STATE BD. OF REG. FOR PROF. ENG. v. Eberenz

• Decision Date: 10 February 2000
• Docket Number: No. 10S04-0002-CV-90.,10S04-0002-CV-90.
• Parties: STATE BOARD OF REGISTRATION FOR PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS, and Indiana Professional Licensing Agency, Appellants (Defendants below), v. David R. EBERENZ, Appellee (Plaintiff below).
• Court: Indiana Supreme Court

723 N.E.2d 422

STATE BOARD OF REGISTRATION FOR PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS, and Indiana Professional Licensing Agency, Appellants (Defendants below), v. David R. EBERENZ, Appellee (Plaintiff below).

No. 10S04-0002-CV-90.

Supreme Court of Indiana.

February 10, 2000.

Jeffrey A. Modisett, Attorney General of Indiana, Jon Laramore, K.C. Norwalk, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, Indiana, Attorneys for Appellants.

C. Gregory Fifer, Clarksville, Indiana, Attorney for Appellee.

ON PETITION TO TRANSFER

SULLIVAN, Justice.

The state board that licenses professional engineers in Indiana denied an out-of-state engineer's application to practice here on grounds that he did not satisfy the board's educational requirements. A trial court and the Court of Appeals held that the board did not have authority under the out-of-state engineer licensing statute to impose the educational requirements. We find the educational requirements within the board's authority and its decision otherwise proper.

Background

Eberenz has been registered as a professional engineer in Kentucky since early 1995. In late August or early September of 1996, Eberenz filed with the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency ("Agency") his application for comity registration as an Indiana professional engineer. In a letter dated October 7, 1996, the State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers ("Board") denied Eberenz's application, citing his failure to satisfy the education requirements established by the Board and outlined in Indiana's Administrative Code. See Ind. Admin. Code tit. 864, r. 1.1-2-2(c) (1996). Eberenz had not completed the curriculum in calculus that is required for licensing as a professional engineer in Indiana, specifically lacking three hours of advanced calculus and three hours of calculus-based physics. Eberenz sought administrative review of the Board's decision to deny his application.

On March 25, 1997, an administrative law judge ("ALJ") issued an order denying Eberenz's application finding that he suffered from a "lack" of education credit. Eberenz then sought review of the ALJ's decision before the full Board. On May 30, 1997, the full Board issued its final order in which it affirmed and adopted the ALJ's order.

Eberenz then petitioned the trial court for judicial review of the full Board's final order. He subsequently filed a motion for summary judgment. In his brief supporting that motion, Eberenz requested that the trial court reverse the Board's final order and also decree that he be registered, pursuant to the principle of comity, as an Indiana professional engineer. On February 12, 1998, the trial court granted Eberenz summary judgment in an order which was supported by enumerated findings and which held, among other things, that the Board's decision was not in accordance with law and was not supported by the evidence. The trial court then remanded the cause both to the Agency and the Board "with instructions to take the appropriate action regarding [Eberenz's] comity application consistent with the findings of this order." (R. at 172.)

The Board appealed the trial court's grant of summary judgment,¹ and the Court of Appeals affirmed. State Bd. of Registration for Prof'l Eng'rs v. Eberenz, 701 N.E.2d 892, 902 (Ind.Ct.App.1998).

Discussion

Indiana Code § 25-31-1-21 (1993) provides the rule of law for "reciprocal" or "comity" registration of out-of-state professional engineers. It states in relevant part that the

[B]oard may, upon application and payment of a fee established by the [B]oard in the [B]oard's rules, issue a certificate of registration as a professional engineer to an individual who holds a valid certificate of registration as a professional engineer, issued to the applicant by the proper authority of any state or territory or possession of the United States if the requirements for registration of professional engineers that the certificate of registration was issued under do not conflict with the provisions of this chapter.

Id. (emphases added). Therefore, we must determine whether the Board properly applied the relevant "provisions" or "requirements for registration," when it denied Eberenz his comity application on the grounds that he obtained his Kentucky engineer license under provisions or requirements which "conflict" with those established for registration in Indiana.

I

The Court of Appeals determined that the Board did not act in accordance with Indiana law in denying Eberenz's comity application because "[n]o language in Indiana Code Section 25-31-1-21 indicates the existence of an additional education requirement [outside the statute] for comity registration." Eberenz, 701 N.E.2d at 897. Thus, the Court of Appeals reasoned, the Board improperly "engraft[ed] such a requirement into this statute by insisting that Eberenz satisfy the strictures of Indiana Administrative Code title 864, rule 1.1-2-2." Id.² The Board counters that it "is permitted to promulgate rules" prescribing the appropriate educational requirements because the legislature "[did] not specify exactly what educational requirements are necessary for licensure," leaving that determination to the Board's rule-making authority. See Appellants' Br. in Support of Transfer at 8-9. We agree with the Board.

A

We begin our analysis by identifying Indiana's basic licensing requirements. Indiana Code § 25-31-1-12(a) (1993) establishes the minimum evidence, or "requirements for registration," that must be demonstrated by an applicant in order to qualify for registration as a professional engineer. The statute reads as follows:

(a) The following under either subdivision (1) or (2) shall be considered as minimum evidence that the applicant is qualified for registration as a professional engineer:

(1) All of the following:

(A) Graduation in an approved engineering curriculum of four (4) years or more.

(B) A specific record of four (4) years or more of progressive experience on engineering projects of sufficient quality acquired subsequent to graduation, which experience indicates that the applicant is qualified to be placed in responsible charge of engineering work requiring the exercise of judgment in the application of engineering sciences to the sound solution of engineering problems.

(C) The successful passing of an examination as provided for in section 14 of this chapter.

(2) All of the following:

(A) A specific record of eight (8) years or more of engineering education and experience in engineering work, which indicates that the applicant has acquired knowledge and skill and practical experience in engineering work approximating that required for registration as a professional engineer under subdivision (1).

(B) The successful passing of an examination as provided for in section 14 of this chapter.³

Id. (emphases added).

Eberenz acknowledges that because he has not obtained a degree "in an accredited engineering curriculum," his claim for comity registration rests solely on the provisions or requirements for registration of "subdivision (2)." See Br. of Appellee in Opposition to Transfer at 6-7. By the plain language of the statute, Eberenz must present evidence that he has acquired "[a] specific record of eight (8) years or more of engineering education and experience in engineering work." Ind. Code § 25-31-1-12(a)(2) (emphasis added.)

B

Our legislature created the Board to "enforce and administer" Indiana Code § 25-31-1, specifically directing that it "shall adopt rules establishing standards for the competent practice of engineering." Id. § 25-31-1-7(a) (1993). The Board's rule-making authority is necessary for it "`to make reasonable rules and regulations,' " for without this authority, "`it would be impossible in many instances to apply and enforce the legislative enactments, and the good to be accomplished would be entirely lost.'" Podgor v. Indiana Univ., 178 Ind.App. 245, 251, 381 N.E.2d 1274, 1279 (1978) (quoting Financial Aid Corp. v. Wallace, 216 Ind. 114, 121, 23 N.E.2d 472, 475 (1939)). And while "an administrative agency has only those [express] powers conferred on it by the General Assembly," Fort Wayne Educ. Ass'n v. Aldrich, 527 N.E.2d 201, 216 (Ind. Ct.App.1988), it is nonetheless "a well-settled principle of law that an administrative agency ... also has such implicit power as is necessary to effectuate the regulatory scheme outlined by the statute," Barco Beverage Corp. v. Indiana Alcoholic Beverage Comm'n, 595 N.E.2d 250, 254 (Ind. 1992) (collecting cases).

In carrying out its legislative mandate to regulate "the competent practice of engineering," the Board adopted Administrative Rule 1.1-2-2, which provides as follows:

(a) This section establishes the minimum education and experience requirements under IC XX-XX-X-XX for admission to the professional engineer examination.

(b) The following table establishes provisions for evaluating combined education and experience to determine if it is sufficient to satisfy minimum registration requirements under IC XX-XX-X-XX for professional engineer registration applicants holding the stated degrees:

* * *

(c) The education of all applicants except those who have obtained a baccalaureate in an approved engineering curriculum must include the following:

(1) At least twelve (12) semester credit hours in college level mathematics, excluding college algebra and trigonometry, which must include a minimum of nine (9) semester credit hours of calculus and a minimum of three (3) semester credit hours of advanced calculus based mathematics.

(2) At least eight (8) semester credit hours in college level courses in the physical sciences which must include a minimum of three (3) semester credit hours of calculus based physics and a minimum of three (3) semester credit hours of laboratory-based chemistry.

(3) At least twelve (12) semester credit hours of engineering sciences which require calculus as a prerequisite or corequisite.

* * *

Ind. Admin. Code...