Abbott Ambulance v. St. Charles County

• Decision Date: 11 April 2006
• Docket Number: No. ED 86546.,ED 86546.
• Citation: 193 S.W.3d 354
• Parties: ABBOTT AMBULANCE, Appellant, v. ST. CHARLES COUNTY AMBULANCE DISTRICT, Respondent.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

193 S.W.3d 354

ABBOTT AMBULANCE, Appellant, v. ST. CHARLES COUNTY AMBULANCE DISTRICT, Respondent.

No. ED 86546.

Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, Division Four.

April 11, 2006.

Motion for Rehearing and/or Transfer to Supreme Court Denied May 25, 2006.

Application for Transfer Denied June 30, 2006.

Winthrop B. Reed, III, St. Louis, MO, for appellant.

Brian E. McGovern, Chesterfield, MO, for respondent.

NANNETTE A. BAKER, Presiding Judge.

Abbott Ambulance ("Abbott") appeals from a Motion for Summary Judgment the trial court granted to St. Charles County Ambulance District ("SCCAD").

In its sole point on appeal, Abbott claims the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of SCCAD and in declaring Ordinance 00-01 valid and enforceable because SCCAD did not have the authority to promulgate Ordinance 00-01. We find no error and affirm.

Factual Background and Proceedings Below

SCCAD was created pursuant to Chapter 190 of the Missouri Revised Statutes entitled "Emergency Services," which grants various powers to ambulance districts. SCCAD is a political subdivision of the State of Missouri governed by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. SCCAD's territory includes all of St. Charles County, except the territory within the city limits of the City of St. Charles.

On October 25, 2000, SCCAD enacted Ordinance 00-01. Ordinance 00-01 was enacted "to ensure the public health and welfare of the residents of St. Charles County by establishing the requirements and standards for ambulance service within the area served by St. Charles County Ambulance District." Ordinance 00-01 sets forth a comprehensive scheme purporting to regulate all ambulance services provided in SCCAD. Further, Ordinance 00-01 requires that all ambulance service providers who operate within SCCAD's territory must comply with SCCAD's licensure requirements. Section 2 of Ordinance 00-01 provides the following:

(A) No person, directly or indirectly, shall furnish, operate, conduct, maintain, advertise, or otherwise be engaged in or profess to be engaged in the business of providing ambulance services upon the streets, alleys, or any public way or place of St. Charles County, Missouri unless such person holds a currently valid license for an ambulance from the Missouri Department of Health and a license issued pursuant to the provisions of this ordinance. (Emphasis added).

(B) No ground ambulance shall be operated for ambulance purposes and no individual shall drive, attend or permit it to be operated for such purposes on the streets, alleys or any public way or place of St. Charles County, Missouri unless the ground ambulance is under the immediate supervision and direction of a person who is holding a currently valid license as an EMT-P from the Missouri Department of Health and a license issued pursuant to the provisions of this ordinance. All calls for ambulance services shall be dispatched through a central dispatching agency.

As written, Section 2(A) of Ordinance 00-01 precludes any ambulance service provider, such as Abbott, from providing ambulance service unless it holds a currently valid license from the Missouri Department of Health and a license issued pursuant to the ordinance's provisions.

To obtain a license, an ambulance service provider must submit an extensive application and a non-refundable license application fee to SCCAD. Then, the provider must submit to SCCAD's inspection of all its vehicles, equipment and premises. Under section 3(A)(3)(c) of Ordinance 00-01, SCCAD will issue a license after finding:

(1) that the proposed ambulance service will benefit the public health and welfare;

(2) that each ambulance, its required equipment and the premises designated in the application conform to regulations promulgated by [the SCCAD Board] as provided in the ordinance;

(3) that the applicant is a responsible person who bears a good reputation for honest, integrity, fair dealing, and is competent to operate an ambulance service;

(4) that the applicant's ambulances will be operated only by duly licensed EMT-P's; and

(5) that all the requirements of this ordinance and all other applicable laws and ordinances have been met.

Under Ordinance 00-01, ambulance service providers must also comply with SCCAD's record and reporting requirements and SCCAD's various requirements relating to the vehicles used by the provider, the level of patient care provided, and the insurance maintained by the provider. Further, only licensed personnel may drive and attend to any ambulances operated by a licensed ambulance service provider within SCCAD. To obtain such a license, ambulance service personnel must submit a detailed application and meet the requirements SCCAD imposed for such licensing.

Abbott is a licensed ambulance service provider authorized to provide services in its state-authorized Ambulance Service Area, which is the following:

Entire St. Louis City and St. Louis County; in St. Charles County, the area south of Highway 94/370 from the Missouri River running in a southernly direction to Highway 40; in Jefferson County the area north and east of a line running in an east/west and northernly direction from the Mississippi River along highways "M," "MM," and "W" to the Jefferson/St. Louis County line; in Franklin County all of the area within the City limits of Pacific, Missouri.

Since part of Abbott's state-authorized Ambulance Service Area is in St. Charles County, part of it falls within SCCAD's territory.

Abbott attempted to provide ambulance services throughout its entire state-authorized Ambulance Service Area, which includes a part of territory located within SCCAD without abiding by SCCAD's licensing requirements. Abbott claimed that Section 190.060, the enabling statute for ambulance districts, did not expressly grant ambulance districts the authority to fashion ordinances to regulate "all" ambulance service providers within SCCAD. SCCAD enforced Ordinance 00-01 against Abbott, requiring Abbott to abide by its licensing requirements.

On October 1, 2003, Abbott filed a Petition for Declaratory Judgment and Damages against SCCAD claiming that SCCAD exceeded its statutory authority by promulgating Ordinance 00-01. On February 14, 2005, Abbott filed its Motion for Summary Judgment on Claim for Declaratory Relief and on March 15, 2005, SCCAD filed its Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment on Plaintiff's Claim for Declaratory Relief.

On June 1, 2005, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of SCCAD, ruling that Ordinance 00-01 was valid and enforceable as a matter of law. The trial court reasoned that (1) Section 190.105.5 authorizes such an ordinance and courts have recognized the validity of the statute; and (2) Gold Cross Ambulance v. City of Kansas City, stands for the proposition that local governmental bodies, such as ambulance districts, have the statutory authority to regulate ambulance providers within their district. 538 F.Supp. 956 (W.D.Mo.1982), aff'd, 705 F.2d 1005 (8th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 471 U.S. 1003, 105 S.Ct. 1864, 85 L.Ed.2d 158 (1985). We agree.

Standard of Review

Appellate review of an award of summary judgment is essentially de novo. See ITT Commercial Fin. Corp. v. Mid-Am. Marine Supply Corp., 854 S.W.2d 371, 376 (Mo. banc 1993). The criteria on appeal for testing the propriety of summary judgment are no different from those which should be employed by the trial court to determine the propriety of sustaining the motion initially. Id. The propriety of summary judgment is purely an issue of law. Id. As the trial court's judgment is founded on the record submitted and the law, an appellate court need not defer to the trial court's order granting summary judgment. Id.

When considering appeals from a grant of summary judgment, we review the record in light most favorable to the party against whom judgment was entered. Id. Summary judgment will be upheld on appeal only if we determine that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law and there are no genuine issues of material fact. Id. at 377. The material facts in this case are not substantially in dispute and thus, this case presents only a question of law. Gillespie v. Estate of McPherson, 159 S.W.3d 466, 470 (Mo.App. E.D.2005).

Discussion

In its sole point on appeal, Abbott claims that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of SCCAD and in declaring Ordinance 00-01 valid and enforceable because SCCAD did not have the authority to promulgate Ordinance 00-01. According to Abbott, by attempting to regulate all ambulance service providers within SCCAD under Ordinance 00-01, SCCAD exceeded its statutory authority. We find no error and affirm.

A municipality derives its governmental powers from the state and exercises generally only such governmental functions as are expressly or impliedly granted it by the state. City of Dellwood v. Twyford, 912 S.W.2d 58, 59 (Mo. banc 1995) (quoting Century 21 v. City of Jennings, 700 S.W.2d 809, 811 (Mo. banc 1985)). A municipal ordinance that conflicts with the general law of the state is void. Id. In determining whether a municipal ordinance conflicts with a state statute, the test is whether the ordinance permits that which the statute forbids and prohibits, and vice-versa, Id.

An ordinance that merely enlarges on the provision of a statute by requiring more than the statute requires creates no conflict therewith, unless the statute limits the requirements for all to its own prescriptions. Miller v. City of Manchester, 834 S.W.2d 904, 907 (Mo.App. E.D. 1992). Rules duly promulgated pursuant to properly delegated authority have the same force and effect of law. Id. Conflicts between ordinances and such regulations, therefore, are determined by the same principles that govern conflicts between ordinances and statutes. Id.

Statutory construction is a question of law. Vogt v. Emmons, 158 S.W.3d 243, 249 (Mo.App. E.D.2005). When...