STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

GRADY GRIFFIS, JR., )

)

Petitioner, )

)

vs. ) CASE NO 87-3005S

)

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, )

DIVISION OF LICENSING, )

)

Respondent. )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

Final hearing in the above-styled action was held, pursuant to notice, on December 11, 1987, in Cocoa, Florida, before Robert E. Meale, Hearing Officer of the Division of Administrative Hearings.

The parties were represented as follows:

For Petitioner: Grady Griffis, Jr., pro se

255 West Lucas Road Apartment No. E-322

Merritt Island, Florida 32952

For Respondent: R. Timothy Jansen, Esquire

Department of State Division of Licensing

The Capitol, Mail Station #4 Tallahassee, Florida 32399

BACKGROUND

On March 24, 1987, Respondent notified Petitioner by letter that his application for a Class "D" license for unarmed guard had been denied. The letter cited as grounds for denial that Petitioner had committed fraud or willful misrepresentation in omitting certain items in his license application and that he had been convicted of a crime that directly relates to the business for which the license was sought.

By undated letter received by Respondent on June 23, 1987, Petitioner notified Respondent that he disputed several facts concerning the denial. On the same date, Respondent received from Petitioner an Election of Rights requesting a formal hearing.

Petitioner presented one witness, himself. Respondent presented no other witnesses. Respondent offered six exhibits into evidence. All were admitted.

Respondent filed a Proposed Recommended Order. Treatment of the proposed findings is set forth in the attached Appendix. Petitioner filed no Proposed Recommended Order.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Petitioner is 37 years old. In 1985 and 1986, he was employed as a security guard in Cocoa, Florida.

   
   

2. On October 17, 1968, he was arrested in Brevard County, Florida, and charged with a felony -- breaking in and entering with an intent to commit the misdemeanor of petit larceny. Petitioner and a friend had broken into a laundromat with the intent to break into a soda machine. Petitioner pled guilty to the felony. He was adjudicated guilty and sentenced to five years imprisonment. Shortly thereafter, the sentence was set aside, and Petitioner was placed on probation.

   
   

3. Petitioner was arrested for separate violation of the terms of his probation on November 6, 1969; August 18, 1970; January 3, 1977; and January 17, 1977. He was also arrested on May 29, 1974, in Melbourne, Florida, and charged with disorderly conduct -- prowling. Shortly after the May, 1974, arrest, Petitioner was referred to Brevard County, Division of Mental Health, for treatment. He was committed to the state mental health facility at Chattahoochee, Florida for further treatment at that time.

   
   

4. Respondent's civil rights have never been restored after the felony conviction in 1968.

   
   

5. On July 17, 1986, Petitioner executed his Application for Unarmed Guard License, the denial of this application resulted in the present hearing. In response to Question No. 13, which requires that the applicant list all arrests, Petitioner listed only "Breakin & Enting" (sic) in December, 1966 (sic).

   
   

   CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

   
   

6. The Division of Administrative Hearings has jurisdiction over the the subject matter and parties. Section 120.57(1), Florida Statutes.

   
   

7. Respondent has jurisdiction over the licensing of security guards. Section 493.322, Florida Statutes.

   
   

8. Respondent may deny a license under Chapter 493, Part I, Florida Statutes, in the event of fraud or willful misrepresentation in applying for a license or conviction of a crime that directly relates to the business for which the license is sought. Sections 493.319(1)(a) and (c); 493.319(2), Florida Statutes.

   
   

9. Overriding the provisions of Sections 493.319(1)(c) and (2), Section 493.319(3), Florida Statutes, expressly provides:

   
   

   [T]he department shall deny an applica- tion . . . when the person . . . has been convicted of a felony, regardless of whether . . . imposition of sentence was suspended, unless and until civil rights have been restored and a period of 10 years has expired.

10. Petitioner has been convicted of a felony. His civil rights have never been restored. Respondent is without discretion. Regardless of the truthfulness of Petitioner's application, Respondent has no alternative but to deny the subject license application.

RECOMMENDATION

Based on the foregoing, it is hereby RECOMMENDED that Respondent enter a Final Order denying Petitioner's application for a Class "D" license as an unarmed guard under Chapter 493, Florida Statutes.

ENTERED this 30th day of December, 1987, in Tallahassee, Florida.

ROBERT E. MEALE

Hearing Officer

Division of Administrative Hearings The Oakland Building

2009 Apalachee Parkway

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1550

(904) 488-9675

Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 30th day of December, 1987.

APPENDIX TO RECOMMENDED ORDER, CASE NO. 87-3005S TREATMENT ACCORDED RESPONDENT'S PROPOSED FINDINGS OF FACT

Findings 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 are accepted.

Findings 2 and 3 are rejected in part as not supported by the evidence adduced at the hearing.

COPIES FURNISHED:

Ken Rouse, Esquire General Counsel Department of State 1801 The Capitol

Tallahassee, Florida 32399

R. Timothy Jansen, Esquire Department of State Division of Licensing

The Capitol, M.S. 4 Tallahassee, Florida 32399

Grady Griffis, Jr.

255 West Lucas Road Apartment No. E-322

Merritt Island, Florida 32952

Docket for Case No: 87-003005

Orders for Case No: 87-003005