Hanson v. Driver & Motor Vehicle Services Division (DMV)

375 P.3d 563, 278 Or. App. 599, 2016 Ore. App. LEXIS 644
CourtCircuit Court of the 3rd Judicial Circuit of Florida, Columbia County
DecidedJune 2, 2016
Docket14CV01282; A157973
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 375 P.3d 563 (Hanson v. Driver & Motor Vehicle Services Division (DMV)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Circuit Court of the 3rd Judicial Circuit of Florida, Columbia County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hanson v. Driver & Motor Vehicle Services Division (DMV), 375 P.3d 563, 278 Or. App. 599, 2016 Ore. App. LEXIS 644 (Fla. Super. Ct. 2016).

Opinion

GARRETT, J.

The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) suspended petitioner’s driving privileges after he refused a police officer’s request that he submit to a urine test, ORS 813.131; ORS 813.410. The trial court reversed DMV’s order after concluding that the requesting police officer did not possess a required statutory certification in drug-impairment recognition. DMV appeals. The question before us is whether a law enforcement officer who was certified in drug-impairment recognition by the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training was authorized to request a urine test from petitioner, even though the relevant statute at the time required an officer to be certified by the “Board of Public Safety Standards and Training.” ORS 813.131(2) (2013), amended by Or Laws 2015, ch 11, § 1 (emphasis added).1 We conclude that he was. Accordingly, we reverse and remand.

Although this case was appealed from the circuit court, “we review the underlying administrative order to determine whether the [administrative law judge] AL J correctly interpreted and applied the law and whether the order is supported by substantial evidence.” Bianco v. DMV, 257 Or App 446, 448, 307 P3d 470 (2013); see also Shakerin v. MVD, 101 Or App 357, 360, 790 P2d 1180 (1990) (explaining that, because ORS 813.450, which provides for the appeal of DMV orders, “use [ s] the word ‘court’ to mean both the circuit court and the Court of Appeals and provide [s] that the court shall review the division’s order[,] *** we review [DMV’s] order, not the judgment of the circuit court”); see also ORS 813.450(4) and (5). We recite the facts as found by the ALJ. Bianco, 257 Or App at 448. Substantial evidence exists “‘when [601]*601the record, viewed as a whole, would permit a reasonable person to make that finding.’” Golliher v. DMV, 173 Or App 586, 589, 22 P3d 780 (2001) (quoting ORS 183.482(8)(c)).

The ALJ found the facts as follows. Officer Castilleja observed petitioner fail to properly signal in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day in 2014. Castilleja followed petitioner’s car until it came to a stop and parked “crookedly” in a parking lot. After making contact with petitioner and observing his physical symptoms, Castilleja suspected that petitioner was driving under the influence of an intoxicant (DUII), ORS 813.010. Castilleja administered a breath test, which revealed a blood alcohol content of “less than .08 percent by weight.” Castilleja asked petitioner to perform field sobriety tests; petitioner agreed, and he either was unable to perform the tests or failed them. Castilleja arrested petitioner for DUII. At the police station, Castilleja asked petitioner to submit to a urine test, which petitioner refused. DMV subsequently sent petitioner a notice that his driving privileges had been suspended, pursuant to ORS 813.132 (penalties for refusal of a urine test).

Petitioner requested a hearing on the suspension. Petitioner argued, as relevant on appeal, that his suspension was invalid because Castilleja was not certified to request a urine test under ORS 813.131(2) (2013) (requiring certification by the Board of Public Safety Standards and Training). Petitioner noted before the ALJ that ORS 813.131(2) “is interesting *** because *** the Board of Public Safety Standards and Training no longer exists[.] *** [W]e now have a different department—[but] the statute hasn’t been changed.”

Castilleja testified at the hearing that he had taken an eight-hour course in recognizing drug-impaired driving and received a certificate of completion from the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training.

Following the hearing, the ALJ issued a final order concluding that the DMV’s suspension was valid. The ALJ determined that “the officer established that he was certified by the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training as having completed 8 hours of training in recognition of [602]*602drug impaired driving. As a result, the officer legally asked Petitioner to take a urine test.”

Petitioner sought judicial review of the AL J’s order to the circuit court, arguing again that Castilleja did not have a valid certification because the statute required certification by the “Board.” DMV responded that “holding certification issued by [the department] is the same as being certified by the board,” because the department “is carrying out * * * the training and certifying * * * based on what the board is approving as policy.”

The court was unconvinced:

“I’m just not understanding why the statute doesn’t say that the department shall issue if you’re saying that’s what is the intended language of the statute.
«⅝ ‡‡‡‡
“ [I] f you don’t have a certificate from the appropriate board, I’m not buying the argument that the individual has the ability to request the urine test.”

The court reversed the ALJ’s order and reinstated petitioner’s driving privileges. DMV appeals and contends that the trial court erred in interpreting the statute to preclude urine testing by an officer who is certified by the department rather than the board. According to DMV, the statutory scheme as a whole makes it clear that the legislature intended a certification by the department to be sufficient. We agree.

In construing ORS 813.131(2), our task is to discern the intent of the legislature. Stull v. Hoke, 326 Or 72, 77, 948 P2d 722 (1997). We begin by first considering the statute’s text and context, which “must be given primary weight in the analysis.” State v. Gaines, 346 Or 160, 171, 206 P3d 1042 (2009). The context of a statute “may include other provisions of the same statute and related statutes, prior enactments and prior judicial interpretations of those and related statutes, and the historical context of the relevant enactments.” Young v. State of Oregon, 161 Or App 32, 35, 983 P2d 1044 (1999) (internal citations omitted); see also State v. Ofodrinwa, 353 Or 507, 512, 300 P3d 154 (2013) (context in which to interpret a statute includes “the [603]*603statutory framework within which the law was enacted” (internal quotation marks omitted)). Typically, only statutes that were already enacted at the time the statute at issue was enacted “are pertinent context for interpreting that statute.” Gaines,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
375 P.3d 563, 278 Or. App. 599, 2016 Ore. App. LEXIS 644, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hanson-v-driver-motor-vehicle-services-division-dmv-flacirct3col-2016.