Opinion ID: 2040799
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Extent of Agency Discretion in Issuing a Temporary Restricted License.

Text: Petitioner's first contention on appeal is that the agency's discretion in deciding applications for temporary restricted licenses under section 321B.16 is limited to its consideration of the applicant's showing of need. He contends that, if need is established based upon the applicant's occupational, medical, or education requirements, the issuance of the restricted license becomes mandatory. We disagree with petitioner's proffered interpretation of the statute. Section 321B.16 of the 1983 Iowa Code provides: Upon certification by the peace officer that there existed reasonable grounds to believe the person to have been operating a motor vehicle in violation of section 321.281 and that the person submitted to chemical testing and the test results indicate ten hundredths or more of one percent by weight of alcohol in the person's blood, the department shall revoke the person's license or permit to drive or nonresident operating privilege for a period of one hundred twenty days if the person has no revocation within the previous six years under section 321.209, subsection 2, section 321.281 or this chapter, two hundred forty days if the person has one previous revocation under those provisions, and one year if the person has two or more revocations under those provisions arising from separate occurrences. The effective date of the revocation shall be twenty days after the department has mailed notice of revocation to the person by certified mail or, on behalf of the department, a peace officer offering a chemical test or directing the administration of a chemical test may serve immediate notice of intention to revoke and of revocation on a person when the person's test results indicate ten hundredths or more of one percent by weight of alcohol in the blood. If the peace officer serves that immediate notice, the peace officer shall take the Iowa license or permit of the driver, if any, and issue a temporary license valid only for twenty days. The peace officer shall immediately send the person's driver's license to the department along with an affidavit stating that the test results indicate ten hundredths of one percent or more by weight of alcohol in the person's blood. The department may, on application, issue a temporary restricted license to a person whose license has been revoked under this section when the person's regular employment includes the operation of a motor vehicle or who cannot perform his or her regular occupation without the use of a motor vehicle, or when the person's use of a motor vehicle is necessary to attend evaluation, treatment or educational services for alcohol or drug dependency, but the person shall not operate a vehicle for pleasure while holding a restricted license. However, this paragraph does not apply to a person whose license is suspended or revoked for another reason. The word may usually is employed as implying permissive or discretionary rather than mandatory action or conduct. John Deere Waterloo Tractor Works v. Derifield, 252 Iowa 1389, 1392, 110 N.W.2d 560, 562 (1961). In the present statute, the juxtaposition of the word may in the first line of the final paragraph with the provisions which follow suggests that, if an applicant meets the need criteria which are specified, then, but only then, may the agency exercise its discretion in determining whether a restricted license may be granted. It remains, however, within the discretion of the agency whether a particular applicant whose need has been established shall be granted a temporary restricted license. The criteria adopted in the challenged agency rule do not appear to be an irrational basis for denial of a temporary restricted license. These criteria foster both protection of the public and deterrence to the offender, each of which is consistent with the responsibilities imposed upon the agency by law. [1] As stated in Doe v. Edgar, 721 F.2d 619, 623 (7th Cir.1983): We do not regard as irrational the ... policy that an individual who has been once convicted of DUI should face an extremely strong deterrent against ever again endangering his own life or the life of others by driving while intoxicated. The ... policy may seem harsh to those involved, but we cannot say it would not serve the purpose of discouraging recidivist drunk driving and it certainly is within the bounds of minimum rationality. We conclude that it was the intent of the legislature in enacting the temporary restricted license provisions which are at issue to grant the department of transportation discretion to deny such licenses for reasons such as those included in the challenged rule.