Sharp v. Iowa Dept. of Job Service

• Decision Date: 25 November 1992
• Docket Number: No. 91-1988,91-1988
• Citation: 492 N.W.2d 668
• Parties: R. Clair SHARP, Appellant, v. IOWA DEPARTMENT OF JOB SERVICE, Appellee.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

Page 668

492 N.W.2d 668

R. Clair SHARP, Appellant, v. IOWA DEPARTMENT OF JOB SERVICE, Appellee.

No. 91-1988.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

Nov. 25, 1992.

Amanda Potterfield of Johnson, Larson, Potterfield, Zimmermann & Nathanson, P.C., Cedar Rapids, for appellant.

William C. Whitten, Knoxville, for appellee.

William J. Sueppel of Meardon, Sueppel, Downer & Hayes, Iowa City, for City of North Liberty on behalf of appellee.

Considered by LARSON, P.J., and SCHULTZ, CARTER, LAVORATO, and NEUMAN, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

R. Clair Sharp appeals from a district court order denying his motion for enlargement of time to file a petition for judicial review from final agency action denying him unemployment benefits. The district court denied Sharp's right to seek judicial review of the agency decision because Sharp failed to timely file his petition for judicial review in district court pursuant to Iowa Code section 17A.19(3) (1991). Sharp contends that Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure 82(d) applies to extend the time for filing a timely petition if service of the petition on opposing parties is made within thirty days of final agency action. We find Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure 82(d) inapplicable to toll timely filing of a petition for judicial review under Iowa Code section 17A.19 and therefore affirm.

The facts in this case are not disputed. R. Clair Sharp lost his job with the City of North Liberty, and he applied for unemployment benefits. On May 31, 1991, the administrative law judge (ALJ) reversed the decision of the job service representative and denied Sharp unemployment benefits. On July 31, 1991, the Employment Appeal Board affirmed the decision of the ALJ and denied benefits. Sharp filed a timely application for rehearing with the Board. On August 14, 1991, the Employment Appeal Board filed its decision denying Sharp's application for rehearing. On September 13, 1991, Sharp mailed a copy of his petition for judicial review to the Iowa Department of Job Service, the City of North Liberty, and William Sueppel, the city's attorney. On September 23, 1991, Sharp filed his petition for judicial review in district court. Sharp also filed a motion pursuant to Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure 83(a)(2) to enlarge time to file the petition for judicial review. The district court denied Sharp's motion to enlarge time thereby preventing consideration of his petition for judicial review on the merits. Sharp has filed this appeal.

A timely petition for judicial review to the district court is a jurisdictional prerequisite for review of final agency action. Sioux City Brick & Tile v. Employment Appeal Bd., 449 N.W.2d 634, 638 (Iowa 1989). Pursuant to Iowa Code section 10A.601(7), a petition for judicial review from an Employment Appeal Board decision shall be filed pursuant to section 17A.19. Under section 17A.19, a petition for judicial review must be filed in district court within thirty days after the agency's final decision. Iowa Code §§ 17A.19(2) and (3). Therefore, unless some other statute or rule applies, Sharp's failure to timely file his petition for judicial review in district court within thirty days of the appeal board's final decision deprived the district court of jurisdiction to hear his petition.

Sharp contends, however, that the rules of civil procedure apply to extend the time for his filing a timely petition for judicial review in district court. Sharp relies on Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure 82(d), which provides in part that:

Whenever these rules or the rules of appellate procedure require a filing with the district court ... within a certain time, the time requirement shall be tolled when service is made, provided the actual filing is done within a reasonable time thereafter.

Since Sharp mailed a copy of his petition to the opposing parties in this case within thirty days of final agency action, Sharp concludes that Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure 82(d) applies to permit his filing of a petition for judicial review in district court ten days later.

We have stated that, "The courts of our state cannot expand their judicial review jurisdiction by allowing appeal of agency action in contested cases beyond the time limit specified for that purpose by the legislature." Sioux City Brick & Tile, 449 N.W.2d at 638. We concluded that the broad discretion given courts to grant a motion for leave to amend under Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure 88 could not be applied to cure a party's failure to timely appeal agency action. Id. If such a motion would be permitted, we concluded that the jurisdictional time limits prescribed by the legislature would be rendered meaningless. Id. at 639.

We have also held that the provisions of Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure 82(b) did not apply to cure a litigant's failure to comply with the requirements to appeal a civil service commission ruling to district court under Iowa Code section 400.27. In re Elliott, 319 N.W.2d 244 (Iowa 1982). We held that the mailing of a notice of appeal to the secretary of the civil service commission was insufficient...