Opinion ID: 1987503
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Iowa Code section 321J.17. This provision provides:

Text: When the [IDOT] revokes a person's motor vehicle license or nonresident operating privilege under this chapter, the [IDOT] shall assess the person a civil penalty of two hundred dollars. The money collected by the [IDOT] under this section shall be transmitted to the treasurer of state who shall deposit one-half of the money in the separate fund established in section 912.14 and one-half of the money shall be deposited in the general fund of the state. A motor vehicle license or nonresident operating privilege shall not be reinstated until the civil penalty has been paid. Id. When a statute is unambiguous, we apply it in accordance with its plain meaning. Citizens' Aide/Ombudsman v. Miller, 543 N.W.2d 899, 902 (Iowa 1996). We neither search for a meaning beyond the express terms of the statute nor do we resort to rules of statutory construction. Krull v. Thermogas Co., 522 N.W.2d 607, 612 (Iowa 1994). The statute here is unambiguous. It states in definite terms that (1) the IDOT shall assess a $200 civil penalty when it revokes a person's motor vehicle license and (2) the IDOT shall not reinstate the person's license until the penalty is paid. The statute accords the district court no authority to intercede in the process of assessing a civil penalty. In addition, the statute uses the word shall (department shall assess and [a] license shall not be reinstated until the civil penalty has been paid). When the word shall is addressed to a public official, it is ordinarily mandatory. See Iowa Code § 4.30(a) (providing that unless legislature specifically provides otherwise, shall imposes a duty); Schmidt v. Abbott, 261 Iowa 886, 890, 156 N.W.2d 649, 651 (1968). Thus, the IDOT must impose the penalty and has no discretion to do otherwise. Unless and until that penalty is assessed and paid, the IDOT has no discretion to restore the motor vehicle license. Finally, the statute expressly directs the IDOT to transmit the money collected to the treasurer of state. The statute imposes on the treasurer a duty to deposit one-half of the money into the victim compensation fund established by Iowa Code section 912.14 and one-half of the money into the general fund. Thus, the statute provides no authority for substituting community services in lieu of the civil penalty.