STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA IN THE OFFICE OF
ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS
COUNTY OF WAKE 10 DOJ 5155
RORY FRANKLIN JONES, )
)
Petitioner, )
v. )
) PROPOSAL FOR DECISION
NORTH CAROLINA PRIVATE PROTECTIVE )
SERVICES BOARD, )
)
Respondent. )
______)
This contested case was heard before Administrative Law Judge Beecher R. Gray on October 26, 2010, in Raleigh, North Carolina.
APPEARANCES
Petitioner appeared pro se.
Respondent was represented by attorney M. Denise Stanford.
WITNESSES
Respondent – Private Protective Services Board Deputy Director Anthony Bonaparte testified for Respondent Board.
Petitioner – Petitioner did not present any witnesses.
ISSUE
Whether grounds exist for Respondent to deny Petitioner’s application for unarmed registration for lack of good moral character.
BURDEN OF PROOF
Respondent has the burden of proving that Petitioner lacks good moral character. Petitioner may rebut Respondent’s showing.
STATUTES AND RULES APPLICABLE TO THE CONTESTED CASE
Official notice is taken of the following statutes and rules applicable to this case:
N.C.G.S. §§ 74C-3(a)(6); 74C-8; 74C-9; 74C-11; 74C-12; 12 NCAC 7D § .0700.
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. The parties received notice of hearing by certified mail more than 15 days prior to the hearing and each stipulated on the record that notice was proper.
2. Respondent Board is established under N.C.G.S. 74C-1 et seq., and is charged with the duty of licensing and registering individuals engaged in the private protective services profession, including unarmed security guards.
3. Petitioner applied to Respondent Board for an unarmed security guard registration. A copy of Petitioner’s application was introduced as Exhibit 2.
4. On his application, Petitioner disclosed that he had a criminal record.
5. In 2007, Petitioner entered a plea of nolo contendere to the offenses of trespass occupied structure and stalking. Certified copies of the criminal records from Leon County, Florida were introduced as Exhibits 4, 5, and 6.
6. Petitioner produced evidence that he has been of good and lawful conduct since his 2007 nolo contendere plea in Florida. Petitioner has served for 6 years in the military, including two tours in Iraq.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. Under G.S. §74C-12(a)(25),Respondent Board may refuse to grant a registration if it is determined that the applicant lacks good moral character.
2. Respondent Board presented evidence of Petitioner’s lack of good moral character through his plea of nolo contendere to the offenses of trespass occupied structure and stalking.
3. The evidence presented by the Board, standing alone, was insufficient evidence of lack of good moral character. Respondent’s evidence, taken together with Petitioner’s evidence, shows that Petitioner has overcome the presumption that he lacks good moral character.
BASED on the foregoing, the undersigned makes the following:
PROPOSAL FOR DECISION
The North Carolina Private Protective Services Board will make the final decision in this contested case. It is proposed that the Board REVERSE its initial decision to deny Petitioner’s application for unarmed security guard registration and issue an unarmed security guard registration to Petitioner subject to a probationary license for one (1) year, as long as Petitioner does not violate Board statutes or rules or any criminal laws, other than minor traffic offenses, during the one (1) year period.
ORDER
It hereby is ordered that the agency serve a copy of the final decision on the Office of Administrative Hearings, 6714 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-6714, in accordance with G.S. §150B-36(b).
NOTICE
The agency making the final decision in this contested case is required to give each party an opportunity to file exceptions to this proposal for decision, to submit proposed findings of fact and to present oral and written arguments to the agency pursuant to G.S. §150B-40(e).
The agency that will make the final decision in this contested case is the North Carolina Private Protective Services Board.
This, the 5th day of November, 2010.
______
Beecher R. Gray,
Administrative Law Judge
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