Stone County v. Stone County Hosp. Ambulance Serv.


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Docket Number: 2009-CA-01550-COA
Linked Case(s): 2009-CA-01550-COA ; 2009-CA-01550-SCT
Court of Appeals: Opinion Link
Opinion Date: 12-14-2010
Opinion Author: Maxwell, J.
Holding: Reversed and rendered.
Additional Case Information: Topic: Contract - Bill of exceptions - Section 11-51-75 - Private ambulance service - Section 41-55-7
Judge(s) Concurring: King, C.J., Lee and Myers, P.JJ., Irving, Griffis, Barnes, Ishee and Roberts, JJ.
Concurs in Result Only: Carlton, J.
Procedural History: Admin or Agency Judgment
Nature of the Case: CIVIL - CONTRACT
Trial Court: Date of Trial Judgment: 08-24-2009
Appealed from: STONE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT
Judge: Lisa P. Dodson
Disposition: REVERSED THE DECISION OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
Case Number: A6601-2008-0042
  Party Name: Attorney Name:   Brief(s) Available:
Appellant: Stone County, Mississippi and Stone County Board of Supervisors




 THOMAS M. MATTHEWS JR.



  
  • Appellant #1 Brief
    		•
    Appellee: Stone County Hospital Ambulance Service JOE SAM OWEN  
    Synopsis provided by:

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    Topic: Contract - Bill of exceptions - Section 11-51-75 - Private ambulance service - Section 41-55-7
    Summary of the Facts: Stone County Hospital created a private ambulance service, Stone County Ambulance Service, in order to be awarded Stone County’s 2008 annual ambulance-service contract. But after a dispute arose between SCAS and the Stone County Board of Supervisors over which air ambulance service SCAS had to give priority, SCAS terminated its contractual services with the County in February 2008, giving thirty-days’ notice. Believing the County would have no ambulance service at the end of the thirty days, the Board entered an ambulance-service contract with AAA, the publicly run ambulance service that previously had the Stone County contract. SCAS filed a bill of exceptions to the Board’s decision to enter a contract with AAA. The circuit court, sitting as an appellate court, set aside the 2008 contract with AAA. The County appeals.
    Summary of Opinion Analysis: Issue 1: Bill of exceptions Section 11-51-75 confers the right to appeal to the circuit court on any person aggrieved by a judgment or decision of the board of supervisors. The County argues the wrong “person” filed the bill of exceptions. SCAS is not a separate incorporated entity. Instead, it is a trade name for Stone County Hospital, Inc. By filing the bill of exceptions as “Stone County Ambulance Service,” the County argues the proper legal entity of Stone County Hospital, Inc. has not been named as the appellee or otherwise, perfected this appeal. The County’s own actions contradict its claim SCAS was not an established trade name. The contract the County asked SCAS to sign, made part of the Board’s February 19, 2008, minutes, stated the contract was between the County and “Stone County Hospital, Inc., a Mississippi Corporation, doing business as Stone County Ambulance Service.” There was no confusion that the Hospital, an incorporated entity, was filing a bill of exceptions. Using “Stone County Ambulance Service” in the caption was not fatal to its appeal. Issue 2: Private ambulance service The circuit court gathered from the bill of exceptions that “there are at least two (2) privately run ambulance services [SCAS and AMR] which are adequate,” making it a violation of section 41-55-7 to contract with a public entity like AAA. The Hospital formed SCAS to provide services under the County’s contract. It had not been operating an ambulance service before January 2008. So when SCAS told the Board it was “ceasing contracted ambulance services,” the Board was reasonable to think that SCAS was ceasing its entire ambulance operation. SCAS’s termination letter is substantial credible evidence supporting the Board’s factual conclusion that adequate ambulance services from SCAS no longer existed. Further, the record does not support the circuit court’s conclusion AMR’s services existed in Stone County in March 2008. The record does indicate AMR initially bid on the County’s subsidy contract in January 2008. But this initial bid merely shows that AMR was willing in January 2008 to provide services if the County paid it a subsidy. It does not prove AMR was providing adequate ambulance service to the citizens of Stone County in March 2008, when the Board had to find a replacement service. Entering a new contract with the public company that had provided services before was not an arbitrary decision and, under the circumstances, did not violate section 41-55-7. Section 41-55-7 states that the Board “may” provide a subsidy contract. Because the contract is within the Board’s discretion, so are the terms. Thus, the Board properly exercised its discretion to require that SCAS call Rescue 7 first if it wanted the subsidy contract.


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