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Director of Revenue v. Klenke10/17/2000
Appeal From: Circuit Court of Franklin County, Hon. Jeff W. Schaeperkoetter
Opinion Vote: REVERSED AND REMANDED.
Ahrens, P.J., and J. Dowd, J., concur.
Opinion:
The Director of Revenue (Director) appeals from the circuit court's judgment in an expungement action brought by Michael Terry Klenke under section 577.054 RSMo. 1994. We reverse and remand.
In 1997, Klenke brought an action in the Circuit Court of Franklin County, City of Union Municipal Division (Municipal Court) seeking expungement of his records under section 577.054. The parties stipulated that: (1) on April 1, 1985, Klenke pleaded guilty in Municipal Court to driving while intoxicated; (2) Klenke's guilty plea was for his first alcohol related offense and did not involve driving a commercial motor vehicle; and (3) since his plea, Klenke had not been convicted of any alcohol related offense or had any other alcohol related contacts, as defined in section 302.525 RSMo. 1994, for the ten years prior to bringing his expungement action. The Municipal Court ordered expungement of all records relating to Klenke's conviction for driving while intoxicated, including records of any administrative action taken by Director. Director filed a petition for trial de novo in circuit court seeking review of the Municipal Court's decision. The circuit court dismissed Director's petition for lack of jurisdiction. Because Director had the right to a trial de novo under section 479.200 RSMo. 1994, this court reversed the circuit court's judgment and remanded for further proceedings. Director of Revenue v. Klenke, 988 S.W.2d 82, 84 (Mo. App. E.D. 1994).
After remand by this court, the circuit court considered, among other things, Director's exhibit A. This exhibit consisted of Department of Revenue records that were certified by the custodian of records under section 302.312 RSMo. Cum. Supp. 1998. The court entered judgment and ordered the expungement of the portion of exhibit A that contained the Department of Revenue's notice to Klenke of his loss of driving privileges, the December 15, 1984 report of the arresting officer, Klenke's traffic ticket for driving while intoxicated, the blood alcohol test report, D.W.I. offense report and the portion of Klenke's Missouri Driver Record that showed Klenke's administrative revocation of his driving privileges. Director appeals.
Director argues that section 577.054 relates only to expungement of arrest and criminal records and does not authorize expungement of Department of Revenue administrative actions. Section 577.054 provides:
After a period of not less than ten years, an individual who has pleaded guilty or has been convicted for a first alcohol-related 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 alcohol and who since such date has not been convicted of any other alcohol-related driving offense may apply to the court in which he pled guilty or was sentenced for an order to expunge from all official records all recordations of his arrest, plea, trial or conviction. If the court determines, after hearing, that such person has not been convicted of any alcohol-related driving offense in the ten years prior to the date of the application for expungement, and has no other alcohol-related enforcement contacts as defined in section 302.525, RSMo, during that ten-year period, the court shall enter an order of expungement. The effect of such order shall be to restore such person to the status he occupied prior to such arrest, plea or conviction and as if such event had never taken place. No person as to
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