DAVID A. NORD, APPELLANT,
v.
FLORIDA PAROLE AND PROBATION COMMISSION, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 1982-08-16
No. AK-490
ROBERT P. SMITH, Jr., C. J., and WENTWORTH, J., concur.
417 So. 2d 1176 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1982) Caution
Cited by 10 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.


Holding

The court held that the Florida Parole and Probation Commission's rule aggregating offenses for calculating a presumptive parole release date (PPRD) does not violate legislative intent and is valid.


Headnotes

[1] A parole commission's rule for aggregating offenses in computing a presumptive parole release date is valid when it aligns with legislative intent granting broad authorit…

[2] The definition of 'salient factor score' is left to the discretion of the parole commission, and the statute does not prohibit the use of each conviction in determining t…

Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

Appellant challenged the validity of a Florida Administrative Code rule used by the Commission to aggregate offenses when calculating a presumptive pa…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
LARRY G. SMITH, Judge.

LARRY G. SMITH, Judge.

We find no merit in appellant’s appeal from establishment of his PPRD in which he challenges the validity of the Commission’s Rule 23-21.11(3), Florida Administrative Code, which provides for the “aggregation” of offenses, in computing the PPRD, where the inmate is currently serving a commitment imposed prior to his present commitment.1 While still serving his sentence for conviction of carrying a concealed firearm, appellant was convicted of several offenses (carrying a concealed weapon, resisting an officer with violence, battery on a law enforcement officer, grand theft and petty theft) for which he received concurrent sentences (five years being the longest), and subsequently was also convicted for escape, receiving a one year consecutive sentence. He argues that the Commission’s aggregation rule above referred to violates the legislative intent of Section 947.165(1), Florida Statutes (1981), which provides that factors used in arriving at the salient factor score and the severity of offense behavior category shall not be applied as aggravating circumstances. Appellant points out that for the offense, the sentence for which he was serving when the subsequent convictions occurred, he received one salient factor point which resulted in a matrix time range of 12 to 20 months.

However, when the Commission aggregated his subsequent offense of battery on a police officer, his salient factor score jumped to five for a matrix time range of 26-32 months. Likewise, his escape conviction, when aggregated, resulted in a computed salient factor score of six, which placed him in the 32-48 month range. These time ranges, added together, yielded 78 months, which resulted in a PPRD of February 12, 1985.

Appellant’s contention that the aggregation rule is in violation of the statute overlooks the fact that under subsection (1) of Section 947.165, the Commission is given broad authority to develop and implement objective parole guidelines, the only requirement being that the guidelines “shall be developed according to an acceptable research method and shall be based on the seriousness of offense and the likelihood of favorable parole outcome.” “Salient factor score” is not defined by statute, but is a term itself left for definition by the Commission. The Commission’s Rule 23-21.-02(38) defines the term as follows: “Salient Factors are the indices of the offender’s present and prior criminal behavior and related factors found by experience to be predictive in regard to parole outcome.” (emphasis supplied)

We find no prohibition in the statute against the use of each conviction in determining the salient factor score, as defined by the Commission, and the aggregation of the matrix time ranges for the several offenses. The fact that the Commission’s rules may permit the Commission to arrive at a poorer parole prognosis for an inmate sentenced for a new offense or offenses while serving a sentence, than for one whose sentences for prior derelictions have already been completed before being committed on a new sentence or sentences, is a matter peculiarly within the expertise and discretion of the Commission.

Although we have accepted jurisdiction to review appellant’s challenge to the validity of the Commission’s aggregation rule, and found it valid, our decision should not be interpreted as any indication that we will so treat every claim of rule invalidity. We undertook review in this case because the challenge to the rule involved essential ly a matter of law to be determined by the ordinary rules of statutory construction. When the challenge to a rule implicates the Commission’s exercise of its discretion in matters requiring its special knowledge, experience and services to determine technical and intricate matters of fact, or a uniformity of ruling is essential to comply with the purposes of the statute being administered, we will require prior resort to the Commission via Section 120.54, or 120.56.

The order appealed is AFFIRMED.

ROBERT P. SMITH, Jr., C. J., and WENTWORTH, J., concur. . In Comer v. Florida Parole and Probation Commission, 388 So. 2d 1341 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980), we declined to review a similar rule challenge on the ground that there was no showing of exhaustion of administrative remedies.

However it should be noted that the Comer case reached us by way of petition for habeas corpus, rather than appeal. In the context of appeal proceedings, such as in the present case, we observe also that Section 120.-56(5) specifically provides that failure to proceed under Section 120.56 shall not constitute failure to exhaust administrative remedies. To the same effect, see Section 120.54(4)(d).

See, also, Postal Colony Co., Inc. v. Askew, 348 So. 2d 338 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977), affirmed 372 So. 2d 913 (Fla.1978).

But, cf. Bowling v. Florida Department of Corrections, 389 So. 2d 1031 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980), and Douglas v. Florida Department of Corrections, 388 So. 2d 587 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980), in which this court dismissed inmate appeals because in each instance the inmate neglected a clear point of entry to a rule challenge pursuant to Section 120.56. As pointed out in the opinion on motion for rehearing and clarification in Bowling the result in both cases was dictated by the fact that neither Bowling nor Douglas was a party to a Section 120.57 proceeding in which the invalidity of a rule was asserted, although, as Bowling further makes clear, if either had been such parties, then they would have had standing to appeal notwithstanding neglect of a clear point of entry under Section 120.56.

However, Bowling and Douglas were decided before Daniels v. Florida Parole and Probation Commission, 401 So. 2d 1351 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981), holding that proceedings for the establishment of a presumptive parole release date were governed by Chapter 120, Administrative Procedures Act, notwithstanding denial of inmate access to the Section 120.57 hearing process. Bowling and Douglas would therefore be inapplicable in appeals from PPRD determinations.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • …eral rule, on occasion, we have reviewed a rule challenge for the first time on appeal where the challenge involved essentially a matter of law to be determined by the ordinary rules of statutory construction. Nord v. Florida Parole and Prob. Com’n, 417 So. 2d 1176 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982). However, when a rule challenge implicates the agency’s expertise, as in the present case, the issue must be raised in an administrative proceeding. Id. AFFIRMED. ERVIN, J., concurs. BOOTH, J., dissents with written opinion.…
  • Odom v. Fla. Parole & Prob. Comm'n, 433 So. 2d 634 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983)
    …gation and aggravation. He challenges the use of his pre-pa-role crimes in the salient factor scoring for his post-parole commitment and then aggregating the times. This issue was decided adversely to Odom in Nord v. Florida Parole and Prob. Com’n., 417 So. 2d 1176 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982). One of Odom’s 1977 crimes resulted in a 20-month assessment although only 14 months were assessed prior to Odom’s parole. The binding effect of the prior PPRD determination was waived by Odom’s parole violations. Odom challeng…
  • Schaeffer v. Fla. Parole & Prob. Comm'n, 434 So. 2d 44 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983)
    …7.21, Florida Statutes (1981); Coleman v. Wainwright, 323 So. 2d 581 (Fla.1975). The Commission correctly aggregated Schaeffer’s times after including a point for a parole revocation in his second commitment, Nord v. Fla. Parole & Probation Com’n, 417 So. 2d 1176 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982). Schaeffer’s ex post facto argument is controlled by our opinions in Lopez v. Fla. Parole & Probation Com’n, 410 So. 2d 1354 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982), and May v. Fla. Parole & Probation Com’n, 424 So. 2d 122 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982). A…

Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw