[VOLUME 9, PAGE 103]
Cause #: 02-025D
Caption: Strasser v. DNR
Administrative Law Judge: Wilcox
Attorneys: pro se (Strasser); Ellis
Date: March 10, 2003
ORDER
No genuine issue of material fact exists that Strasser submitted his application for lifetime comprehensive fishing and hunting license in 2002, at the time increased license fees were controlling. The Department is entitled to judgment as a matter of law that Strasser's application, with fee for 2001 license, could not be granted under the 2001 fee structure. DNR's denial of lifetime comprehensive hunting and fishing license is upheld.
FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. IC 4-21.5, IC 14-8 and IC 14-22 apply to these proceedings.
2. The Department of Natural Resources, ("Department"), is the state agency responsible for the protection and management of fish and wildlife resources within the State of Indiana as provided in IC 14-22-1-1.
3. The Natural Resources Commission, "Commission", is the ultimate authority for the Department of Natural Resources, pursuant to IC 14-20-2-3.
4. The Director of the Department is authorized to issue hunting and fishing licenses under IC 14-22-11-3. The Commission prescribes the fees for issuing lifetime comprehensive hunting and fishing licenses in IC 14-22-12-1, which provides:
Sec.1... (b) The commission may set license fees to hunt, trap, or fish above the minimum fees established under subsection (a)...
SUMMARY JUDGEMENT
5. Summary judgment is proper "to terminate litigation about which there can be no factual dispute and which may be determined as a matter of law." United Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co. v. Schult, 602 N.E. 2d 173, 174 (Ind. App. 1Dist. 1992) citing Bassett v. Glock (1977), 174 Ind. App. 439, 368 N.E. 2d 18.
6. The moving party bears the burden of proving "the absence of a factual issue and its entitlement to judgment as a matter of law." Norman v. Turkey Run Community School Corp., 274 Ind. 310, 411 N.E. 2d 614, 615 (1980). "Once the movant has sustained this burden, the opponent must respond by setting forth specific facts showing a genuine issue for trial." Powell v. American Health Fitness Center, 694 N.E. 2d 757, 759 citing Stephenson v. Ledbetter, 596 N.E. 2d 1369, 1371 (Ind. 1992). "If the adverse party does not respond as required by this subsection, the administrative law judge may enter summary judgment against the adverse party." Ind. Code 4-21.5-3-23(f).
7. If the designated evidentiary materials show there is no genuine issue of material fact, summary judgment is appropriate, and, as a matter of law, the moving party is entitled to judgment. Chester v. Indianapolis Newspapers, Inc., 553 N.E. 2d 137, 139 (Ind. App. 2Dist. 1990).
8. Ind. Code 4-21.5-3-23(b) additionally provides that "summary judgment may not be granted as a matter of course because the opposing party fails to offer opposing affidavits or evidence, but the administrative law judge shall make a determination
[VOLUME 9, PAGE 104]
from the affidavits and testimony offered upon the matters placed in issue by the pleadings or the evidence."
9. Pursuant to IC 4-22-12-1(b), in August 2001, the Commission approved an increase in Indiana hunting, fishing, and trapping licenses, above the minimum fees set forth in IC 4-22-12-1(a). See Commission Minutes establishing new fees in Exhibit A of the Department's Motion for Summary Judgment. The new fees were approved for effectiveness on January 1, 2002. Id.
10. In December 2001, Strasser requested an application for a lifetime comprehensive hunting and fishing license from the the Division of Fish and Wildlife of the Department. See Strasser May 7, 2002 Letter. In the letter, Strasser provides, "I received the application approximately December 31, 2001 or January 1 or 2. The application is a 2001 application with the 2001 rates ..."
11. Strasser continues in the May 7, 2002 letter, " I signed the 2001 application, wrote a check in the amount of $708.75, and sent both to the DNR the first week of January 2002 (See Exhibit B). I requested the comprehensive hunting and fishing lifetime license."
12. The 2001 cost for a lifetime comprehensive hunting and fishing license was seven hundred eight dollars and seventy-five cents, $708.75, as provided in IC 14-22-12-7 and IC 14-22-12-1.[FOOTNOTE 1]
13. Based on the rate increase by the NRC at its August 22, 2001 meeting, the 2002 cost for comprehensive hunting and fishing license is one thousand one hundred fifty-four dollars and twenty-five cents, $1,154.25, four hundred forty-five dollars and fifty cents, $445.50, more than the 2001 license cost.[FOOTNOTE 2]
14. Strasser's application was sent to DNR during the first week of January, as stated by Strasser in his May 7, 2002 letter. At the time of his submittal, the increased license fees of January 2002 were in effect, not the 2001 license fees. See NRC August 22, 2001 meeting minutes at Department Exhibit A.
15. State agencies are creatures of statute and function within the boundaries of prescribed duties, responsibilities and procedures designated within those statutory schemes.
16. Pursuant to IC 14-22-12-1(b), the Commission may set license fees above the minimum fees established in IC 14-22-12-1(a). In August 2001, the Commission set new license fees starting January 1, 2002, as provided in the NRC Minutes of Exhibit A.
17. IC 14-22-12-7 provides "the director may issue to residents of Indiana to hunt, fish, or trap. Subject to subsection (b), the following license fees shall be charged." [Emphasis supplied.] As a creature of statute, the Department is precluded from charging the 2001 fees for applications received after January 1, 2002, after the Commission set increased license fees, fees set for effectiveness on January 1, 2002.
18. No genuine issue of material fact exists as to whether Strasser submitted the application for lifetime comprehensive fishing and hunting license in 2002. By his admission, Strasser sent the fee and application "to the DNR the first week of January 2002. Strasser's request for an application in December 2001 is not the equivalent of submitting the fee and the application to the Department. '
FOOTNOTES
1. Resident Yearly Fishing License ($8.75) times thirty (30) = $262.50; Resident Yearly Hunting License ($8.75) times sixty (60) = $525.00. ($525.00 + $262.50) times 0.90 = $708.75.
2. The 2002 Resident Yearly Fishing License Fee is $14.25. The 2002 Resident Yearly Hunting License Fee is $14.25.