FOR
PUBLICATION
IN
THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS
OF THE STATE OF HAWAI`I
---o0o---
NO. 26367
MAY 22, 2006
BURNS, C.J., FOLEY AND FUJISE, JJ.
OPINION OF THE COURT BY FOLEY, J.
The district court ruled that Kauai Police Department General Order (GO) 2000-01 establishing authority and procedures at sobriety checkpoints did not comply with publication requirements set forth in Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) Chapter 91, Administrative Procedure, and was therefore illegal. We disagree, vacate, and remand.
I.
FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
The unchallenged and binding Findings of Fact of the district court are as follows (2):
1. During
the late afternoon and/or early evening hours of Friday, April 25,
2003, Sergeant Mark
Scribner and other officers of the
Kauai Police Department
(hereinafter "KPD") set up a sobriety
checkpoint on Olohena Road, in the vicinity of Kapaa Middle
School (hereinafter
"Checkpoint"). The
Checkpoint was administered in accordance with KPD General Order
2000-01, "DUI Sobriety
Checkpoints."
3. During the Checkpoint operations that evening, five uniformed KPD officers were present.
5.
KPD Officer Joseph Kaauwai, Jr. observed what he
believed to be indicia of Defendant's alcohol
intoxication, and an investigation
for OVUII ("Operating A Vehicle
Under The Influence Of An
Intoxicant") was initiated.
7.
General Order 2000-01 ("GO 2000-01") of the Kauai
Police Department, dealing with DUI Sobriety
Checkpoints, was issued on June
20, 2000 and bore an effective
date of "Immediately."
9.
Before a general order is signed/approved by the
chief of police for department wide
application, it is first reviewed by the district
commander and union
representatives.
11. A general order may be but is not always routed to the Police Commission for information and/or input.
13. GO 2000-01 was not adopted or approved by the Kauai Police Commission, Kauai County Council or Mayor.
15.
The Kauai Police Department did not provide at least
thirty (30) days notice for a public
hearing on GO 2000-01 prior to its
adoption.
17.
There is no evidence of any rule, order, ordinance
or other document, other than GO 2000-01,
which currently establishes and/or
implements
intoxicant control checkpoints in the County of
Kauai.
The State challenged the second sentence of Finding of Fact 14, which reads as follows:
14. . . . GO 2000-01 is therefore a regulation or directive which affects private rights of or procedures available to the public.
The unchallenged Conclusions of Law of the district court are as follows:1.
Section 291E-19 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes provides
authorization for county police
departments in the State of Hawaii to
establish and implement
intoxicant control roadblock programs
in accordance with the minimum standards and guidelines provided
in Section 291E-20, HRS.
3. The Kauai Police Department is an "agency" within the meaning and coverage of Section 91-1(1) of the Hawaii Revised Statutes.
"Rule" means each agency statement of general or
particular applicability and future effect that
implements, interprets, or prescribes
law or policy, or describes
the organization, procedure, or
practice requirements of any agency. The term does not include
regulations concerning only
the
internal management of an agency and not affecting private rights of or
procedures available to the
public, nor does the term
include declaratory rulings issued pursuant to section 91-8, nor
intra-agency memoranda.
6.
The adoption, amendment or repeal of any rule by any
county agency shall be subject to the
approval of the mayor of the county.
Sec. 91-1(c), HRS.
The State challenges the district court's Conclusions of Law 8 and 9, which read as follows:
8.
Although entitled a "General Order" rather than a
rule or rules, GO 2000-01 is the only document
which purports to establish an
intoxication control checkpoint
program in the County of Kauai and
to set forth the procedures to be followed in carrying out said
program in the County of Kauai.
As
such, adoption of GO 2000-01 required compliance with the provisions of
Chapter 91, including
notice and public hearing prior
to adoption of a rule.
II.
The statutes at issue in this case, HRS §§ 291E-19 (Supp. 2005) and 291E-20 (Supp. 2005), setting forth the requirements and procedures for intoxicant control roadblocks, are as follows:
§291E-19 Authorization to establish intoxicant control roadblock programs. The police departments of the respective counties may establish and implement intoxicant control roadblock programs in accordance with the minimum standards and guidelines provided in section 291E-20. The chief of police in any county establishing an intoxicant control roadblock program pursuant to this section shall specify the procedures to be followed in carrying out the program in rules adopted under chapter 91; provided that the procedures shall be in conformity with and not more intrusive than the standards and guidelines described in section 291E-20. In the case of internal police standards that do not fall within the definition of "rule" under section 91-1(4), failure to comply scrupulously with such internal police procedures shall not invalidate a roadblock that otherwise meets the minimum statutory criteria provided in section 291E-20.
(1)
Require that all vehicles approaching roadblocks be
stopped or that certain vehicles be stopped
by selecting vehicles in a specified
numerical sequence or
pattern;
(3) Provide for the following minimum safety precautions at every roadblock:
(B) Off-road or otherwise safe and secure holding areas for vehicles involved in any roadblock stop;
(D)
Adequate advance warning of the fact and purpose of
the roadblocks, either by sign posts,
flares, or other alternative
methods;
(4)
Provide for a sufficient quantity and visibility of
uniformed officers and official vehicles to
ensure speedy compliance with the
purpose of the
roadblocks and to move traffic with a minimum of
inconvenience.
III.
KAUAI POLICE DEPARTMENT GO 2000-01 (DUI SOBRIETY CHECKPOINTS)
The Kauai Police Department GO 2000-01 (DUI Sobriety Checkpoints) at issue in this case reads as follows:I. Purpose
II. Authority
The police departments of the respective counties are authorized to
establish and implement
intoxication and drug control
roadblock programs in accordance with the minimum
standards and
guidelines provided in section 286-162.6. The chief of
police in any county establishing an
intoxication and drug control roadblock program pursuant to this
section shall specify the
procedures to be followed in carrying out the
program in rules adopted under chapter 91; provided
that the procedures shall be
in conformity with and not more intrusive than the
standards and
guidelines described in section 286-162.6.
Require either that all motor vehicles,
or mopeds, or both, approaching roadblocks be stopped, or
that certain motor vehicles, or
mopeds, or both, be
stopped by selecting motor vehicles, or mopeds,
or both, in a specified numerical sequence or pattern.
IV. Require that roadblocks be located at fixed locations for a maximum of three-hour period.
V. Provide for the following minimum safety precautions at every roadblock:
B. Off-road or otherwise safe and secure holding areas for motor vehicles, mopeds, or both, involved in any roadblock stop[.]
D. Use Light generators or other lighting source to illuminate the roadblock area.
1. Minimum of four (4) uniformed officers at each check point.
F. The roadblock shall be terminated at the discretion of the Supervisor in Charge when traffic congestion occurs.
VII. All personnel shall strictly adhere to the provisions of this order.
(Emphasis in original.)IV.
The State challenges the second sentence of Finding of Fact 14: "GO 2000-01 is therefore a regulation or directive which affects private rights of or procedures available to the public." The challenged Conclusions of Law 8 and 9 rest on this "finding of fact," which is fundamentally a conclusion of law.
It is undisputed that GO 2000-01 was not adopted pursuant to HRS Chapter 91. GO 2000-01 would not be required to be adopted pursuant to Chapter 91 if it concerned "only the internal management of an agency and not affecting private rights of or procedures available to the public." HRS § 91-1(4) (1993) (defining "rule" subject to requirements of Chapter 91); see also, HRS § 291E-19 (cross-reference to HRS § 91-1(4)).
In State v. Fedak, 9 Haw. App. 98, 825 P.2d 1068 (1992), this court held that a Honolulu Police Department (HPD) regulation establishing and implementing an intoxication control roadblock program was "aimed at prescribing and controlling the police officer's activities in order to minimize the intrusion on the driver's rights." (4) Id. at 101, 825 P.2d at 1070. This court concluded the HPD regulation was an internal one as defined by HRS § 91-1(4) and "therefore, exempt from Chapter 91's promulgation provisions." Fedak, 9 Haw. App. at 100, 825 P.2d at 1070. This court, however, ruled that the stop at the roadblock was illegal because the police did not comply with an HPD regulation regarding the location of the roadblock. Id. at 104, 825 P.2d at 1072.
This court followed the Fedak decision with In re Doe, 9 Haw. App. 406, 844 P.2d 679 (1992), which held that Hawai`i County Police Department (HCPD) field sobriety testing procedures concerned only the internal management of HCPD and were not subject to the requirements of Chapter 91. In re Doe, 9 Haw. App. at 412, 844 P.2d at 682-83.
In response to this court's decision in Fedak, the Hawai`i Legislature enacted Act 183:
ACT 183 H.B. NO. 4
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Hawaii.
SECTION 2. Section 286-162.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
1999 Haw. Sess. Laws Act 183, §§ 1 & 2 at 629-30 (emphasis in original; footnote not in original).
In recommending the passage of House Bill No. 4, which became Act 183, the legislative committees that reviewed and reported on House Bill No. 4 wrote in part:
Your Committee finds that the legal seizure of vehicles stopped at intoxication and drug control checkpoints have been questioned in courts when procedures do not adhere to minimum statutory roadblock requirements. Your Committee further finds that police departments may wish to exceed minimum requirements without jeopardizing the validity of their roadblocks.
Hse. Stand. Comm. Rep. 71, in 1999 House Journal, at 1036.
The purpose of this bill is to provide that failure to comply scrupulously with police procedures that exceed the minimum statutory roadblock requirements will not invalidate a roadblock that otherwise meets the minimum statutory criteria.
. . . .
Your Committee finds that the current law was not intended to be interpreted to invalidate roadblocks that did not comply with internal police procedures that exceed the minimum statutory roadblock requirements.
Sen. Stand. Comm. Rep. 958, in 1999 Senate Journal, at 1351.
Your Committee finds that internal police procedures for roadblocks, which may relate to points as minor as the color of the vest to be worn by officers at the roadblock, should not be treated as having the weight of law for the purpose of determining the legal validity of a roadblock. However, your Committee agrees that rules adopted pursuant to Chapter 91, Hawaii Revised Statutes, after the public review and hearing process provided for by that chapter, should be followed after their adoption and may fairly be treated as requirements for a legally valid roadblock.
Sen. Stand. Comm. Rep. 1485, in 1999 Senate Journal, at 1596.The purpose of this bill is to clarify that, in the case of internal police procedures that are not subject to the Hawaii Administrative Procedure Act, chapter 91, Hawaii Revised Statutes, failure of the police to comply scrupulously with such internal police procedures shall not invalidate a roadblock that otherwise meets the minimum statutory criteria provided in section 286-162.6, Hawaii Revised Statutes.
Sen. Conf. Comm. Rep. No. 61, in 1999 Senate Journal, at 864-65; Hse. Conf. Comm. Rep. No. 61, in 1999 House Journal, at 935.
The Legislature did not find this court erred in Fedak when this court held that the HPD regulation establishing and implementing an intoxication control roadblock program was not subject to the requirements of HRS Chapter 91 in that it concerned "only the internal management of an agency and not affecting private rights of or procedures available to the public." HRS § 91-1(4). The Kauai Police Department GO 2000-01 is not legally distinguishable from the HPD regulation in Fedak as far as the applicability of HRS Chapter 91 to county intoxication control roadblock programs, and, therefore, GO 2000-01 was not required to be promulgated pursuant to HRS Chapter 91. We decline Gary K. Claunch's invitation to depart from precedent on this point:
Precedent is "[a]n adjudged case or decision of a court, considered as furnishing an example of authority for an identical or similar case afterwards arising or a similar question of law." Black's Law Dictionary 1176 (6th ed. 1990). The "[p]olicy of courts to stand by precedent and not to disturb settled point[s]" is referred to as the doctrine of stare decisis, id. at 1406, and operates "as a principle of self-restraint with respect to the overruling of prior decisions." Robinson v. Ariyoshi, 65 Haw. 641, 653 n.10, 658 P.2d 287, 297 n.10 (1982), reconsideration denied, 66 Haw. 528, 726, P.2d 1133 (1983). The benefit of stare decisis is that it "furnish[es] a clear guide for the conduct of individuals, to enable them to plan their affairs with assurance against untoward surprise; eliminat[es] the need to relitigate every relevant proposition in every case; and maintain[s] public faith in the judiciary as a source of impersonal and reasoned judgments." Id. (citing Moragne v. States Marine Lines, Inc., 398 U.S. 375, 403, 90 S. Ct. 1772, 26 L. Ed. 2d 339 (1970)).
. . . .
State v. Garcia, 96 Hawai`i 200, 205-06, 29 P.3d 919, 925-26 (2001) (ellipses in original omitted).
We conclude there is no compelling justification for departing from the doctrine of stare decisis in this case. The Legislature relied on this court's holding in Fedak that the police department's regulation establishing and implementing an intoxication control roadblock program concerned only internal management of the department and was therefore not required to be promulgated pursuant to HRS Chapter 91. City and county governments (including their police departments), as well as the public, have acted in reliance on the precedent of Fedak since 1992. Overruling Fedak would dislodge settled rights and expectations. No cogent reason or inescapable logic requires this departure from precedent.
The district court erred when it found and concluded that GO 2000-01 was "a regulation or directive which affects private rights of or procedures available to the public" and was therefore subject to the requirements of HRS Chapter 91. The district court should have instead determined whether the Kauai Police Department intoxicant control roadblock program met the minimum statutory criteria provided in HRS § 291E-20.
V.
CONCLUSION
Therefore, the "Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, Decision and Order Granting Defendant Gary K. Claunch's Motion to Suppress, Filed on June 26, 2003," filed December 22, 2003 in the District Court of the Fifth Circuit is vacated, and this case is remanded to the district court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
1. The Honorable Trudy K. Senda presided.
2. Unchallenged findings of fact of the lower court are binding on the appellate court. Okada Trucking Co., Ltd. v. Bd. of Water Supply, 97 Hawai`i 450, 458, 40 P.3d 73, 81 (2002).
3. Findings of Fact 19-21, not listed above, noted this court's discussion in State v. Fedak, 9 Haw. App. 98, 825 P.2d 1068 (1992).
4. The Honolulu Police Department regulation referred to in Fedak was adopted pursuant to Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) § 286-162.5 (1985), which, at that time, read as follows:
5. HRS § 286-162.6 (1985 & Supp. 1991) read at the time as follows:
(1)
Require either that all motor vehicles, or mopeds,
or both, approaching roadblocks be stopped, or that
certain motor
vehicles, or mopeds, or both, be stopped by selecting motor vehicles,
or mopeds, or both, in
a specified numerical
sequence
or pattern.
(3) Provide for the following minimum safety precautions at every roadblock:
(B)
Off-road or otherwise safe and secure holding areas
for motor vehicles, or mopeds, or both, involved
in any
roadblock
stop;
(D)
Adequate advance warning of the fact and purpose of
the roadblocks, either by sign posts, flares, or
other alternative
methods; and
(4)
Provide for a sufficient quantity and visibility of
uniformed officers and official vehicles to assure speedy
compliance
with the purpose of the roadblocks and to move traffic with a minimum
of inconvenience.
HRS § 286-162.6
was subsequently re-enacted as HRS § 291E-20 (the statute at issue
in the instant case) by Act 189 § 23
of the 2000 Hawai`i Legislature.