Opinion ID: 1986496
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: jurisdiction

Text: Our first obligation in this case is to determine if we have authority to decide the appeal. See State ex rel. Vega v. Medina, 549 N.W.2d 507, 508 (Iowa 1996). A timely petition for judicial review from an administrative decision is a jurisdictional prerequisite. Sioux City Brick & Tile Co. v. Employment Appeal Bd., 449 N.W.2d 634, 638 (Iowa 1989); Foley v. Iowa Dep't of Transp., 362 N.W.2d 208, 210 (Iowa 1985). If the district court in this case was without authority to hear the case because the petition for judicial review was untimely, the action must be dismissed. See Sharp v. Iowa Dep't of Job Serv., 492 N.W.2d 668, 669 (Iowa 1992); 2 Am.Jur.2d Administrative Law § 569, at 558-59 (1994). The Iowa Administrative Procedure Act is found in Iowa Code chapter 17A, and addresses the subject of judicial review in a comprehensive manner. See Iowa Code § 17A.19 (1997). It first provides that [a] person or party who has exhausted all adequate administrative remedies and who is aggrieved or adversely affected by any final agency action is entitled to judicial review.... Id. § 17A.19(1). This provision reflects the well-established administrative law doctrine known as the exhaustion of remedies, which exists principally to prevent courts from interfering with the administrative process until it has been completed. McKart v. United States, 395 U.S. 185, 193, 89 S.Ct. 1657, 1662, 23 L.Ed.2d 194, 203 (1969). There is, however, an essential exception to this doctrine that permits interlocutory review of an agency decision if the delay in obtaining judicial review until the agency proceeding is completed would deprive the litigant of an adequate remedy. Salsbury Labs. v. Iowa Dep't of Envtl. Quality, 276 N.W.2d 830, 836 (Iowa 1979). This exception is grafted into section 17A.19(1), which provides: A preliminary, procedural or intermediate agency action is immediately reviewable if all adequate administrative remedies have been exhausted and review of the final agency action would not provide an adequate remedy. Thus, a party seeking interlocutory review from a decision of an administrative agency must not only establish that waiting for the administrative process to be completed would not provide an adequate remedy, but must also satisfy the exhaustion of administrative remedies doctrine. Salsbury Labs., 276 N.W.2d at 836. The Iowa Administrative Procedure Act also establishes a host of rules and procedures governing the judicial review process, including a time limit for the filing of a petition for judicial review. See generally Iowa Code § 17A.19. In a contested case proceeding, this time limit requires a petition for judicial review to be filed within thirty days after the issuance of the agency's final decision in that contested case. [2] Id. § 17A.19(3). On the other hand, a petition for judicial review of agency action other than the decision in a contested case ... may be filed at any time petitioner is aggrieved or adversely affected by [the] action. Id. Thus, a petition for judicial review in a contested case proceeding must be filed within thirty days from the agency's final decision, while a petition for judicial review of an agency rule or other noncontested case proceeding may be filed at any time. 2 Am.Jur.2d Administrative Law § 569, at 558. We have previously determined that the thirty-day rule applicable to the judicial review of agency decisions does not apply by implication to other types of agency action. See Oliver v. Teleprompter Corp., 299 N.W.2d 683, 687 (Iowa 1980). Des Moines does not claim that the present action falls outside the definition of a contested case proceeding. See Budde v. City Dev. Bd., 276 N.W.2d 846, 850-51 (Iowa 1979) (identifying characteristics of contested case proceedings under chapter 368). Instead, it asserts, as the district court found, that the thirty-day time limit applies only to judicial review from the final agency decision, not interlocutory review of non-final decisions. Under this approach, a non-final agency decision could be appealed at any time up to thirty days after the final judgment was entered. We recognize our legislature has designated the thirty-day time limit for judicial review under section 17A.19(3) to begin from the issuance of the agency's final decision in the case. See Iowa Code § 17A.19(3). However, even if we assume this designated reference point means the thirty-day time limit under section 17A.19(3) does not apply to petitions for judicial review from interlocutory actions, the position urged by Des Moines overlooks the impact of the companion judicial review requirements found in Iowa Code chapter 368. [3] Chapter 368 not only creates a state board to oversee city development through such methods as incorporation and annexation, but also establishes the procedure to govern petitions for city development. See generally id. ch. 368. Moreover, the chapter includes its own limited set of provisions for judicial review of the decisions made by the board or a committee established by the board. See id. § 368.22. In particular, section 368.22 allows a city, resident, or property owner to appeal a decision of the board or a committee ... to the district court. Id. Additionally, this section provides the [a]ppeal must be filed within thirty days of the filing of [the] decision.... Id. This section does not distinguish between appeals from final decisions or appeals from interlocutory decisions. See id. Instead, the time limit imposed by section 368.22 clearly applies to all appeals taken from a board or committee decision in a city development case. Thus, we must determine if the time limit of section 368.22 applies to this case. Des Moines argues the comprehensive provisions of chapter 17A are the exclusive means to seek judicial review of agency action in Iowa, and section 368.22 is inapplicable. We acknowledge the Iowa Administrative Procedure Act is generally considered to be the exclusive form of judicial review from agency action to the district court. IES Utils., Inc., 545 N.W.2d at 538. This is the first principle expressed in section 17A.19. See Iowa Code § 17A.19 (judicial review provisions of this chapter shall be the exclusive means). However, our legislature did not declare section 17A.19 to be the exclusive method for judicial review of agency action in all cases, but only when another statute does not expressly provide otherwise by specific reference to chapter 17A. See id. Furthermore, we follow the principle that when more than one statute is pertinent to an inquiry, we first consider them together in an attempt to harmonize both statutes. State v. Sullins, 509 N.W.2d 483, 485 (Iowa 1993). A review of section 17A.19 and section 368.22 reveals our legislature clearly intended both statutes to apply to the judicial review of decisions by the Development Board. Section 368.22 specifically provides: The judicial review provisions of this section and chapter 17A shall be the exclusive means by which a person or party who is aggrieved or adversely affected by agency action may seek judicial review of that agency action. This language reveals a clear legislative intent for both sections to be given effect, and our preference is to read them together and harmonize them. The thirty-day time limit to file a petition for judicial review in section 368.22 and the thirty-day time limit to file a petition for judicial review in section 17A.19(3) could be harmonized if the time limit in section 17A.19(3) is read to apply to both final interlocutory decisions and final agency actions. This, of course, is an issue we decline to decide at this time. Nevertheless, even if judicial review of interlocutory decisions is excluded from the thirty-day time limit under section 17A.19(3), so that a conflict exists between the two statutes, section 368.22 would prevail. When one statute deals with a subject in a general and comprehensive manner and another statute deals with part of the same subject in a more definite and minute way, once again we attempt to harmonize both statutes if possible. Goergen v. State Tax Comm'n, 165 N.W.2d 782, 787 (Iowa 1969). Yet, if any conflict exists, the statute dealing with the common subject matter in a minute way[] will prevail over the general statute ... unless it appears that the legislature intended to make the general [statute] controlling. [4] Id. Section 17A.19 clearly deals with the subject of judicial review of agency decisions in a general and comprehensive manner. See generally Iowa Code § 17A.19. The provisions of section 368.22, on the other hand, deal with the same subject of judicial review but only in a minute way. See generally id. § 368.22. Section 368.22 is confined to judicial review in city development proceedings, and targets only such areas as where and when the petition must be filed. See id. The statute only deals with a small portion of the subject of judicial review dealt with in section 17A.19. Thus, even assuming the comprehensive provisions of section 17A.19(3) would be interpreted to conflict with the thirty-day time limit of section 368.22, section 368.22 would control under our recognized doctrine of general and special statutes. In city development proceedings, our legislature has simply determined that all appeals must be filed within thirty days of the filing of the decision without regard to the nature of the appeal. Additionally, there is no indication our legislature intended to make section 17A.19(3) controlling. Instead, our legislature clearly intended both sections to apply. See Goergen, 165 N.W.2d at 787.