State v. Ponce

Courts must take judicial notice of rules and regulations promulgated by the commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicle Safety DMVS and the Public Service Commission and thereafter adopted by the DMVS, pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act.

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We granted the State’s petition for writ of certiorari to consider whether the Court of Appeals correctly found that Georgia’s statutory or regulatory scheme concerning the safety inspection of commercial vehicles failed to provide a constitutionally adequate substitute for a warrant. Ponce v. State , 271 Ga. App. 408 2 609 SE2d 736 2005. Although the Court of Appeals analyzed Georgia’s statutory scheme, we need not reach that ruling because we find that the court improperly failed to consider Georgia’s regulatory scheme. The Court of Appeals declined to consider rules and regulations promulgated or adopted by the commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicle Safety, see OCGA § § 46-7-26, 46-7-27, because the State “has not included in the record any rules and regulations that may have been promulgated by the commissioner regarding inspections of commercial vehicles,” with a footnote reference to the holding in Lemon v. Martin , 232 Ga. App. 579, 581-582 1 502 SE2d 273 1998. Ponce , supra, 271 Ga. App. at 413. However, under the Administrative Procedure Act, OCGA § 51-13-1 et seq., “the courts shall take judicial notice of any rule which has become effective pursuant to this chapter.” OCGA § 50-13-8. Neither the DMVS nor the Public Service Commission falls within the group of government entities explicitly excluded by OCGA § 50-13-2 1 from the APA’s provisions. Thus, rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to the APA by DMVS or the PSC and thereafter properly adopted by DMVS are required to be judicially noticed by the courts. OCGA § 50-13-8.1 Accordingly, we hereby vacate the holding of the Court of Appeals in Division 2 of Ponce , supra, and remand the case for that court’s consideration of the constitutionality of the State’s warrantless search of Ponce’s commercial vehicle in light of this opinion.

State v. Ponce

Courts must take judicial notice of rules and regulations promulgated by the commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicle Safety DMVS and the Public Service Commission and thereafter adopted by the DMVS, pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act.

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