Siegel v. Arizona State Liquor Board

807 P.2d 1136, 167 Ariz. 400, 82 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 27, 1991 Ariz. App. LEXIS 53
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedMarch 12, 1991
Docket1 CA-CV 89-567
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 807 P.2d 1136 (Siegel v. Arizona State Liquor Board) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Siegel v. Arizona State Liquor Board, 807 P.2d 1136, 167 Ariz. 400, 82 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 27, 1991 Ariz. App. LEXIS 53 (Ark. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

OPINION

EUBANK, Judge.

The Arizona State Liquor Board (the “Board”) and its members appeal from the trial court’s determination that the Liquor Board failed to act officially on appellee Jeffrey Lee Siegel’s (“applicant”) appeal because the Board’s vote was a tie vote rather than a majority vote. Because we hold that A.R.S. § 4-111.C. requires a majority vote of a quorum in order for official *401 action to be deemed taken by the Board, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Appellee Jeffrey Lee Siegel submitted an application for a person and location transfer of a beer and wine bar liquor license. The Superintendent of the Department of Liquor Licenses and Control (the “Superintendent”) denied the transfer, and the applicant appealed the Superintendent’s decision to the Board. Following a hearing, a member of the Board moved to reverse the Superintendent’s decision. Of the six members present at the hearing, three voted in favor of the motion and three against. The Board’s acting chairman determined that a tie vote had the effect of upholding the Superintendent’s decision, and she issued a decision denying the appeal and affirming the decision of the Superintendent.

The applicant then filed a complaint in superior court for judicial review of the Board’s decision. A.R.S. §§ 4-211, 12-901 —914. Following the filing of the administrative record, the applicant filed a motion for judgment on a number of grounds, including the ground that because the tie vote of the Board did not constitute official action, the Superintendent’s decision was not “final” for purposes of review and, therefore, the matter must be remanded for further proceedings before the Board.

The trial court granted the applicant’s motion, and issued judgment in the applicant’s favor on the ground that his appeal before the Board “was not officially acted upon by the board, as required by A.R.S. § 4-210(1).” The trial court remanded the matter to the Board for further consideration, and granted the applicant’s request for attorney’s fees and costs. The state appealed this judgment, raising as the sole issue the question whether the tie vote of the Board was a final decision affirming the Superintendent’s order.

STANDARDS OF REVIEW

Where there is an appeal of an administrative board’s decision pursuant to the Administrative Review Act, the superi- or court determines whether the administrative action was illegal, arbitrary, capricious, or was an abuse of discretion Ethridge v. Arizona State Board of Nursing, 165 Ariz. 97, 100, 796 P.2d 899, 902 (App.1989). On an appeal of the superior court’s judgment “neither the trial court nor this court can weigh the evidence and substitute the court’s findings for that of the agency.” Plowman v. Arizona State Liquor Board, 152 Ariz. 331, 335, 732 P.2d 222, 226 (App.1986). As to questions of fact, this court does not substitute its conclusion for that of the Board, but reviews the record only to determine whether substantial evidence supports the agency’s decision and whether the Board exercised its discretion reasonably and with “due consideration.” Petras v. Arizona State Liquor Board, 129 Ariz. 449, 452, 631 P.2d 1107, 1110 (App.1981); Havasu Heights Ranch and Development Corp. v. Desert Valley Wood Products, Inc., 167 Ariz. 383, 807 P.2d 1119 (App.1990) (whether substantial evidence exists is a question of law). In this case, the issue concerns a construction of the statutes controlling the actions of the Arizona State Liquor Board, as to whether a tie vote constitutes a decision by the Board. A question of statutory interpretation involves a question of law, and this court is not bound by the trial court’s or the agency’s conclusions as to questions of law. U.S. Parking Systems v. City of Phoenix, 160 Ariz. 210, 211, 772 P.2d 33, 34 (App.1989); Carley v. Arizona Board of Regents, 153 Ariz. 461, 463, 737 P.2d 1099, 1101 (App.1987).

DISCUSSION

The state argues that the applicant had the burden of convincing a majority of the Board to overturn the Superintendent’s decision. The tie vote therefore constituted an official decision denying the appeal and affirming the Superintendent’s decision. In making this argument appellants rely on Scowden v. Industrial Commission, 115 Ariz. 81, 563 P.2d 336 (App.1977), and Ra-bago v. Industrial Commission, 132 Ariz. 79, 643 P.2d 1049 (App.1982). In both cases the court held that a tie vote of the Industrial Commission had the effect of *402 disapproving claimants’ petitions where the burden was on the petitioners requesting a lump sum award to secure a majority vote. Similarly, in Wicks v. City of Tucson, 112 Ariz. 487, 543 P.2d 1116 (1975), the Arizona Supreme Court held that a tie vote of the Tucson Civil Service Commission on a police officer’s appeal of his discharge was not sufficient to uphold the officer’s discharge because the discharging officer had the burden of showing just cause for the termination pursuant to the Tucson city charter. Id. at 488, 543 P.2d at 1117.

We find these cases unpersuasive because they deal with agencies other than the Board, which operate under different governing statutes. 1 This court will not implement a broad generalized rule of procedure to govern all cases involving actions by administrative agencies. “The rule that the powers and duties of administrative agencies and other inferior tribunals are strictly limited by the statute creating them continues to the present time as the rule of law in Arizona.” Boyce v. City of Scottsdale, 157 Ariz. 265, 267, 756 P.2d 934, 936 (App.1988). Administrative agencies are specifically created and precisely governed by statute. There is no need to look beyond the statutes which govern the Board.

Under A.R.S. § 4-111

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Bluebook (online)
807 P.2d 1136, 167 Ariz. 400, 82 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 27, 1991 Ariz. App. LEXIS 53, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/siegel-v-arizona-state-liquor-board-arizctapp-1991.