State, Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles v. Peacock

185 So. 3d 632, 2016 WL 455625
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedFebruary 4, 2016
Docket1D15-3961
StatusPublished

This text of 185 So. 3d 632 (State, Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles v. Peacock) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State, Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles v. Peacock, 185 So. 3d 632, 2016 WL 455625 (Fla. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

LEWIS, J.

Petitioner, the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (“Department”), seeks certiorari review of the trial court’s Order on Motion to Stay, arguing that the trial court departed from- the essential requirements of law by staying Respondent’s dismissal from a Special Supervision Services Program and the cancellation of his hardship or restricted driver’s license. For the following reasons, we deny the certiorari petition.

The Department permanently revoked the driving privilege of Respondent, Wallace Peacock, in 1992 as a result of various drivmg-under-the-influence offenses. In 2003, Respondent enrolled in a Special Supervision Services Program (“SSSP”) at the North Florida Safety Council, Inc. (“Council”), through which he sought and received a hardship license. In 2015, Respondent was “cancelled” irom the SSSP based upon his admission that he consumed two to three sips of his wife’s wine and a review of his medical records which indicated that' he had “occasionally” consumed alcohol. The Council informed the Department of the situation and requested the cancellation of Respondent’s hardship license. Upon Respondent’s appeal, the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit DUI Program agreed with the recommendation of cancellation. Respondent filed a certiorari petition with the trial court and moved to stay the order of dismissal from the SSSP. The trial court entered an Order on Motion to Stay, concluding that none of the statutes relied upon by the Department prohibited stays of a dismissal from an SSSP. Concerned, however, that the underlying “suspension” was related to DÚI convictions and that there was an “allegation”.of alcohol use while in the SSSP, the trial court ordered that Respondent consume no alcohol and wear a SCRAM unit to ensure that he abided by the condition. This proceeding followed.

The issue presented in this case is one of statutory'interpretation. Legislative intent is the polestar that guides a court’s statutory construction analysis. State, Dep’t of Revenue v. Lockheed Martin Corp., 9 05 So.2d 1017, 1020 (Fla. 1st DCA 2005). When a statute is clear, a court may not look behind the statute’s plain language or resoft to rules of statutory construction to determine legislative intent. Id. The Legislature is assuméd to know the meaning of the words used in a statute and to have expressed its intent through the use of the words. Id.

In granting the stay, the trial court relied in part on section 120.68(3), Florida Statutes (2015), which provides:

The filing of the petition does not itself stay enforcement of the agency decision, but if the agency decision has the effect of suspending or revoking a license, su-persedeas shall be granted as a matter of right upon such conditions ás are reasonable/unless the court, upon-petition of the agency, determines • that a *634 supersedeas would constitute a probable danger to the health, safety, or welfare of the state_-In any event the court shall specify the conditions, if any, upon which the stay or supersedeas is granted.

The trial court also relied upon Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.190(e)(2)(C), which provides in part that “[w]hen- an agency has suspended or revoked a license other than on an emergency basis, a licensee may file with the court a motion for stay on an expedited basis.”

The' Department reliés upon sections 322.271(5)(c) and 322.28(5), Florida Statutes (2015), in support of its argument that the trial court lacked authority to stay Respondent’s dismissal from the SSSP and the cancellation of his hardship license. Section 322.271 is entitled “Authority to modify revocation, cancellation, or suspension order.’’ Subsection (5) of the statute provides in part:

[A] person' whose driving privilege has been permanently revoked because he or she has been convicted four or more times of violating s. 316.193 [addressing DUI offenses] or former s. 316.1931 may, upon the expiration of 5 years after the date of the last conviction ... petition the department for reinstatement of his or her driving privilege.

§ 322.271(5), Fla.’ Stat. (2015). The Department may “reinstate” a “petitioner’s driver license.” § S22.271(5)(b), Fla. Stat. (2015). One of the reinstatement qualifications is that the “petitioner must be supervised by a DUI program licensed by the department.’;...” § 322.271(5)(b)2., Fla. Stat. (2015). Supervision, must include “evaluation, education, referral into treatment, and other activities required by .the department.” Id. Section 322.271(5)(e) provides, “The petitioner -must assume the reasonable costs of- supervision. If the petitioner does not comply with, the required supervision, the program shall report the failure to the department, and the department shall cancel such person’s driving privilege.” (Emphasis added). :

Section 322.28 is entitled “Period of suspension or revocation.” The first four subsections of the statute detail those circumstances in which the Department must either suspend or revoke an individual’s driver’s license. Subsection (5) of the statute provides:

A court may not stay the administrative suspension of a driving privilege under s. 322.2615 or s. 322.2616 during judicial review' of the departmental order that resulted in such suspension, and a suspension or revocation of a driving privilege may not be stayed upon an appeal of the conviction or order that resulted in the suspension or revocation.

§ 322.28(5), Fla. Stat. (2015) (emphasis added).

In addition to the foregoing statutes, the Department relies upon- our opinion in State Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles v. Begley, 776 So.2d 278 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000). There, the Department sought certiorari review in four cases where the circuit- court entered stays of driver’s license suspensions pending appellate review of the suspensions. Id. at 278. We granted the certiorari petitions, finding that the orders departed from the essential requirements of law by violating section 322.28(5). Id. We explained that all the respondents had been arrested for violating- section 316.193, the DUI statute, and had their licenses suspended pursuant to section 322.2615. Id.. Following formal administrative hearings during which the testimony and reports of law enforcement officers were presented, the hearing officer in each case- determined that .the. suspension-would be upheld. Id. In each case, *635 the circuit court entered an order granting a stay of the suspension pending the outcome of the certiorari case in circuit court. Id. We explained that section 322.28(5) “specifically provides that a court may not stay the administrative suspension of a driver’s license during judicial review of the suspension” and that three other Florida appellate courts had determined that circuit court orders granting stays “in these circumstances” were in direct violation of the statute. Id. at 278-79. We noted the respondents’ arguments-that the question of whether to grant or deny a stay is a procedural matter to be governed by the “rules of practice and procedure” adopted by the supreme court and that the circuit court has discretion to grant a stay pursuant to Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.310. Id. at 279.

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Bluebook (online)
185 So. 3d 632, 2016 WL 455625, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-department-of-highway-safety-motor-vehicles-v-peacock-fladistctapp-2016.