Department of Highway Safety and Motor etc. v. Eric Hirtzel

Circuit courts must review a hearing officer’s findings and conclusions for support by competent, substantial evidence. Where the circuit court undertakes this mandated review, this Court is without authority to second-guess the answer. Because the circuit court here correctly selected the legal question, the answer matters not. As the majority simply finds error in the circuit court’s answer, I dissent. Circuit courts have a mandate to independently review a hearing officer’s findings and conclusions for competent, substantial evidence; they are not merely rubberstamps for a hearing…