Opinion ID: 584639
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Mootness of Licensing Claim

Text: 13 Anne Arundel County Bill # 98-91 repealed the provisions of Article 16, §§ 2-1101 through 2-1110 effective on November 21, 1991. Those provisions had governed the application and granting requirements for Class Y licenses. Appellees have contended that appellants' claims regarding county licensing ordinances are mooted by the reversal and replacement of §§ 2-1101-2-1110. Although appellants have cited deficiencies in statutory provisions which remain on the books following the enactment of Bill # 98-91, appellees' contention that the relevant provisions of §§ 2201-2110 have been substantially repealed is correct. 14 The basis of appellants' claims that the previous licensing statute constituted a violation of their constitutional rights was their assertion that the provision assigned too much discretionary power to the Licensing Director, and did not provide statutory guidelines or standards to govern his or her determinations. The new licensing provisions, as altered by §§ 2-1105, 1107, 1108, 1109, and 1110 of Bill # 98-61, however, provide significant additional statutory guidelines to govern the Director's activity, and to identify the prohibited acts of licensees. The new guidelines include: an additional time limit for issuance determinations by the Director; a requirement that the Director give reasons in writing for any negative issuance determination; specific organizational, personnel and equipment requirements for licensees; specific guidelines governing license renewal and revocation; a more specific demarcation of prohibited acts of licensees; and a right to immediate appeal for unsuccessful applicants for renewal. 15 The new licensing statute thus provides substantially different requirements than those set out in the previous statute, upon which appellants' claim is based. In Maryland Highway Contractors v. State of Maryland, 933 F.2d 1246 (4th Cir. 1991), we ruled that when a statute that forms the basis for a complaint is repealed and replaced by another statute, particularly one that seeks to respond to the defects in the previous statute at issue in the complaint, the revision of the original statue has the effect of rendering the complaint moot. Id. at 1449-1450. 16 Accordingly, the revision of the Class Y licensing provision, providing significant additional limitations on discretionary activity by the Director, and providing specific standards to govern licensing activity, moots appellants' claims involving the enforcement and threatened enforcement of the previous statute.