Lucas v. State
Lucas v. State
Opinion of the Court
The Motor Vehicles Division (MVD) appeals from an order of the circuit court which reversed an order of MVD suspending petitioner’s operators license for refusal to take a breathalyzer test. We reverse.
The circuit court reversed the suspension order on the ground that the police officers’ “sworn report” was invalid. ORS 487.805(3) provides, in pertinent part:
“If a person refuses a chemical test under subsection (2) of this section, the police officer shall prepare a sworn report of the refusal and cause it to be delivered to the division. * * * ”
The facts are not in dispute. After his arrest by Deputy Sheriff Kurtz, petitioner refused the breath test at the Salem Police Department. Officer Watson, who was to administer the test, completed a one page form titled “sworn report” and signed it before a notary public. Later the same night, Kurtz inserted additional handwritten information on the face of Watson’s report and typed a narrative statement on the reverse side. On the face of Watson’s report and near the bottom, Kurtz attached a form for his signature and that of a notary public. Kurtz signed the attached form before another notary. At the hearing in circuit court each officer testified as to the accuracy and truthfulness of his respective statements contained in the report. The form as described was the “sworn report” that initiated the license suspension process with MVD. ORS 482.540.
The sworn report is a jurisdictional requirement. Without the report MVD is without authority to order a suspension. Blackburn v. Motor Vehicles Div., 33 Or App 397, 576 P2d 1267 (1978). The report required by ORS 487.805(3), supra, is one that must be signed and sworn to before a notary public or other official authoritized to administer an oath. Blackburn v. Motor Vehicles Div., supra, at 402; Dotson v. Motor Vehicles Div., 25 Or App 393, 549 P2d 1143, rev’d on other grounds, (1976); Andros v. Dept. of Motor Vehicles, 5 Or App 418, 485 P2d 635 (1971).
In the present case neither officer swore to the truth of the other officer’s statements in the “sworn report.” The officers did not simultaneously prepare the
Reversed and remanded for trial.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.