Opinion ID: 1670534
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: One-year sentence for Driving on a Revoked License

Text: Questions of statutory construction are reviewed de novo with no presumption of correctness given to the lower courts' conclusions. State v. Denton, 149 S.W.3d 1, 17 (Tenn.2004) (citing State v. Walls, 62 S.W.3d 119, 121 (Tenn.2001)).
The trial court convicted the defendant of driving on a revoked license, fourth offense. That statute provides, in part, that: A person who drives a motor vehicle. . . when the person's privilege to do so is cancelled, suspended, or revoked commits a Class B misdemeanor. Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-50-504(a)(1). A second, or subsequent violation of the statute is a Class A misdemeanor. Tenn.Code Ann. § 55-50-504(a)(2). The penalty provided for a second or subsequent violation of the statute shall be . . . confinement for not less than forty-five (45) days nor more than one (1) year; and . . . a fine of not more than three thousand dollars ($3,000). Id. The defendant argues that the penalty provided in this statute is illegal because it allows imposition of a felony sentence for a misdemeanor crime. In support of this contention, he cites the provided penalties for conviction of a Class A misdemeanor: (e) The authorized terms of imprisonment and fines for misdemeanors are: (1) Class A misdemeanor, not greater than eleven (11) months twenty-nine days (29) days or a fine not to exceed two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500), or both, unless otherwise provided by statute; Tenn.Code Ann. § 40-35-111(e)(1) (1997) (emphasis added). The defendant argues that the trial court's sentence of one year is void because it does not comport with this general definition of a Class A misdemeanor. The State asserts that the legislature intended, when defining a Class A misdemeanor, that certain misdemeanor offenses might merit a penalty of more than eleven months, twenty-nine days. It contends that the language, unless otherwise provided by statute, supports this proposition. See Tenn.Code Ann. § 40-35-111(e)(1). Consequently, the legislature expressly authorized by statute incarceration for up to one year for subsequent violations of driving on a revoked license. See Tenn.Code Ann. § 55-50-504(a)(2). When construing facially conflicting statutes, this Court's duty is to give effect to the legislative intent without unduly restricting or expanding a statute's intended coverage. State v. Davis, 173 S.W.3d 411, 413-14 (Tenn.2005) (citing State v. Jennings, 130 S.W.3d 43, 46 (Tenn.2004)). Statutes on the same subject must be construed together harmoniously, so that they do not conflict. In re Akins, 87 S.W.3d 488, 493 (Tenn.2002) (citing Parkridge Hosp., Inc. v. Woods, 561 S.W.2d 754, 755 (Tenn.1978)). Finally, specific statutory language will control over a general conflicting statutory provision. See Arnwine v. Union County Bd. of Educ., 120 S.W.3d 804, 809 (Tenn.2003). First, we note that the increased penalty for subsequent violations of this statute took effect in 1992 when the legislature amended Tennessee Code Annotated section 55-50-504. Before the 1992 amendment, the maximum sentence for driving on a revoked license, second or subsequent offense, was no more than eleven months, twenty-nine days imprisonment. Tenn.Code Ann. § 55-50-504 (1988). The 1992 amendment increased the range to a possible one-year term. [5] When the legislature makes a change in the language of a statute, we must assume that it was deliberate. Dunn v. Hackett, 833 S.W.2d 78, 81 (Tenn.Ct.App.1992) (changing the language of a statute gives rise to a presumption that such departure from the old law was intended). Thus, we find that the change in the language of the statute providing an increased penalty for a second or subsequent violation of the statute was intentional despite the misdemeanor status of the offense. As such, it is our duty to give effect to that legislative intent. Next, we address the apparent conflict between the general definition of a Class A misdemeanor in Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-35-111(e)(1) and the one-year maximum confinement provision in Tennessee Code Annotated section 55-50-504(a)(2). We believe the statutes can be construed together harmoniously. The language in Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-35-111(e)(1), which provides penalties for Class A misdemeanors, also provides that these penalties may be varied by another statute. The language unless otherwise provided by statute allows for such a result. Id. Since the legislature specifically provided for the possibility that another statute could vary the penalty for a Class A misdemeanor, the two statutes can be construed together. Tennessee Code Annotated section 50-55-504 will govern the penalties for second or subsequent violations, since that statute specifically addresses the penalties for the offense of driving on a revoked license. Furthermore, we note that this is not the only statute that varies the penalty provided for a Class A misdemeanor. Several other statutes provide specific penalties for violations which do not follow the general definition of a Class A misdemeanor. See Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-14-502(b) & (c)(1) (2003 & Supp.2005) (criminal littering punishable only by fines and removing litter from state or local highways, public playgrounds, public parks, or other appropriate public places); Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-17-111(b) (2003) (a Class A misdemeanor, punishable only by a fine of not more than two thousand five hundred dollars $2,500); Tenn.Code Ann. 39-17-431(f) (2003 & Supp.2005) (A violation of any provision of this section is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by fine only.). Although none of these statutes provides for an increased penalty of confinement, they do vary the possible punishment for a Class A misdemeanor violation by limiting the penalty to that specifically provided for in the statute. Accordingly, we hold that the one year imprisonment penalty provided in Tennessee Code Annotated section 55-50-504(a)(2) is a valid sentence for subsequent violations of the statute.