Opinion ID: 2213859
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Heading: Overview of Iowa Implied-Consent Law.

Text: It has been a crime to operate a motor vehicle while intoxicated in Iowa since 1911. See 1911 Iowa Acts ch. 72, § 24 (codified at Iowa Code § 1571-m23 (Supp.1913)). Since that time, the operating-while-intoxicated laws have evolved in a number of ways, including the adoption of the implied-consent procedure based on the premise that persons who drive vehicles are deemed to consent to a chemical test to determine the alcohol or drug content of their blood when reasonable grounds exist to believe they were driving while intoxicated. Rachel Hjelmaas, Legislative Services Agency, Legislative Guide to Operating While Intoxicated (OWI) Law in Iowa 1 (2007), available at http:// www.legis.state.ia.us/Central/Guides/OWI. pdf. The underlying rationale of the law is that the operation of a motor vehicle on public streets is a privilege, not a right, subject to reasonable regulation. Tina Wescott Cafaro, Fixing the Fatal Flaws in OUI Implied Consent Laws, 34 J. Legis. 99, 102 (2008) [hereinafter Cafaro]. Thus, under the implied-consent law, drivers impliedly consent to submit to chemical testing in return for the privilege of using the public highways. State v. Hitchens, 294 N.W.2d 686, 687 (Iowa 1980). In 1953, New York became the first state in the nation to enact an implied-consent law. [2] Cafaro at 103 & n.25 (referring to codified version of New York's implied-consent law, N.Y. Veh. & Traf. Law § 1194 (McKinney 2001) (originally enacted by L.1953, c. 854)). The concept was first proposed in Iowa in 1957 when a bill modeled after the New York statute was introduced in the House of Representatives. H.F. 257, 57th G.A., Reg. Sess., Explanation of House File 257 (Iowa 1957) (stating the bill is patterned after the New York statute, which was enacted a few years ago, but is an improvement on this earlier legislation). The procedures were subsequently introduced in the Senate and enacted by the General Assembly in 1963. [3] See S.F. 437, 60th G.A., Reg. Sess. § 34 (Iowa 1963); 1963 Iowa Acts ch. 114, §§ 36-50 (codified at Iowa Code ch. 321B (1966)). The implied consent procedures were originally enacted as a part of an overall administrative effort to regulate the control, sale, and use of alcohol and were not included as an organic part of the 1966 criminal operating while intoxicated (OWI) laws. See 1963 Iowa Acts ch. 114 (entitled Liquor Control, Sale and Use). The General Assembly declared its policy in enacting chapter 321B was to control alcoholic beverages and aid the enforcement of laws prohibiting operation of a motor vehicle while in an intoxicated condition. Iowa Code § 321B.1 (1966). Thus, although enacted and codified separately from the criminal OWI chapter, the legislature intended for the section to have an administrative effect as well as aid in the enforcement of OWI laws. In 1986, the implied-consent statutes from chapter 321B were combined with the criminal OWI laws. 1986 Iowa Acts ch. 1220 (codified at Iowa Code ch. 321J (1987)). The chemical test results and refusals are used today both for license revocation and for OWI criminal prosecutions. See Iowa Code §§ 321J.2,.12 (2009). Although the implied-consent law is based on the premise that all drivers consent to the withdrawal of a body substance for testing if suspected of driving while intoxicated, the law is tempered by giving drivers the right to withdraw this implied consent and refuse the test. State v. Massengale, 745 N.W.2d 499, 501 (Iowa 2008); see also Iowa Code § 321J.9 (prohibiting a chemical test after a driver has refused the officer's request). Thus, the consent for a chemical test must ultimately be freely made, uncoerced, reasoned, and informed. State v. Garcia, 756 N.W.2d 216, 220 (Iowa 2008). This voluntariness requirement is captured by Iowa Code section 321J.8, which requires law enforcement officers to advise suspects of all the consequences of a decision to submit or refuse testing. See id. (recognizing section 321J.8 sets out a voluntariness requirement and that consent is involuntary and invalid if a driver is not reasonably informed of the consequences of refusal). Viewing the advisory as an informational component in the procedure, we adopted a reasonableness standard for the methods to be used by law enforcement officers to convey the advisory. Id. at 222. Pursuant to the implied-consent procedure, an officer who has reasonable grounds to believe a driver is operating a vehicle while intoxicated must first make a written request to withdraw the driver's blood, urine, or breath to determine the specific concentration of alcohol. Iowa Code § 321J.6(1). Although not contained in the New York statute used as a model for Iowa's implied-consent law, the current written request requirement was a part of Iowa's original statute, Iowa Code § 321B.3 (1966), and requires that [t]he withdrawal of the body substances and the test or tests . . . be administered at the written request of a peace officer having reasonable grounds to believe that the person was operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, Iowa Code § 321J.6(1) (2007) (emphasis added). Our earlier decisions in Gottschalk v. Sueppel, 258 Iowa 1173, 140 N.W.2d 866 (1966); State v. Richards, 229 N.W.2d 229 (Iowa 1975); and State v. Meissner, 315 N.W.2d 738 (Iowa 1982), stand today as our primary interpretations of the statutory written request requirement. We have held that an oral request by an officer, followed by a written request after the test has been administered, is not sufficient. Richards, 229 N.W.2d at 233. We have also held that written request does not require the driver be in physical possession of the writing itself and that the writing serves as a record of the request. Meissner, 315 N.W.2d at 740-41; Gottschalk, 258 Iowa at 1183, 140 N.W.2d at 872. Furthermore, after a written request is properly given to the driver, a finding that the test has been refused is premised on the statements and conduct of the arrestee and police officer, as well as on all the surrounding circumstances. Ginsberg v. Iowa Dep't of Transp., 508 N.W.2d 663, 664 (Iowa 1993). If a driver refuses the chemical testing under the implied-consent procedure, the officer sends the department of transportation a certified, sworn report that the officer had reasonable grounds to believe the person was driving while intoxicated and that conditions existed to perform a chemical test under section 321J.6. Iowa Code § 321J.9(1). The refusal to submit to an officer's request for a specimen sample will then result in automatic revocation of the driver's license for one year if it is the driver's first offense. Id. § 321J.9(1)(a). If the driver submits to the chemical testing and the test shows a concentration of alcohol in excess of the legal limit, the driver's license will be revoked for 180 days if it is the driver's first offense. Id. § 321J.12(1)(a). Of course, the driver may appeal the revocation by challenging the process on a number of statutory grounds at a hearing before the department. Id. § 321J.13(2)(a)-(c).