Moultrie v. Department of Corrections

25 Fla. Supp. 2d 208
CourtState of Florida Division of Administrative Hearings
DecidedJune 24, 1987
DocketCase No. 86-0672R
StatusPublished

This text of 25 Fla. Supp. 2d 208 (Moultrie v. Department of Corrections) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering State of Florida Division of Administrative Hearings primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Moultrie v. Department of Corrections, 25 Fla. Supp. 2d 208 (Fla. Super. Ct. 1987).

Opinion

OPINION

P. MICHAEL RUFF, Hearing Officer.

Pursuant to notice, this cause was set for formal hearing before P. Michael Ruff, duly designated Hearing Officer, on March 17, 1987. [209]*209Shortly prior to the time scheduled for hearing in this matter, the parties advised the undersigned of their agreement to submit written stipulations as to the facts underlying the legal issue involved and of their agreement that a formal hearing would not be necessary. Thereafter, after being granted time to arrive at stipulations, the parties submitted written stipulations as to the facts and, ultimately, Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law.

This cause arose upon a Petition for the Determination of the Validity of a Rule of the Florida Department of Corrections (Department). The Petitioner, Phillip Moultrie, has challenged the validity of Rule 33-22.008(2)(b)13, a, b and c, Florida Administrative Code, on the basis that it is an invalid exercise of delegated legislative authority. Petitioner acknowledges that it is not attacking the subject rule as being arbitrary or capricious, either facially or as to its application.

This cause came to the undersigned most recently upon remand from the First District Court of Appeals, wherein that Court reversed the undersigned’s earlier finding that Petitioner lacked standing to initiate and prosecute this cause, Moultrie v. Florida Department of Corrections, 496 So.2d 191 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986). The case was set for hearing on March 17, 1987, but the parties, as indicated above, stipulated that a formal hearing was unnecessary and that factual stipulations could be arrived at if the parties were allotted time to do so. Thereafter, the parties timely submitted a stipulation as to the facts involved in this proceeding and, on April 20, 1987, timely filed their Proposed Final Orders containing stipulated Findings of Fact and Proposed Conclusions of Law. The parties have waived the pertinent time limits for the setting of the hearing and the rendition of the Final Order.

The issue to be resolved in this proceeding concerns whether Rule 33-22.008(2)(b)13,a, b and c, Florida Administrative Code, is an invalid exercise of delegated legislative authority.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. The Petitioner, Phillip Moultrie, seeks an administrative determination of the validity of Rule 33-22.008(2)(b)13a, b and c, Florida Administrative Code. The Petitioner is a prisoner of the State of Florida in the lawful custody of the Florida Department of Corrections (Department).

2. On June 8, 1981, the Petitioner was charged with a disciplinary infraction involving destruction of State property at the Zephyrhills Correctional Institute in Zephyrhills, Florida. A disciplinary team was [210]*210convened to hear the charges against the Petitioner involving property destruction. A disciplinary team is a group of Department employees designated by the institution’s administrator to handle major disciplinary actions. In most cases, the team is made up of a classification officer, a correctional officer and either a work supervisor or educational staff member. See Rules 33-22.002(1) and 33-22.003(l)(c), Florida Administrative Code.

3. The disciplinary team, proceeding in accordance with existing Department rules, found the Petitioner guilty of destruction of State property. The team recommended a penalty of a loss of 60 days gain time, 60 days disciplinary confinement, and, in accordance with then-existing Rule 33-3.08(6)(b)4a, b and c (substantially re-enacted and renumbered as Rule 33-22.008(2)(b)13a, b and c, the rule under challenge), the team assessed $300 against the Petitioner, representing one half of the cost of replacement or repair of the State property involved. Petitioner’s cell mate was also charged with a like disciplinary infraction and assessed the other $300 of the total $600 property damage loss the Department was found to have sustained.

4. The Petitioner’s inmate bank account did not contain enough money to pay the entire cost of his assessment. Therefore, a “notation” or “debit” was placed on his bank account whereby funds received by him would be deducted from that account as payment on the $300 assessment until it was paid in full.

5. The estimate of damages relied upon by the disciplinary team in assessment the amount Petitioner was to pay was provided by a commercial vendor, Mr. Nick Meyers, representing Chadco Products Company of Atlanta, Georgia. The estimate indicated that damages to the Petitioner’s cell at Zephyrhills Correctional Institution amounted to $600.

6. The Petitioner was later transferred to Florida State Prison at Starke, Florida. While at the State Prison, the Department continued to make withdrawals against his inmate bank account from July 24, 1981 until October 9, 1985, when the $300 assessment was fully paid. The deductions from Petitioner’s inmate bank account were made regardless of the source of the funds. Some of the funds in the bank account came from a Department of Corrections work program, Prison Rehabilitative Industries and Diversified Enterprises (PRIDE). Other funds contained in that bank account came from private sources. The monies deducted from the inmate bank account were sent directly to the Zephyrhills Correctional Institution. The funds were deposited in a general operating account to be used by that institution.

[211]*2117. Inmates appearing before disciplinary teams are entitled to be advised of the charges against them and to be assisted by Department staff members and to have the possible range of punishments explained to them. They are entitled to be advised of the decision of the disciplinary team and to be advised of their rights to appeal that decision through the inmate grievance procedure. Inmates are not permitted to be represented by counsel at these hearings and further, are not permitted to cross-examine witnesses at the hearing. The disciplinary hearing of June 8, 1981 was conducted in accordance with procedural guidelines established by RUle 33-22.006 and 33-22.007, Florida Administrative Code.

8. Subsequent to the hearing, the Petitioner utilized the Department’s grievance procedure regarding the imposition of the assessment against his inmate bank account. He filed grievances both at the institutional level and to the Department’s central office. The institutional level grievance was denied and the appeal to the Department’s central office, was also denied.

9. The Department relied upon renumbered Rule 33-22.008(2)(b)13 as authority to require the Petitioner to make the subject restitution to the State of Florida.

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

The Division of Administrative Hearings has jurisdiction of the subject matter of and the parties to this proceeding. Section 120.56, Florida Statutes.

The Petitioner has substantially affected by Rule 33-22.08 and thus has standing to proceed with this petition. This conclusion is made solely in accordance with the decision of Moultrie v. Florida Department of Corrections, 496 So.2d 191 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986).

The petition alleges the invalidity of Rule 33-22.008(2)(b)13 based solely on the theory that it is an alleged invalid exercise of delegated legislative authority. The Petitioner does not allege arbitrariness or capriciousness in the application of the rule by the Department.

Rule 33-22.008(2)(b),

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Bluebook (online)
25 Fla. Supp. 2d 208, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moultrie-v-department-of-corrections-fladivadminhrg-1987.