Justia Government & Administrative Law Opinion Summaries

After Toby Welch was arrested for operating a vehicle while intoxicated, police officers requested a breath specimen to be used for chemical testing. Welch refused the request. After talking to his attorney, however, Welch told officers that he wanted to consent to the breath test. The officers declined the request, commenting that because Welch had already refused, it was too late to submit to the test. Based on his refusal to submit to chemical testing, the Iowa DOT revoked Welch's driver's license for one year. The DOT's administrative law judge sustained the revocation, and the reviewing officer affirmed. The district court affirmed the revocation. At issue on appeal was whether the "one refusal is determinative" rule set forth in Krueger v. Fulton should be abrogated in favor of a more flexible standard permitting a motorist's subsequent consent to cure a prior initial refusal to submit to chemical testing. The Supreme Court rejected Welch's appeal and upheld the revocation of his license, concluding that a rule treating the motorist's initial refusal as determinative was supported by Court precedents, was consistent with the general assembly's intent, and was easier for police and courts to administer.

Two corporations organized as multiple housing cooperatives appealed the classification of their real estate as commercial for property tax purposes to the Jasper County Board of Review. The board did not alter the classification of the properties, and the cooperatives appealed. The district court affirmed the board's determination, concluding that the cooperative was actually operating as a standard rental property. After granting the cooperatives' combined motion for amendment and enlargement of findings and for a new trial, the district court concluded the cooperatives had followed all proper corporate formalities and were set up exactly as prescribed by Iowa law. Accordingly, the court reversed its prior ruling and concluded the real estate should properly be classified as residential. The court of appeals affirmed. On review, the Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) Iowa law requires property owned by residential cooperatives, properly organized under chapter Iowa Code chapter 499A, to be classified as residential and taxed at residential property rates; and (2) because the cooperatives were operating on a nonprofit basis, there was no basis for penetrating the corporate veil.