State ex rel. Director of Revenue v. Carter

386 S.W.3d 781, 2012 WL 1658869, 2012 Mo. App. LEXIS 645
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 11, 2012
DocketNo. SD 31699
StatusPublished

This text of 386 S.W.3d 781 (State ex rel. Director of Revenue v. Carter) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. Director of Revenue v. Carter, 386 S.W.3d 781, 2012 WL 1658869, 2012 Mo. App. LEXIS 645 (Mo. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinions

NANCY STEFFEN RAHMEYER, Judge.

Howard B. Gott brought suit in the Circuit Court of Douglas County, Missouri, seeking review of the revocation of his driving privileges pursuant to the provisions of sections 302.311 and 577.041.1 [782]*782Gott filed discovery requests and, subsequently, a motion to compel discovery.2 When the discovery was not answered, Gott filed an Amended Motion to Compel Discovery. The Director of Revenue (“Relator”) filed a response to the amended motion to compel asserting that the discovery rules were not applicable pursuant to the provisions of Rule 100.01. The Honorable R. Craig Carter (“Respondent”) entered an order compelling Relator to produce the discovery. Relator filed for a writ of prohibition in this Court, which we improvidently granted. We hereby quash the preliminary order of prohibition.

Relator contends Respondent was acting in excess of his jurisdiction by compelling her to engage in discovery in the proceeding below. Relator specifically argues, “This Court has long recognized that it is the provisions of Chapter 536, RSMO, rather than the rules of civil procedure, which govern petitions for review under § 577.041, RSMo.” As support for that proposition, Relator cites Gothard v. Spradling, 586 S.W.2d 443, 446 (Mo.App. S.D.1979) (en banc), and Slaughter v. Dir. of Revenue, 997 S.W.2d 132, 133 (Mo.App. S.D.1999). Neither case supports Relator’s proposition.

In Gothard, the driver brought suit requesting a restraining order against the Director of Revenue after having his driver’s license revoked. Gothard, 586 S.W.2d at 445. The trial court ruled against the driver and he brought an appeal claiming, in part, that the trial court erred in overruling his motion to declare the Director of Revenue in default for failure to file a responsive pleading. Id. He argued that his claim at the trial level was “not an action under [section 577.041,]”3 but rather “a suit for an injunction.” Id. This Court analyzed the petition, including the “Wherefore” clause, and concluded that the driver’s claim for relief was for that “as provided in [section 577.041]” and not for an injunction. Id. We found that “the procedure described in [section 577.041 was] exclusive” and the request and issuance of a stay or restraining order did not convert the petition from the statutory procedure to some other form of action. Id. We also noted “[w]e need not decide whether [section] 536.120 does apply here, as absent [section 577.041] prohibiting a stay, the trial court would have inherent power to issue a stay where the circumstances warranted.” Id. at 445-46.

This Court also noted that then Rule 100.08,4 among other provisions, provided for review by injunction in uncontested cases, but the right was limited where “there is no other provision for judicial inquiry into or review of such decision.” Id. at 446. We concluded that because “[section 577.041] provid[ed] a method for [783]*783review, Rule 100.08[had] no application.”5 Id. The holding was that “the procedures set forth in [section 577.041 was] exclusive and requir[ed] no answer or responsive pleading.” Id.

Additionally, this Court held in Gothard that the driver could not complain that the rules of civil procedure regarding default judgments were not followed because the driver did not follow Rule 48.01(b) to obtain service of process upon the defendants and the defendants had an unruled motion pending in the trial court. Id. Gothard does not stand for the proposition that the provisions of chapter 586, rather than the rules of civil procedure, govern petitions for review under section 577.041. Likewise, Slaughter merely restated the holding that “[j]udicial review under Section 577.041 does not require the Director of Revenue to file an answer or other responsive pleadings.” Slaughter, 997 S.W.2d at 132-33. Slaughter does not address chapter 536.

Relator’s argument further relies on Rule 100.01, as well as the decisions in Daus v. Dir. of Revenue, 840 S.W.2d 892 (Mo.App. E.D.1992), and Dudley v. Dir. of Revenue, 926 S.W.2d 943 (Mo.App. W.D.1996), as authority for the applicability of sections 536.100 through 536.150 to the instant case. Rule 100.01 states, “[t]he provisions of sections 536.100 through 536.150, RSMo, shall govern procedure in circuit courts for judicial review of actions of administrative agencies unless the statute governing a particular agency contains different provisions for such review.” (emphasis added). As a threshold matter, the plain language of Rule 100.01 requires inquiry as to whether a statute containing different provisions applies to the particular judicial review of an administrative agency’s decision. Id.

Here, Relator revoked the petitioner’s driving privilege pursuant to section 577.041.1. The petitioner then sought judicial review of Relator’s decision as provided for in section 577.041.4 through 577.041.6. Section 577.041.4 through 577.041.6 authorizes judicial review of Relator’s administrative decision to revoke a person’s driving privileges under Missouri’s implied-consent law and provides the exclusive procedure for such review and as such, precludes the use of other procedures. Id.; see Nguyen v. Dir. of Revenue, State of Mo., 900 S.W.2d 238, 239 (Mo.App. E.D.1995) (“RSMo § 577.041.4 prescribes the exclusive procedure for review of Director’s revocation of a license for the driver’s refusal to submit to a breath test, and precludes the use of any other or nonstatutory method.”); Gothard, 586 S.W.2d at 445 (“Our belief that this petition was for review as provided in [section 577.041] is fortified by our finding that the procedure described in [section 577.041] is exclusive.”).

Relator’s assertion that Rule 100.01 mandates the use of sections 536.100 through 536.150 is without merit. Rule 100.01 limits the application of sections 536.100 through 536.150 to review of administrative decisions where there is no statute with different provisions for the review. Here, section 577.041 provides the [784]*784relevant provisions for review as discussed supra, rendering sections 536.100 through 586.150 inapplicable under the plain language of Rule 100.01.

Relator’s attempt to rely on Daus and Dudley as authority for the application of sections 536.100 through 536.150 to judicial review under section 577.041 also fails. Relator argues that because the courts in Daus and Dudley held that the Director of Revenue was not required to file responsive pleadings because sections 536.100 through 536.150 do not provide for responsive pleadings, this Court should likewise hold that discovery may not be compelled because sections 536.100 through 536.150 do not provide for discovery. Relator’s reliance on Daus and Dudley, however, is misplaced.

Daus

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Related

Gothard v. Spradling
586 S.W.2d 443 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1979)
State Ex Rel. C.F. White Family Partnership v. Roldan
271 S.W.3d 569 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 2008)
White v. Director of Revenue
321 S.W.3d 298 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 2010)
Smith v. Shaw
159 S.W.3d 830 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 2005)
Romans v. Director of Revenue
783 S.W.2d 894 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1990)
State Ex Rel. Noranda Aluminum, Inc. v. Rains
706 S.W.2d 861 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1986)
Daus v. Director of Revenue
840 S.W.2d 892 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1992)
Woodard v. Director of Revenue
876 S.W.2d 810 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1994)
Minh Nguyen v. Director of Revenue
900 S.W.2d 238 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1995)
Dudley v. Director of Revenue
926 S.W.2d 943 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1996)
Slaughter v. Director of Revenue
997 S.W.2d 132 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1999)
Cessor v. Director of Revenue
71 S.W.3d 217 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2002)

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Bluebook (online)
386 S.W.3d 781, 2012 WL 1658869, 2012 Mo. App. LEXIS 645, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-director-of-revenue-v-carter-moctapp-2012.