Endres v. DMV

On judicial review of a final administrative order, the Court of Appeals reviews whether the order is supported by substantial evidence in the record.

William Endres (Endres) applied for a driver’s license in 1999 under a false name. His license was confiscated in 2001. Endres applied for subsequent renewals and duplicate licenses using his real name. In 2011, the Driver and Motor Services Division (DMV) discovered that Endres used a false name on his 1999 application and suspended Endres’s license for one year. Endres requested an administrative hearing and the ALJ concluded that the DMV was authorized to suspend Endres’s license because it believed Endres repeatedly violated ORS 807.530 by failing to disclose his prior false application on every subsequent renewal and duplicate application. Endres appealed and the Court of Appeals reviewed the ALJ’s final order for errors of law and whether it was supported by substantial evidence in the record. The Court concluded that because the DMV applications do not specifically ask whether applicants have ever filed an application under a false name, Endres’s applications for renewals and duplicates did not constitute repeated violations and, therefore, the ALJ’s final order was not supported by substantial evidence. Reversed and remanded.