Johnson v. Kansas Department of Revenue

27 P.3d 943, 29 Kan. App. 2d 455, 2001 Kan. App. LEXIS 662
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kansas
DecidedJuly 20, 2001
DocketNo. 85,342
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 27 P.3d 943 (Johnson v. Kansas Department of Revenue) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Johnson v. Kansas Department of Revenue, 27 P.3d 943, 29 Kan. App. 2d 455, 2001 Kan. App. LEXIS 662 (kanctapp 2001).

Opinion

Johnson, J:

Michael Scott Johnson appeals the district court’s order allowing a Kansas Division of Vehicles hearing officer to reconsider and amend Johnson’s driver’s license suspension after the statutory deadline to appeal such an administrative order. We reverse and remand with instructions to reinstate the original administrative order.

Following an arrest for driving under the influence (DUI), Johnson failed a blood alcohol test. After receiving the law enforcement officer’s certification of test failure and suspension of driver’s license form, Johnson properly requested and received an administrative hearing on May 19, 1999. That date, the hearing officer issued an administrative order, making findings adverse to Johnson. The order specified Johnson’s driver’s license was suspended for [456]*45630 days and restrictéd for an additional 330 days (30/330). The document specifically advised Johnson he had 10 days from May 19th to petition for review with the district court.

No appeal was taken from the administrative order. On June 11, 1999, the Director of Vehicles issued a driver’s license suspension notice to Johnson, subtitled “ORDER.” It indicated the suspension was from May 19 to June 17, 1999, and the restrictions were from June 18, 1999, to May 13, 2000.

On June 25, 1999, the Kansas Department of Revenue (KDR) filed a motion for reconsideration with the hearing examiner. The motion alleged Johnson had a prior DUI diversion in July 1995 and the suspension should have been for 1 year. Johnson objected to the reconsideration. On August 23, 1999, a telephone conference hearing was conducted, and the hearing officer issued an amended order designating a 1-year suspension. The following day, the Director of Vehicles issued a driver’s license withdrawal notice indicating a suspension from May 19, 1999, to May 19, 2000.

Johnson effected judicial review of the amended administrative order. In April 2000, the district court issued its memorandum decision, finding in favor of KDR. Johnson timely appeals.

The sole issue raised on appeal is whether the hearing officer had the authority to reconsider the May 19th administrative order. Johnson frames the issue as jurisdictional. Whether the hearing officer had jurisdiction to reconsider the order is a question of law over which this court has unlimited review. See Cypress Media, Inc. v. City of Overland Park, 268 Kan. 407, 414, 997 P.2d 681 (2000). KDR disputes that the issue is jurisdictional but agrees the issue on appeal is legal in nature and subject to de novo review.

The district court found KDR’s motion for reconsideration “was nothing more than a motion to correct an illegal disposition,” and, therefore, the hearing officer did not lose jurisdiction to correct the illegal suspension. It is unclear how the renaming or recharacterization of KDR’s pleading supported the trial court’s ruling. KDR also asserts it was merely seeking correction of an illegal order or of a clerical mistake. This is not a criminal case in which jurisdiction exists to correct an illegal sentence at any time. See K.S.A. 22-3504. Even in the criminal arena, the State is barred [457]*457from subsequently challenging a sentence based on a stipulated but erroneous criminal histoiy. See, e.g. Thompson v. State, 25 Kan. App. 2d 659, 660, 967 P.2d 361 (1998). Here, the 30/330 suspension order was not illegal; it was the statutorily mandated sanction for a first-time offender. KDR wanted to revisit the factual issue of Johnson’s driving history.

K.S.A. 2000 Supp. 8-259(a) provides for judicial review of an alcohol-related driver’s license suspension, following an administrative hearing pursuant to K.S A. 2000 Supp. 8-1002. The petition for review shall be filed within 10 calendar days after the effective date of the order. K.S.A. 2000 Supp. 8-259(a); K.S.A. 2000 Supp. 8-1002(o). K.S.A. 2000 Supp. 8-259(a) specifically makes the review subject to the Act for Judicial Review and Civil Enforcement of Agency Actions (KJRA), K.S.A. 77-601 et. seq.

There is no provision in K.S.A. 2000 Supp. 8-259 or KJRA specifically authorizing a request for reconsideration. The Kansas Administrative Procedure Act (KAPA) does provide a procedure for the reconsideration of agency decisions prior to judicial review. K.S.A. 2000 Supp. 77-529. However, KAPA “applies ‘only to the extent that other statutes expressly provide that the provisions of [the] act govern proceedings under those statutes.’ K.S.A. 77-503.” Reifschneider v. Kansas State Lottery, 266 Kan. 338, 343, 969 P.2d 875 (1998) (Davis, J., concurring). The relevant statutes here do not incorporate the use of KAPA. Therefore, Johnson argues the right to have judicial review precludes KDR’s use of a motion for reconsideration. However, the KJRA does discuss the effect of a petition for reconsideration on the time to appeal. K.S.A. 77-613. The implication is that a request for reconsideration is permissible.

Ironically, both parties cite In re Petition of City of Shawnee for Annexation of Land, 236 Kan. 1, 687 P.2d 603 (1984), to support their respective positions. That case is not directly on point because there the administrative reconsideration occurred while the matter was pending on appeal with the district court. The precise holding that disposed of the specific facts in City of Shawnee was:

“[W]hen an administrative board acts in a quasi-judicial capacity, as in the instant case, and enters a final order or judgment, its jurisdiction to reconsider or change such order or judgment ceases from and after the time a valid appeal has been [458]*458perfected; the jurisdiction of the board remains suspended during the pendency of the appeal.” 236 Kan. at 15.

Johnson believes the underlying rationale of City of Shawnee is that “[t]he right of appeal implies a final order which is no longer open for rehearing or reconsideration by the administrative body.” 236 Kan. at 14. He avers the specific statutory right to appeal the hearing officer s suspension makes it a final order which is no longer open for agency reconsideration.

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Related

Pearson v. Kansas Dept. of Revenue
430 P.3d 475 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2018)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
27 P.3d 943, 29 Kan. App. 2d 455, 2001 Kan. App. LEXIS 662, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/johnson-v-kansas-department-of-revenue-kanctapp-2001.