The opinion
John I. Purtle, Justice, concurring. I concur in the results reached by the majority; however, I would hold that a trial de novo as mentioned in Ark. Stat. Ann. § 48-311 (E) (Repl. 1977) means that the proceedings before the Commission and its findings and orders would be filed with the circuit court and considered along with any other evidence which was presented.
Apparently, there are two thoughts as to the meaning of a trial de novo. The case of Byrd v. Jones, 263 Ark. 406 , 565 S.W. 2d 531 (1978), held that there were two methods of perfecting an appeal from the ABC decisions. One of those is § 48-311 (E) and the other is the Administrative Procedure Act of 1967, codified as Ark. Stat. Ann. § 5-713 (Repl. 1976). Although both these methods are available in appealing an ABC order, both of them require the case to be tried de novo in the circuit court.
I find nothing in Byrd v. Jones, supra, or in Jones v. Reed, 267 Ark. 237 , 590 S.W. 2d 6 (1979), to prohibit the circuit court from considering the record of the hearing before the ABC Commission. Therefore, I believe that a trial de novo means the same regardless of which method is used to perfect the appeal. The record before the Commission should be presented to the trial court for consideration along with any other evidence the trial court deems proper for a correct resolution of the dispute.