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Commonwealth Transportation Cabinet v. Mohney2/21/2003
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED
OPINION REVERSING AND REMANDING
The Commonwealth of Kentucky, Transportation Cabinet, and James C. Codell, III, as Secretary of the Transportation Cabinet (the Cabinet), appeal from an order of the Graves Circuit Court which affirmed an order by the Graves District Court requiring the Cabinet to reinstate the driver's license of Charles Michael Mohney. We agree with the Cabinet that the district court lacked the authority to enter such an order. Hence, we reverse the circuit court's order affirming this portion of the district court's order.
The underlying facts of this action are not in dispute. Prior to 1993, Mohney was a resident of Florida and had a Florida driver's license. In 1991, Mohney was arrested and charged in that state with driving under the influence (DUI). Under Florida law the charge was designated as his fourth offense. In 1993, Mohney was convicted in Florida of DUI 4th, and the Florida court suspended his license for ten years. In 1998, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles informed Mohney that his driving privilege had been permanently revoked pursuant to Florida law.
However in 1992, before he was convicted of the 1991 offense, Mohney moved to Kentucky and applied for a Kentucky driver's license. At that time, Mohney complied with all of the statutory requirements, including providing a clearance letter from the Florida licensing agency. Thereupon, he surrendered his Florida license, and he was issued a Kentucky driver's license.
When Mohney applied for a renewal of his Kentucky license in 1996, he was denied a license due to his 1993 conviction for DUI 4th in Florida. Nevertheless, he continued to drive without a license. On September 1, 2000, Mohney was arrested and charged with operating a motor vehicle on a suspended license. Because the charge is a misdemeanor, the criminal matter proceeded in the Graves District Court.
Mohney then filed a motion to dismiss the suspended-license charge and to order the Cabinet to reinstate his Kentucky driver's license. By order entered on May 14, 2001, the district court, Hon. Royce W. Buck, presiding, granted the motion. The court agreed with Mohney that the Commonwealth could not adequately prove the sufficiency of the Florida DUI convictions, and that the Florida law requiring permanent revocation of Mohney's license was unconstitutional because it was enacted after his conviction for DUI 4th and after he had been issued a Kentucky license. Consequently, the district court directed the Cabinet to reinstate Mohney's license.
Following entry of this order, the Cabinet sent a letter to the trial judge requesting that the order be set aside. The judge declined to do so. Shortly thereafter, Mohney asked the court to hold the Cabinet in contempt for its failure to abide by the court's prior order. The Cabinet then moved to intervene in the action, and it filed a formal motion to set aside the May 14, 2001, order. Although the district court granted the Cabinet's motion to intervene, the court denied the Cabinet's motion to set aside the court's May 14, 2001, order requiring the Cabinet to reinstate Mohney's license. Thereupon, the Cabinet appealed to the Graves Circuit Court, which affirmed the district court's order. The Cabinet then petitioned this Court for discretionary review, which was granted on April 11, 2002.
As noted above, the district court dismissed the charge against Mohney for operating on a suspended license. Furthermore, the Commonwealth has not appealed from that order of dismissal. Thus, the only question before this Court is whether the district court properly ordered the Cabinet to reinsta
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