Lague, Inc. v. State
| Decision Date | 11 September 1978 |
| Docket Number | No. 254-77,254-77 |
| Citation | 136 Vt. 413,392 A.2d 942 |
| Court | Vermont Supreme Court |
| Parties | LAGUE, INC. v. STATE of Vermont, John A. Burgess, and Virginia G. Burgess. |
George K. Belcher of Kilmurry & Stone Associates, Inc., Montpelier, for plaintiff.
M. Jerome Diamond, Atty. Gen., Robert C. Schwartz, Asst. Atty. Gen., and Thomas A. McCormick, Law Clerk (on the brief), Montpelier, for State of Vermont.
Burgess & Normand, Ltd., Montpelier, for John A. and Virginia G. Burgess.
Before BARNEY, C. J., and DALEY, LARROW, BILLINGS and HILL, JJ.
This appeal involves the method by which the State of Vermont distributes low number license plates. In December, 1976, Lague, Inc. submitted an application to the Department of Motor Vehicles requesting that the company vehicle be assigned a license plate with numerals 101, 102, or 103. The application was denied by the Department on the basis of a regulation that "reserves" numbers below 10,001 to prior holders and their families. 23 V.S.A. appendix at 377-78 (Cum.Supp.1977). Under the regulation, an individual can retain the same number below 10,001 if he makes application and payment prior to January 1. If the individual who previously held the reserve number does not apply for it, members of his immediate family have priority in obtaining the low number. Unlike special or vanity plates, which are marked with initials, letters, or combinations of numerals and letters, no extra fee is required for a "reserved" low number plate.
Upon denial of its application, Lague, Inc. brought suit against the State of Vermont requesting, Inter alia, that the court order the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles to issue low number plates on a first-come, first-served basis and "to discontinue the discriminatory practice and preferential treatment of the privileged ten thousand." Mr. and Mrs. John A. Burgess, who have held the license plate number "616" for many years, successfully sought intervention as defendants, claiming a property right in their low number license plate and a denial of due process should they be deprived of that number.
The cause was submitted to the court for decision upon the pleadings, affidavits, and memoranda of the parties. No hearing was held. The court dismissed the action on the merits, ruling that the Department of Motor Vehicles followed a duly promulgated regulation, that the Commissioner had the statutory authority under 23 V.S.A. § 304 to issue the regulation, that issuance of low number plates to prior holders "is no more arbitrary or irrational than issuance to persons on a first-come, first-served basis at some arbitrary time on some arbitrary date," and that such issuance "will cause fewer administrative problems and confusion than the standing in line method." The court concluded that the regulation did not violate the Equal Protection Clause. U.S.Const. amend. XIV, § 1.
On appeal, plaintiff's claims of error are essentially threefold. Plaintiff first argues that the administrative regulation in question is invalid under the test we recognized in Hatin v. Philbrook, 134 Vt. 456, 459, 365 A.2d 511, 513 (1976), which requires that an administrative regulation be in harmony with the overall statutory scheme, be uniform in operation, and be equal in effect. Plaintiff's second claim of error, closely connected with the first, is based upon the doctrine of Ultra vires. Plaintiff argues that a regulation which "reserves" low number license plates to prior holders and their families is beyond the statutory authority delegated to the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles. Plaintiff lastly argues that the regulation violates the Equal Protection Clause.
Two events have occurred since the trial court issued its final order that have rendered the issues posed by plaintiff nonjusticiable in this Court. The 1978 General Assembly has added a subsection to 23 V.S.A. § 304 that effectively incorporates the disputed regulation into the statute itself. 1977, No. 258 (Adj.Sess.). Any...
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State ex rel. Bouc v. School Dist. of City of Lincoln
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