State v. Jones

3 S.W.3d 675, 338 Ark. 781, 1999 Ark. LEXIS 506
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedOctober 14, 1999
DocketCR 99-352
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 3 S.W.3d 675 (State v. Jones) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Jones, 3 S.W.3d 675, 338 Ark. 781, 1999 Ark. LEXIS 506 (Ark. 1999).

Opinions

Annabelle Clinton Imber, Justice.

Mr. Mike J. Jones was charged with boating while intoxicated (BWI) under Ark. Code Ann. § 5-76-102 (Repl. 1997). The trial court ruled that the Arkansas Department of Health had not adopted or promulgated regulations for alcohol testing in BWI cases as required by Ark. Code Ann. § 5-76-106(a) (Repl. 1997). Accordingly, the trial court suppressed the breathalyzer test results and granted Mr. Jones’s motion for a directed verdict of acquittal. On appeal, the State argues that the trial court erred because the State Health Department had promulgated regulations for alcohol testing that apply equally to driving-while-intoxicated (DWI) prosecutions filed under Ark. Code Ann. § 5-65-101 et. seq. (Repl. 1997), and boating-while-intoxicated prosecutions filed under Ark. Code Ann. § 5-76-101 et. seq. (Repl. 1997). Mr. Jones responds that the State is procedurally barred from pursuing its arguments on appeal, and that suppression of the test results is also warranted because the rights form used by the officers contained inaccurate information. We reverse and remand.

Mr. Jones was arrested on May 25, 1998, for suspicion of boating while intoxicated (BWI). Law enforcement officers asked Mr. Jones to submit to a breathalyzer test. In that regard, he was given several forms, including a statement of rights form that contained information about the consequences of refusing to submit to the test. Mr. Jones submitted to a breathalyzer test, which indicated a breath alcohol concentration of .172, and he was given a citation for boating while intoxicated. He pled no contest to the charges in municipal court and was convicted of the offense. Mr. Jones then appealed the conviction to circuit court and moved to suppress the introduction of his breathalyzer test results on grounds that the State Health Department failed to promulgate regulations for alcohol testing in BWI offenses as required by Ark. Code Ann. § 5-76-106(a). Mr. Jones also argued that he was not properly advised of the consequences of a refusal to submit to the test. The State responded that alcohol-testing regulations promulgated by the State Health Department under the DWI statute also applied to prosecutions under the BWI statute. The trial court granted Mr. Jones’s motion, suppressed the test results, and dismissed the charges against Mr. Jones.

On appeal, the State argues that the State Health Department in fact did promulgate and adopt regulations for alcohol testing pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. § 5-76-106(a), and that these regulations were in force and applicable to both DWI and BWI offenses at the time of the offense and at the time the trial court suppressed the test results and dismissed the charges against Mr. Jones. We agree.

Arkansas Code Annotated sections 5-76-101 et seq. became effective on May 1, 1995, pursuant to Act 518 of 1995 and the emergency clause contained therein. Arkansas Code Annotated § 5-76-106(a) specifically gives the State Health Department the authority to enact regulations to implement the purposes of the chapter entitled “Operation of Motorboats While Intoxicated”:

The State Board of Health is authorized to adopt appropriate regulations to carry out the intent and purposes of this chapter, and only machines or instruments approved by the board as meeting the requirements of this section and § 5-76-105 and regulations of the board shall be used for making the breath analysis for determining blood alcohol content.

Pursuant to these provisions, the State Health Department adopted revised “Regulations for Alcohol Testing” on November 15, 1995, five months after the passage of Act 518 of 1995. These regulations provide that they are:

Duly adopted and promulgated by the Arkansas Department of Health as approved by the Arkansas State Board of Health pursuant to the authority expre.ssly conferred by the laws of the State of Arkansas, Act 106 of 1969, as amended and Act 346 of 1957 as amended, the same being Arkansas Code, Tide 5, Chapter 65 and Act 518 of 1995 as amended.

See Arkansas Regulations for Alcohol Testing (1995 4th Revision), prefatory statement of Authority (emphasis added). Thus, it is clear that regulations for alcohol testing were adopted and promulgated by the State Health Department pursuant to the authority of both the DWI statute and the BWI statute, and that the same testing procedures apply to prosecutions under either statute. The trial court, therefore, erred when it ruled that no regulations had been adopted or promulgated in accordance with the requirements of Ark. Code Ann. § 5-76-106(a).

Nevertheless, Mr. Jones argues that the State is procedurally barred from pursuing its argument on appeal because it failed to request that the trial court take formal judicial notice of the regulations. This argument is without merit.

We have addressed the issue of judicial notice frequendy in appeals involving regulations. See Peters v. State, 321 Ark. 276, 902 S.W.2d 757 (1995); Washington v. State, 319 Ark. 583, 892 S.W.2d 505 (1995); Arkansas Alcoholic Beverage Control Bd. v. Muncrief 328 Ark. 373, 825 S.W.2d 816 (1992); Mitchell v. State, 298 Ark. 536, 769 S.W.2d 18 (1989); St. Paul Ins. Co. v. Touzin, 267 Ark. 539, 592 S.W.2d 447 (1980); Seubold v. Ft. Smith Special Sch. Dist., 218 Ark. 560, 237 S.W.2d 884 (1951). A party is not required to formally proffer, prove, or introduce published regulations into evidence, so long as that party’s reliance on such regulations is brought to the attention of the trial court. See, e.g., Peters, supra; Mitchell, supra; Touzin, supra. This is because regulations adopted pursuant to the authority of a statute are considered part of the substantive law of this State, thus creating a presumption that the trial court judicially knows them. Manufacturer’s Casualty Ins. Co. v. Hughes, 229 Ark. 503, 316 S.W.2d 829 (1984). See also Greene v. State, 335 Ark. 1, 977 S.W.2d 192 (1998) (“although that rule [Ark. R. Civ. P. 44.1, entitled “Determination of Foreign Law”] is to be applied in civil cases, it makes clear this Court’s position that foreign law is unlike the law of this State of which the courts presumably have inherent knowledge.”). An agency regulation is part of the substantive law the trial court must determine and then apply to the facts of the case before it. Washington, supra. In Touzin, supra, we succinctly stated what is required to preserve arguments premised upon regulations for appeal:

Judicial notice may be taken of [a] regulation, but the proper procedure is for the party relying on such judicial notice to aid the court or administrative law judge by calling attention to that regulation.

(Emphasis added.)

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Bluebook (online)
3 S.W.3d 675, 338 Ark. 781, 1999 Ark. LEXIS 506, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-jones-ark-1999.