Nevada limousine trial pits operators against regulators

Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2001 | 11:02 a.m.

Nevada laws regulating limousines have created government-sanctioned monopolies and prevent independent operators from breaking into the market, an attorney representing a group of drivers said in Clark County District Court Tuesday.

Clark Neily, an attorney with the Washington D.C.-based Institute for Justice, which takes on free-enterprise causes nationwide, delivered his opening statement on behalf of the Independent Limousine Owners/Operators Association before District Judge Ron Parraguirre.

The ILOA filed suit against the state and its limousine regulator, the Transportation Services Authority, in May 1998.

"The agency is not corrupt and the people are not bad people," Neily said of the TSA, "but the regulatory system violates due process and it is unconstitutional."

Deputy Attorney General Brent Michaels, representing the TSA, responded in his opening remarks that it's the state's right and responsibility to regulate its highways, including the vehicles that use them. The laws that established the TSA and the regulation of the transportation industry are vital to the economic health of the tourism-based economy, Michaels said.

Attorneys representing three Southern Nevada limousine companies that are interveners in the case supplemented Michaels' remarks. Representatives for Bell Trans, Star Limousine and Ambassador Limousine are participating in the trial, which is expected to take about two weeks.

Also seated in the courtroom during opening statements were TSA Commission Chairman Paul Christensen, Commissioner Sandra Avants and three former limousine drivers who are key to the case -- William Clutter, Richard Lowre and John West.

It was Clutter's case that got the attention of the Institute for Justice. In December 1997, Clutter's limousine was impounded and the TSA fined him a total of $5,000 for operating without state certification.

Lowre and West no longer work in Las Vegas. Lowre, the leader of the ILOA when the TSA was formed in 1997, now teaches school in Vermont. West, who currently works as a mechanic in Albuquerque, N.M., attempted to win certification last year, but wasn't deemed financially fit to run a limousine service based on information the commission was given. The case was delayed for several months because West was reluctant to turn over information he felt would help his competitors.

That's the whole point of the ILOA's suit. The independent limousine drivers contend that financial considerations should not be part of the certification process. They contend that regulators should protect the public in safety considerations, vehicle inspections and insurance issues only.

Neily told the court that the TSA's fitness standards are arbitrary and that potential competitors should not be allowed to intervene in the certification process. He also criticized the TSA's law enforcement role, which includes setting up sting operations to catch illegal operators.

Michaels said the commission and its enforcement team operate independently of each other and fines collected on citations only represent about 8 percent of the commission's total budget.

Attorneys representing the interveners characterized the independent limousine operators as renegades who don't care about the public welfare.

"These are people who decided to break the law," said Bob Winter, an attorney representing Ambassador, "because they just didn't like the rules."

The trial is expected to last two weeks.