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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA No. 7-761 / 07-0325 Filed December 28, 2007 KELLY O. SMITH, Petitioner-Appellant, vs. BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF PEACE OFFICERS' RETIREMENT, ACCIDENT AND DISABILITY SYSTEM, Respondent-Appellee. ________________________________________________________________ Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Carla T. Schemmel, Judge.

Appeal from the district court ruling on judicial review that affirmed the denial of disability retirement benefits. AFFIRMED.

James L. Sayre of James L. Sayre, P.C., Clive, for appellant. Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, and John Lundquist, Assistant Attorney General, Administrative Law Division, for appellee.

Heard by Sackett, C.J., and Vaitheswaran and Baker, JJ.

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SACKETT, C.J. Petitioner-appellant, Kelly Smith, appeals from the district court's ruling on judicial review that affirmed the denial of disability retirement benefits. He

contends the court erred in failing to find him entitled to accidental disability retirement benefits or ordinary disability retirement benefits. We affirm. I. Background Appellant began as a capitol police officer in 1988. In 1990, he transferred to the Iowa State Patrol. In September of 2000, appellant reported he sustained an injury to his back while removing a piece of truck tire from the roadway. He saw a doctor in October of 2000. Eventually he had two L5-S1 discectomies and was released by Dr. Giordano to active duty with no restrictions in May of 2001. Dr. Giordano rated his disability at ten percent. 1 In July of 2003 appellant contacted his workers' compensation case manager complaining of chronic back pain and seeking a medical evaluation. The evaluation resulted in a finding he had a displaced L4-5 disc that was causing his symptoms. Over the Labor Day weekend of 2003 appellant suffered severe back pain and was transported to a local hospital emergency room. On September 12, 2003, appellant applied for accidental disability retirement benefits. On September 19, appellant's employment as a state trooper was terminated on non-medical grounds. In December of 2003 appellant began

working full-time as a security investigator at a casino.

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The doctor calculated the disability as eight percent from the first surgery and two percent from the second.

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In January of 2004 the trustees of the retirement system denied appellant's request on procedural grounds and did not address the medical merits of his application. An administrative law judge reversed the denial and remanded the case to the board of trustees to consider the merits of the application. On April 19, 2005, the board of trustees of the retirement system again denied appellant's application for accidental disability retirement benefits. On appeal, an administrative law judge affirmed the decision of the board. It

concluded appellant had failed to demonstrate causation and disability because the current back problems were not related to the injury in 2000 and his employment as a security investigator showed he was not disabled. On judicial review, the district court affirmed the decision. The court noted that, "while there is other evidence which contradicts this conclusion, this court is not able to reverse the lower decision so long as it is supported by credible evidence." The district court, like the administrative law judge, concluded

appellant failed to prove causation or disability because the current back injury was at a different location than the injury in 2000 and his full-time employment as a security investigator "disputes the facts that he has a permanent incapacity." II. Scope of Review On judicial review we are bound by the agency's fact-finding if it is supported by substantial evidence. See Iowa Code

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