State v. Iowa Dist. Court for Black Hawk County, 92-1094
| Decision Date | 21 July 1993 |
| Docket Number | No. 92-1094,92-1094 |
| Citation | 503 N.W.2d 411 |
| Parties | STATE of Iowa and Iowa Department of Transportation, Plaintiffs, v. IOWA DISTRICT COURT FOR BLACK HAWK COUNTY, Defendant. |
| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
Bonnie J. Campbell, Atty. Gen., Carolyn E. Olsen and Stephen E. Reno, Asst. Attys. Gen., and Linda A. Hall, Asst. County Atty., for plaintiffs.
Craig C. Ament of Olsen, Parsons & Ament, Cedar Falls, for defendant.
Considered by McGIVERIN, C.J., and SCHULTZ, LAVORATO, NEUMAN and ANDREASEN, JJ.
This is a certiorari action brought by the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) arising from a June 15, 1992 order of the Black Hawk County District Court. The court ordered that Warren Bellinger, whose license had been revoked, shall have the right to apply to the DOT for restoration of his license to drive. Finding the district court has no authority to permit the restoration of the revoked license, we sustain the writ.
On November 8, 1988, Bellinger was charged with the crime of homicide by vehicle in violation of Iowa Code section 707.6A(1) (1987). A jury found him guilty of the charge. On March 21, 1990, the court sentenced Bellinger to a five-year suspended sentence. As part of the sentence, the court directed the Iowa Department of Public Safety (now DOT) to revoke Bellinger's motor vehicle license for a period of six years pursuant to Iowa Code section 321J.4(5) (1989), having found that the death involved was caused by violation of section 321J.2. Bellinger did not appeal.
On May 4, 1992, Bellinger filed an application for restoration of eligibility to operate a motor vehicle. This application was resisted by the DOT. After hearing, the court on June 15, 1992, ordered that Bellinger have the right to apply for restoration of his license; in effect lifting the six-year revocation. The court found that the habitual offender provisions, §§ 321.555-.562, and the revocation provision, § 321J.4(5), "cannot properly be reconciled without allowing the Defendant to have the right to apply for reinstatement of his license after two years." Thereafter, the DOT filed petition for writ of certiorari and motion to stay. We granted the petition and ordered a stay upon the proceedings.
Certiorari is appropriate when a trial court is alleged to have exceeded its jurisdiction or to have acted illegally. State v. Iowa Dist. Court, 419 N.W.2d 398, 398-99 (Iowa 1988). Our review of the district court action is for the correction of errors at law. Id. at 399.
The sole issue on appeal is whether the district court had the authority to order the restoration of Bellinger's license two years after his license was revoked pursuant to Iowa Code section 321J.4(5).
Iowa Code section 321J.4(5) clearly and unambiguously required Bellinger's license to be revoked for a six-year period Upon a plea or verdict of guilty of a violation of section 321J.2 which involved a death, the court shall determine in open court, from consideration of the information in the file and any other evidence the parties may submit, whether a death occurred and, if so, whether the defendant's conduct in violation of section 321J.2 caused the death. If the court so determines, the court shall order the department to revoke the defendant's motor vehicle license ... for a period of six years.
The trial court found that Bellinger caused a death by violating section 321J.2 and properly ordered his license revoked for six years.
The language of section 321J.4(5) expressly states the legislative intent to require a six-year revocation without the possibility of restoration when the defendant caused a death by violating section 321J.2. Had the legislature intended restoration it could have easily so provided. Restoration is provided for in other provisions of chapter 321J. See Iowa Code § 321J.4(3)(b) (), Iowa Code § 321J.4(7)-(8) ().
Legislative intent is expressed by omission as well as by inclusion. See Barnes v. Iowa Dep't of Transp., 385 N.W.2d 260, 263 (Iowa 1986). The inclusion of license restoration provisions in some subsections of section 321J.4, but not in subsection (5), demonstrates the legislative intent to prohibit restoration of licenses revoked under section 321J.4(5).
Iowa Code sections 321.555 through 321.562 comprise Iowa's Motor Vehicle Habitual Offender law. It allows the director of the DOT to certify abstracts of conviction of any person who appears to be a habitual offender to the county attorney of the county in which such person resides or to the attorney general if such person is not a resident of this state....
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
CARROLL AREA CHILD CARE v. Bd. of Review
... ... CARROLL COUNTY BOARD OF REVIEW, Appellant ... No. 98-1047 ... Supreme Court of Iowa ... July 6, 2000. 613 ... The Center has qualified for exemption from state and federal income taxation ... ...
-
Glawe v. Ohlendorf
...I. Our review of a district court's action on a petition for writ of certiorari is for correction of errors at law. State v. Iowa Dist. Court, 503 N.W.2d 411, 412 (Iowa 1993). We are bound by the findings of the district court if they are supported by substantial evidence in the record, but......
-
Iowa Dept. of Transp. v. Iowa Dist. Court
...when a trial court is alleged to have exceeded its jurisdiction or to have acted illegally." Iowa Dep't of Transp. v. Iowa Dist. Ct. for Blackhawk County, 503 N.W.2d 411 (Iowa 1993). III. The The DOT claims the district court acted illegally when it dated Naber's mandatory six-year revocati......
-
Schrock v. Iowa Dist. Court for Polk County, 94-1469
...is appropriate when the district court is alleged to have exceeded its jurisdiction or to have acted illegally. State v. Iowa Dist. Court, 503 N.W.2d 411, 413 (Iowa 1993). Our review of the district court's action is for errors at law. Id. III. Jurisdiction of Small Claims Court to Consider......