Case Name: John W. Higgins, Appellant, v. Abilene Machine, Inc., and Continental National American Group, Appellees
Court: Kansas Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Kansas
Decision Date: 2009-03-27
Citations: 288 Kan. 359
Docket Number: No. 97,649
Parties: John W. Higgins, Appellant, v. Abilene Machine, Inc., and Continental National American Group, Appellees.
Judges: 
Reporter: Kansas Reports
Volume: 288
Pages: 359–366

Head Matter:
No. 97,649
John W. Higgins, Appellant, v. Abilene Machine, Inc., and Continental National American Group, Appellees.
(204 P.3d 1156)
Opinion filed March 27, 2009.
Robert R. Lee, of Wilson, Lee, Gurney, Carmichael & Hess, of Wichita, argued the cause and was on the brief for appellant.
Ryan D. Weltz, of Wallace, Saunders, Austin, Brown & Enochs, Chartered, of Wichita, argued the cause, and D. Steven Marsh and Janell Jenkins Foster, of the same firm, were on the briefs for appellees.
John M. Ostrowski, of McCullough, Wareheim & LaBunker, P.A., of Topeka, for amicus curiae Kansas AFL-CIO.

Opinion:
The opinion of the court was delivered by
Beier, J.:
In this workers compensation appeal, we decide whether a claimant may recover expert witness fees when the fees are incurred in pursuit of post-award medical benefits.
The legally relevant facts are undisputed. Claimant John W. Higgins sustained a back injury in 1997 while working for Respondent Abilene Machine, Inc., which is insured by Respondent Continental National American Group. Higgins received compensation for his injury and later twice received post-award medical benefits. During the second post-award proceeding, Drs. Paul S. Stein and Gary W. Coleman gave depositions for Higgins. At the conclusion of the proceeding, Higgins sought payment for $1,064.47 in fees and expenses — "costs"—for his expert witnesses under the authority of K.S.A. 2008 Supp. 44-510k(c).
K.S.A. 2008 Supp. 44-510k(c) provides:
"The administrative law judge may award attorney fees and costs on the claimant's behalf consistent with subsection (g) of K.S.A. 44-536 and amendments thereto. As used in this subsection, 'costs' include, but are not limited to, witness fees, mileage allowances, any costs associated with reproduction of documents that become a part of the hearing record, the expense of making a record of the hearing and such other charges as are by statute authorized to be taxed as costs."
K.S.A. 44-536(g) allows recovery of reasonable attorney fees.
The administrative law judge (ALJ) denied the requested payment, and the Workers Compensation Board (Board) affirmed the denial as to the portion attributable to expert witness fees, $905. One Board member dissented, arguing: "Claimants are continually put to the financial test in establishing their right to benefits . . . . [I]f the cost of retaining an expert to testify on one's behalf is not considered a recoverable expense, it may deter a claimant from requesting additional medical benefits."
A divided panel of our Court of Appeals affirmed the Board's decision.
The majority of the panel concluded that expert witness fees may not be recovered without specific statutory authority. See Divine v. Groshong, 235 Kan. 127, 679 P.2d 700 (1984); Grant v. Chappell, 22 Kan. App. 2d 398, 916 P.2d 723, rev. denied 260 Kan. 992 (1996). It also noted that "costs" are routinely defined in the Code of Civil Procedure as court costs, filing fees, service of process fees, etc., see K.S.A. 60-2003; and expert witness fees have never been included in this definition, Divine, 235 Kan. at 141. Furthermore, many statutes specifically provide for the recovery of expert witness fees. See K.S.A. 16-1305; K.S.A. 49-426(d); K.S.A. 2008 Supp. 75-5672(c). K.S.A. 2008 Supp. 44-510k(c) does not.
In dissent, Judge John J. Bukaty, Jr., argued that K.S.A. 2008 Supp. 44-510k(c) differs from other Kansas statutes because it does not provide a specific list of costs. He read the statute's use of the phrase, " 'costs' include, but are not limited to," to imply that an ALJ may, in his or her discretion, award expert witness fees. Judge Bukaty also appeared to be persuaded by the public policy argument of the Board's dissenter, opining that many claimants would not be able to afford to seek post-award medical benefits if expert witness fees could not be recovered.
We granted Higgins' petition for review.
Before us, Higgins continues to advance the public policy argument, asserting that K.S.A. 2008 Supp. 44-510k(c) must require or allow recovery of expert witness fees incurred in a proceeding to recover post-award medical benefits, because a claimant cannot hope to obtain such benefits without expert testimony in his or her favor.
For their part, respondents argue in a supplemental brief filed with this court that the legislature could have expressly defined "costs" as used in K.S.A. 2008 Supp. 44-510k(c) to include expert witness fees. In their view, the passage in 44-510k(c) stating "witness fees, mileage allowances, any costs associated with reproduction of documents that become a part of the hearing record, the expense of making a record of the hearing and such other charges as are by statute authorized" means that the items to be allowed as costs are the traditional ones associated with litigation, not expert witness fees.
The question before us is one of first impression. It also is a question of statutory interpretation or construction subject to unlimited review by this court. See Genesis Health Club, Inc. v. City of Wichita, 285 Kan. 1021, 1031, 181 P.3d 549 (2008). No significant deference is due the ALJ's or the Board's interpretation or construction of a statute. See Denning v. KPERS, 285 Kan. 1045, 1048, 180 P.3d 564 (2008) ("An agency's interpretation of a statute is not conclusive; final construction of a statute always rests within the courts."); Graham v. Dokter Trucking Group, 284 Kan. 547, 554, 161 P.3d 695 (2007) (agency's interpretation of statute not binding on court; although persuasive, not conclusive); Board of Leavenworth County Comm'rs v. Whitson, 281 Kan. 678, 684, 132 P.3d 920 (2006) (same de novo standard of review applied to question of statutory interpretation, construction arising from administrative adjudication as to one arising out of lower court).
The most fundamental rule of statutory interpretation and construction is that the intent of the legislature governs if that intent can be ascertained. Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska v. Kline, 283 Kan. 64, 77, 150 P.3d 892 (2007). The court's first task is to "ascertain the legislature's intent through the statutory language it employs, giving ordinaiy words their ordinary meaning." State v. Stallings, 284 Kan. 741, 742, 163 P.3d 1232 (2007).
"When a statute is plain and unambiguous, we must give effect to its express language, rather than determine what the law should or should not be. We will not speculate on the legislative intent and will not read the statute to add something not readily found in it. If the statute's language is clear, there is no need to resort to statutory construction." Graham, 284 Kan. at 554.
"If, on the other hand, a plain reading of the text of a statute yields an ambiguiiy or a lack of clarity, statutory construction becomes appropriate. In such circumstances, a court must move outside the text of the provision at issue and examine other evidence of legislative intent, such as legislative history, or employ additional canons of statutory construction to [determine] the legislature's meaning." Board of Leavenworth County Comm'rs, 281 Kan. at 685.
The plain language of the first sentence of K.S.A. 2008 Supp. 44-510k(c) explicitly endows an ALJ with the discretion to grant attorney fees and costs to a workers compensation claimant in a post-award medical benefits proceeding. The second sentence does not define "costs"; rather, it sets nonexclusive parameters on the word's coverage by listing several examples. The plain language of this second sentence does not answer the specific question before us regarding whether an ALJ may grant a claimant expert witness fees. We therefore look to legislative history and canons of statutory construction to determine the legislature's intent.
The language on which this case focuses — "[a]s used in this subsection, 'costs' include, but are not limited to, witness fees, mileage allowances, any costs associated with reproduction of documents that become a part of the hearing record, the expense of making a record of the hearing and such other charges as are by statute authorized to be taxed as costs" — was added to K.S.A. 44-510k(c) in 2002. L. 2002, ch. 122, sec. 6. Unfortunately, other than the existence of the amendment and its timing, legislative history explains nothing about the legislature's contemporaneous reasoning. It appears that the Workers Compensation Advisory Council requested the changes. Minutes of the Senate Committee on Commerce, March 22, 2002. But the only expansion on the rationale for the amendment, found in the Conference Committee Report, for the most part merely repeats the language of the statute itself:
"[The changes will] [c]larify that attorney fees and costs that may be awarded by administrative law judge in a workers compensation case could include witness fees, mileage allowances, any costs associated with reproduction of documents that become a part of the hearing record, and the expense of making a record of the hearing."
Lacking any illuminating legislative history, we perceive three possible statutory construction arguments regarding 44-510k(c) in Higgins' favor: (1) "Witness fees" as listed in potential "costs" should be read to include expert witness fees; (2) "such other charges as are by statute authorized to be taxed as costs," also listed, should be read to include expert witness fees; and (3) expert witness fees need not be listed as potential costs because the list is merely exemplary, not exclusive, and such fees are similar enough to the listed items to conclude that the statute authorizes their award.
With regard to the first argument, Higgins asserts that the only witnesses who charge a fee in proceedings to recover post-award medical benefits are expert witnesses. Thus, in his view, the legislature must have intended that "witness fees" include expert witness fees. This assertion has undeniable, superficial commonsense appeal. Yet the in pari materia canon of statutory construction— i.e., the imperative that we analyze the Workers Compensation Act as a whole — persuades us that "witness fees" is not so elastic that it includes expert witness fees. The Act's specific provision on "witness fees" states only:
"Each witness who appears before the director or administrative law judge in response to a subpoena shall receive the same fee and mileage as is provided for witnesses attending district courts in civil cases in this state. The director or the administrative law judge, whoever is conducting the hearing, shall tax and apportion the costs of such witness fees in the discretion of the director or the administrative law judge, as the case may be, and shall make such orders relative to the payment of such fees as the director or the administrative law judge deems expedient in order to secure and provide for the payment of the witness fees." K.S.A. 44-553.
For whatever reason, the legislature chose to make "witness fees" under the Workers Compensation Act a defined term, and to confine such fees to those permitted in civil cases. Witnesses in civil cases receive reimbursement for necessary travel beyond one mile and $10 per day "[fjor attending before any court or grand juiy, or before any judge, referee, or commission." K.S.A. 28-125(a)(1), (3).
With regard to the second argument, we observe that no provision in either the Workers Compensation Act or the Code of Civil Procedure authorizes expert witness fees to be classified or taxed as "costs." Further, this silence is not attributable to the legislature's lack of drafting or enactment know-how. When it has wanted to allow the shifting of responsibility for payment of expert witness fees from one party to another, it has had no trouble saying so. See K.S.A. 16-1305 (outdoor power equipment supplier hable in civil action to retailer for actual costs of action, including attorney, paralegal, expert witness fees); K.S.A. 49-426(f) (any person injured by violation of act governing mined-land conservation, reclamation may bring action for damages, including reasonable attorney, expert witness fees).
With regard to the third argument, we have already acknowledged that K.S.A. 2008 Supp. 44-510k(c)'s list of potential costs is exemplary rather than exclusive; however, we disagree that expert witness fees are so similar to the other items in the list that we must regard those fees as necessarily within the legislature's fair contemplation. If expert witness fees are at all similar in character to any of the recoverable items in K.S.A. 2008 Supp. 44-510k(c), they are similar to attorney fees. If they were intended to be allowed, we are confident they would have been expressly set forth in the statute's first sentence with their professional fees counterpart.
We are left with Higgins' public policy argument, i.e., that claimants should not be prevented from obtaining adequate post-award care because they cannot afford to employ an expert to support additional medical benefits. We can certainly understand that this argument is emotionally compelling. Nevertheless, we are not free to act on emotion or even our view of wise public policy. We leave the guidance of public policy through statutes to the legislature.
Affirmed.