State v. Hardgrove

225 P.3d 357, 154 Wash. App. 182
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedJanuary 14, 2010
DocketNo. 27994-4-III
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 225 P.3d 357 (State v. Hardgrove) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Hardgrove, 225 P.3d 357, 154 Wash. App. 182 (Wash. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

Korsmo, J.

¶1 Justin Hardgrove challenges his conviction for possession of methamphetamine discovered after an off-campus traffic stop by a Washington State University (WSU) police officer on a Pullman street. We conclude that the WSU Police Department is a general authority law enforcement agency, so the stop was proper under the local mutual aid agreement. The conviction is affirmed.

FACTS

¶2 WSU Officer Mathew Kuhrt was assisting with a seat belt emphasis patrol on May 25,2008. While on Main Street in Pullman, he saw Mr. Hardgrove driving without wearing a seat belt. The officer stopped the car and discovered that Mr. Hardgrove’s license was suspended. Officer Kuhrt arrested Mr. Hardgrove. A search incident to the arrest uncovered methamphetamine on Mr. Hardgrove.

¶3 Mr. Hardgrove moved to suppress the evidence, arguing that Officer Kuhrt was operating outside his jurisdiction and that he was not otherwise empowered to enforce laws outside the WSU campus. The trial court heard testimony and determined that Officer Kuhrt was a fully commissioned law enforcement officer as defined by chapter 10.93 RCW and that the WSU Police Department was a general law enforcement agency as defined by that chapter. [185]*185The court found that the WSU Police Department had mutual aid agreements with both the City of Pullman and Whitman County. The court concluded that Officer Kuhrt therefore had authority to make traffic stops in Pullman and Whitman County.

¶4 Mr. Hardgrove thereafter was convicted on stipulated facts. He timely appealed to this court.

ANALYSIS

¶5 This court will treat as verities the trial court’s factual findings following a CrR 3.6 hearing if they are supported by substantial evidence. State v. Hill, 123 Wn.2d 641, 647, 870 P.2d 313 (1994). “Substantial evidence” is evidence sufficient to convince a fair-minded person of the truth of the finding. Id. at 644. The trial court’s legal conclusions are reviewed de novo. State v. Acrey, 148 Wn.2d 738, 745, 64 P.3d 594 (2003).

¶6 The facts and governing law are not significantly disputed by the parties. The sole significantly disputed question they present is whether the WSU Police Department is a general or limited law enforcement agency. That presents a question of law.

¶7 Prior to the enactment of the Washington Mutual Aid Peace Officers Powers Act, chapter 10.93 RCW, this court concluded that a WSU police officer lacked authority to enforce laws outside of the WSU campus. Irwin v. Dep’t of Motor Vehicles, 10 Wn. App. 369, 517 P.2d 619 (1974). Since 1985, law enforcement agencies are empowered to contract with each other to provide mutual assistance without regard to normal territorial limitations. RCW 10.93.130. A general authority peace officer can enforce state criminal and traffic laws throughout the state under certain circumstances, which include written consent or a request for assistance from the primary jurisdiction. See RCW 10.93.070. A “general authority Washington peace officer” is a commissioned officer who works for a “general authority Washington law enforcement agency.” RCW 10.93.020(3).

[186]*186¶8 RCW 10.93.020(1) defines the latter phrase:

“General authority Washington law enforcement agency” means any agency, department, or division of a municipal corporation, political subdivision, or other unit of local government of this state, and any agency, department, or division of state government, having as its primary function the detection and apprehension of persons committing infractions or violating the traffic or criminal laws in general, as distinguished from a limited authority Washington law enforcement agency, and any other unit of government expressly designated by statute as a general authority Washington law enforcement agency. The Washington state patrol and the department offish and wildlife are general authority Washington law enforcement agencies.

¶9 In turn, the limited authority agency is defined in RCW 10.93.020(2), which states:

“Limited authority Washington law enforcement agency” means any agency, political subdivision, or unit of local government of this state, and any agency, department, or division of state government, having as one of its functions the apprehension or detection of persons committing infractions or violating the traffic or criminal laws relating to limited subject areas, including but not limited to, the state departments of natural resources and social and health services, the state gambling commission, the state lottery commission, the state parks and recreation commission, the state utilities and transportation commission, the state liquor control board, the office of the insurance commissioner, and the state department of corrections.

¶10 Another definition of interest is found in RCW 10.93.020(9), which states: “ ‘Primary function of an agency” means that function to which greater than fifty percent of the agency’s resources are allocated.”

¶11 The parties disagree about the identity of the relevant “agency, department, or division of state government.” Appellant contends that the university is the agency, while respondent argues that it is the police department, not the university as a whole, that is the agency. Since the [187]*187university spends less than one-half of its budget1 on police services, Mr. Hardgrove concludes that the WSU Police Department is a limited authority agency. He likens the department to a “subagency” of the university as that term is used in the Open Public Meetings Act, RCW 42.30.020(1)(c).

¶12 While the department may well be a subagency of the university for the purposes of chapter 42.30 RCW, that does not inform on the meaning of the definitions used in RCW 10.93.020. The Legislature has expressed how it wants the chapter interpreted.

(2) It is the intent of the legislature that current artificial barriers to mutual aid and cooperative enforcement of the laws among general authority local, state, and federal agencies be modified pursuant to this chapter.

(3) This chapter shall be liberally construed to effectuate the intent of the legislature to modify current restrictions upon the limited territorial and enforcement authority of general authority peace officers and to effectuate mutual aid among agencies.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
225 P.3d 357, 154 Wash. App. 182, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-hardgrove-washctapp-2010.