Opinion ID: 1292001
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Legal Claim

Text: The agency concluded Iowa Code section 321J.12 does not require IDOT to prove Lee's alcohol concentration at the time he was driving. On appeal, Lee contends it is absurd to think the legislature in devising a driver's license revocation statute would care what his alcohol concentration was at any other time than when he was driving. Lee posits section 321J.2(8), the so-called relation-back provision of the OWI statute, should apply in this administrative proceeding. Although there is a blush of logic in Lee's argument, it once again conflates criminal and administrative proceedings. By its own terms, section 321J.2(8) only applies to any prosecution under this section, i.e., criminal proceedings brought under section 321J.2. Section 321J.12, on the other hand, does not contain any language requiring IDOT to prove the licensee's alcohol concentration at the time of driving. That is, unlike Iowa Code section 321J.2, a criminal statute directed at drunk driving, Iowa Code section 321J.12, an administrative statute directed at chemical-test failure, does not contain a relation-back provision like section 321J.2(8). Legislative intent is expressed by omission as well as by inclusion, and we decline to write such a provision into section 321J.12. Wiebenga v. Iowa Dep't of Transp., 530 N.W.2d 732, 735 (Iowa 1995). Although under the implied consent doctrine the test must be administered within two hours of driving, nothing in the statute requires IDOT to show the driver's alcohol concentration exceeded .15 at the time of vehicle operation. Cf. Saunders, 226 N.W.2d at 22 (The question of whether plaintiff was in fact operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of an alcoholic beverage ... is not an issue in this civil proceeding....). To the contrary, the legislature has expressly indicated these administrative proceedings should be limited to, inter alia, whether the defendant took the test and whether those test results indicated an alcohol concentration in excess of the legal limit. See Iowa Code § 321J.13(2)( b ) (2003). In considering Lee's legal claim, the reviewing officer correctly concluded Iowa Code section 321J.12 does not require IDOT to prove Lee's alcohol concentration at the time he was driving.