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McNally v. St. Louis County Police Department5/16/2000
Appeal From: Circuit Court of St. Louis County, Hon. Kenneth M. Romines
Opinion Vote: REVERSED. R. Dowd, Jr., and Sullivan, JJ., concur.
Opinion:
The Director of Revenue (the Director) appeals from the judgment of the circuit court ordering the Director to expunge petitioner's administrative alcohol suspension under Section 577.054 RSMo (1994). On appeal, the Director contends that the trial court exceeded its jurisdiction and misapplied the law because petitioner sought expungement of arrest records under Section 610.122 RSMo (Cum. Supp. 1998), a section which does not provide for expungement of records of administrative actions. The Director further argues that Section 577.054 likewise does not authorize the relief granted. We reverse.
Petitioner, Mark A. McNally, who was born on September 26, 1954 was arrested on January 4, 1987 and charged with driving while intoxicated. On March 27, 1987, the Director took action against petitioner's driving privilege in the form of administrative alcohol suspension. Petitioner was thirty-two years old. The Director suspended petitioner's driving privilege for thirty days. The Department of Revenue's Electronic Record System shows with respect to petitioner:
Department Actions______________________________________________
Administrative Alcohol Suspension effective on 3-27-1987
Eligible to reinstate on 6-25-1987, action is Reinstated as of 7-12-1988
Offense occurred in Non-Commercial Vehicle
Case AD87057949, ticket no. 000020607
On February 5, 1999, petitioner filed a "Petition for Expungement of Arrest Records" pursuant to Section 610.122 RSMo, naming the St. Louis County Police Department, City of Maplewood, Maplewood Municipal Police Department, Missouri Highway Patrol Troop C, Criminal Records Repository, Regional Justice Information Service Commission and the Director as defendants. The petition was noticed for hearing on March 9, 1999. The Director filed a "Motion to Dismiss Petition as it Relates to Administrative Suspension" on the grounds that petitioner was ineligible for expungement of his 1987 suspension under Section 577.054.
On March 9, 1999, the trial court heard the petition. In its judgment the court found that Section 577.054 applies to an administrative suspension and ordered the Director to expunge the record of petitioner's administrative suspension. The Director appeals.
The Director first argues that, because petitioner petitioned the court for expungement under Section 610.122 , the court had no authority to proceed under Section 577.054. Although no record was made of the hearing, it appears from the legal file that the issue was tried as a claim under Section 577.054 by consent. In his motion to dismiss, the Director argued only reasons why Section 577.054 did not apply and did not mention Section 610.122. In addition, the trial court recited in its judgment that plaintiff had petitioned for expungement pursuant to Section 577.054.
The Director next argues that Section 577.054 does not authorize expungement in this case because that statute authorizes only the expungement of records relating to an individual's arrest, plea, trial and conviction and does not extend to an administrative suspension. We agree.
Section 577.054 provides in part:
After a period of not less than ten years, an individual who has pleaded guilty or has been convicted for a first alcohol-related driving offense which is a misdemeanor or a county or city ordinance violation and which is not a conviction for driving a commercial motor vehicle while under the influence of
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