Opinion ID: 2560286
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Judicial Review in Circuit Court

Text: Petitioner initiated judicial review on May 22, 2008, by filing in the Circuit Court for Charles County a petition for judicial review of the MVA's actions, pursuant to Maryland Code (1984, 2009 Repl.Vol), § 10-222(h) of the State Government Article (SG). On June 20, 2008, he amended the petition to a complaint for issuance of a writ of administrative mandamus, pursuant to the provisions of Maryland Rules 7-401 through 7-403. [4] At the hearing on the complaint for issuance of the writ, Petitioner challenged both the MVA's summary denial of his application for renewal of the 2002 license and the MVA's refusal to expunge the confidential record of Petitioner's drunken driving convictions. With regard to his challenge to the summary denial of his license-renewal request, Petitioner conceded that, if he was subject to the holding of our 2005 Gwin decision, he would not be entitled to license renewal. Petitioner argued, though, that, because he was granted a Maryland license in 2001 despite, at that time, the permanent revocation of his Florida driver's license, he was entitled to an administrative hearing to determine whether, in fact, he was subject to Gwin. The MVA countered that the plain language of the automatic disqualification section, TR § 16-103.1(1), states (in the words of counsel for the MVA): if you're suspended or revoked in another State[,] [then in] Maryland you can't get a license. Moreover, argued the MVA, Gwin unquestionably applies to Petitioner and he therefore is not entitled to an administrative hearing, which in any event would be a purely ministerial act. With regard to his challenge to the MVA's refusal to expunge his prior drunken driving convictions and probation before judgment disposition, Petitioner made a statutory construction argument. He contended that the MVA is permitted to maintain only one class of driving records, which, upon satisfaction of the statutory criteria listed in TR § 16-117.1, must be expunged in their entirety. The MVA disagreed. The MVA argued that, when TR § 16-117.1 (which requires expungement of the licensee's public driving record under certain circumstances) is read together with TR § 12-111(b)(2) (which authorizes the MVA to classify certain records as confidential), it is evident that the MVA is authorized, after 5 years, to maintain as confidential some or all of a licensee's driving records, and only that portion, if any, of the licensee's record that remains public is subject to expungement. After hearing the parties' arguments, the Circuit Court agreed with Petitioner that he was entitled to an administrative hearing to determine whether his license revocation in Florida precluded him from licensure in Maryland. The court stated: What I'm going to do is . . . I'm going to grant the remand [for an administrative hearing] . . . and, again, it may be of no import, but I am going to order remand to allow him to have that hearing that was denied, and the reason given was you're not going to win it anyway. I think that's still procedurally the right thing to do. The Circuit Court rejected Petitioner's contention regarding expungement. The court noted that the MVA did expunge Petitioner's driving record to some extent.. . . They did expunge . . . the public record aspect. The court added: I think it's a matter of the definition of what's the expungement. And, so I'm going to deny that portion of Petitioner's complaint. Petitioner petitioned this Court for further review, as did the MVA by way of cross-petition. We granted both the petition and cross-petition to consider the following questions: (1) Whether the Circuit Court erred in affirming the MVA's refusal to expunge selected traffic convictions based on its interpretation of TR § 16-117.1? (2) Whether the Circuit Court erred in ordering the MVA to provide Petitioner a hearing to contest the MVA's refusal to issue him a driver's license, after the agency refused his application pursuant to § 16-103.1?