Sellers v. Wyoming Board of Psychologist Examiners

739 P.2d 125, 1987 Wyo. LEXIS 465
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 2, 1987
Docket86-234
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 739 P.2d 125 (Sellers v. Wyoming Board of Psychologist Examiners) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wyoming Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sellers v. Wyoming Board of Psychologist Examiners, 739 P.2d 125, 1987 Wyo. LEXIS 465 (Wyo. 1987).

Opinions

BROWN, Chief Justice.

This is an appeal from the decision of appellee Wyoming Board of Psychologist Examiners (hereinafter the Board) denying appellant Ronald Sellers, Ph.D., a license by reciprocity to practice psychology in this state.

Appellant raises the following issues for our review:

“1. Whether Respondent, Wyoming Board of Psychologist Examiners, acted arbitrarily, capriciously and without statutory authority in refusing to license Petitioner, Ronald Sellers, Ph.D., by reciprocity, where Petitioner met the statutory qualifications for licensure.
“2. Whether the evidence in the record is sufficient to support Respondent’s decision to deny Petitioner’s application for licensure by reciprocity.”

We will affirm.

Appellant received a Ph.D. degree in guidance counselor education from the University of Wyoming in December, 1974. Appellant received a license to practice psychology in Illinois on November 28, 1978. He first applied for a license by reciprocity to practice psychology in Wyoming in August, 1983, but his application was denied by the Board since his doctoral training was not primarily psychological in nature. Furthermore, appellant’s application did not contain adequate references, and so on November 17, 1983, the Board allowed appellant to amend his application with additional references.

The Board again denied appellant’s application on December 23, 1983, because his course of post-graduate study was not primarily psychological. On February 6, 1984, another vote was taken with the Board again denying appellant’s application. On March 12, 1984, the Board wrote to appellant outlining the reasons for the denial of his application.

On April 23, 1984, the Board advised appellant it would again review his application if he would submit catalog descriptions of the courses he took during both his master’s and doctoral programs. This was done on September 10, 1984. On April 17, [126]*1261985, the Board again voted to deny appellant’s application because his course work was not primarily psychological in nature.

The Board then was advised by its counsel that licensure by reciprocity involves the following criteria:

“1. Licensure in a state which has substantially equivalent requirements to Wyoming;
“2. is of good moral and ethical character;
“3. either comes under 33-27-107 or is a diplómate in good standing of the American Board of Examiners in Professional Psychology.”

The Board subsequently reviewed the li-censure requirements from Illinois as well as Wyoming law and unanimously voted to deny appellant’s application on the following grounds:

“1. If Doctor Sellers was licensed in Illinois under Section 5312(a) or (b), then licensure by reciprocity is denied because the requirements of that section are not substantially equivalent to Wyoming li-censure requirements.
“2. If Doctor Sellers was licensed in Illinois under Section 5311, licensure by reciprocity is denied because Doctor Sellers does not hold a doctorate degree in psychology.”

A petition for review then was filed in the district court and the case certified to this court pursuant to Rule 12.11, Wyoming Rules of Appellate Procedure.

We will consider both of appellant's issues together.

In Burlington Northern Railroad Company v. Public Service Commission of Wyoming, Wyo., 698 P.2d 1135, 1138-1139 (1985), we stated the applicable standard of review in administrative agency appeals:

“The scope of our review of an appeal from an administrative action is directed by § 16-3-114, W.S.1977. Under that statute, we are bound to review the entire record to see if the agency's action is supported by substantial evidence. If so, we must uphold the agency's actions and not substitute our judgment for that of the agency’s. Mountain Fuel Supply Company v. Public Service Commission of Wyoming, Wyo., 662 P.2d 878 (1983); McCulloch Gas Transmission Company v. Public Service Commission of Wyoming, Wyo., 627 P.2d 173 (1981); Williams v. Public Service Commission of Wyoming, Wyo., 626 P.2d 564, cert. denied 454 U.S. 896, 102 S.Ct. 394, 70 L.Ed.2d 211 (1981); Board of Trustees of School District No. 4, Big Horn County v. Colwell, Wyo., 611 P.2d 427 (1980). Substantial evidence has been defined ‘as such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion.’ Board of Trustees, Laramie County School District No. 1 v. Speigel, Wyo., 549 P.2d 1161, 1178 (1976), quoting Consolo v. Federal Maritime Commission, 383 U.S. 607, 86 S.Ct. 1018, 16 L.Ed.2d 131 (1966). Substantial evidence may indeed be less than the great weight of the evidence, but is more than a mere scintilla of evidence, Mountain Fuel Supply Company v. Public Service Commission of Wyoming, supra, at 882. The possibility of drawing two inconsistent conclusions from the evidence presented does not preclude the agency’s conclusion from being supported by substantial evidence. Board of Trustees, Laramie County School District No. 1 v. Spiegel, supra. The burden is on appellant to prove arbitrary, illegal or fraudulent action by the agency. Wyoming Bancorporation v. Bonham, Wyo., 527 P.2d 432 (1974), 663 P.2d 1382 (1977), reh. denied 566 P.2d 219 (1977).”

Furthermore, § 16-3-114, W.S.1977 (October 1982 Replacement), provides:

“Judicial review of agency actions; district courts.
“(a) Subject to the requirement that administrative remedies be exhausted and in the absence of any statutory or common-law provision precluding or limiting judicial review, any person aggrieved or adversely affected in fact by a final decision of an agency in a contested case, or by other agency action or inaction, or any person affected in fact by a rule adopted by an agency, is entitled judicial review in the district court for the county [127]*127in which the administrative action or inaction was taken, or in which any real property affected by the administrative action or inaction is located, or if no real property is involved, in the district court for the county in which the party aggrieved or adversely affected by the administrative action or inaction resides or has its principal place of business.

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Sellers v. Wyoming Board of Psychologist Examiners
739 P.2d 125 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1987)

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Bluebook (online)
739 P.2d 125, 1987 Wyo. LEXIS 465, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sellers-v-wyoming-board-of-psychologist-examiners-wyo-1987.