 2001, provides that “due regard shall be had for the convenience and necessity of the parties and their representatives.”

[1099]*1099Here, because plaintiff requested a hearing on February 3, the Department was required to hold the hearing by April 3, sixty days later. When on February 28, plaintiffs counsel requested rescheduling of the hearing because of a scheduling conflict, a month remained of the sixty-day time period, including three weeks after the date originally set for the hearing. Even so, pursuant to its policy against rescheduling, the Department refused to attempt to reschedule the hearing for another date within the sixty-day time limit.

In our view, the Department’s policy of never granting rescheduling requests by a licensee or counsel for alternative dates within the sixty-day limit is arbitrary, capricious, and inconsistent with its statutory obligations to provide a meaningful opportunity for a fair hearing. See § 42 — 2—126(l)(b), (6)(a), (10)(b), (11); see also § 24r-4^105(2)(a). Further, as this policy was applied under the circumstances here, we conclude that the Department’s refusal to attempt to accommodate counsel’s rescheduling request effectively violated plaintiffs statutory right to counsel of her own choosing in the revocation proceedings. See §§ 42-2-126(10)(b), (11), 24-4-105(9)(a).

Thus, because the revocation here resulted from arbitrary and capricious procedural actions by the Department in violation of plaintiffs substantial rights under the statutory scheme, it cannot stand.

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Bluebook (online)
51 P.3d 1096, 2002 Colo. App. LEXIS 1031, 2002 WL 1339067, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/erbe-v-colorado-department-of-revenue-motor-vehicle-division-hearing-coloctapp-2002.