Pearl River County Bd. of Sup'rs v. South East Collections Agency, Inc.

Decision Date31 October 1984
Docket NumberNo. 55151,55151
Citation459 So.2d 783
PartiesPEARL RIVER COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS, L.K. Sones, G.W. Moody, E.M. Clark, Glenn Dossett and Hollis O. Mitchell v. SOUTH EAST COLLECTIONS AGENCY, INC., d/b/a South East Collections.
CourtMississippi Supreme Court

James Lonnie Smith, Williams, Smith & Stockstill, Picayune, for appellants.

James R. Hayden, Hattiesburg, for appellee.

Before WALKER, P.J., and PRATHER and SULLIVAN, JJ.

PRATHER, Justice, for the Court:

This is an appeal from an order of the Circuit Court of Pearl River County granting summary judgment in favor of the appellee, South East Collections Agency, Inc., and against the appellant, the Pearl River County Board of Supervisors, in the amount of $14,591.70.

Pearl River appeals, assigning as error:

(1) The circuit court erred in granting summary judgment because genuine issues of material fact existed in the case.

(2) The circuit court erred in granting summary judgment because South East Collections was not entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

On September 15, 1979, Roby Mason was arrested by a Mississippi State Highway Patrolman. Mason was charged with driving under the influence and possession of marijuana. Mason was incarcerated in the City Jail of Picayune, Mississippi.

On September 19, 1979, Mason received a gunshot wound while in his cell. Mason was hospitalized in the Lucius Olen Crosby Memorial Hospital in Picayune, Mississippi. Mason was under the care of Dr. Thomas Purser from September 19, 1979 until November 15, 1979, incurring expenses for medical treatment of $14,591.70.

Southeast Collections, Inc., the assignee of Crosby Memorial Hospital, brought suit against the Pearl River County Board of Supervisors seeking judgment in the amount of $14,591.70. The circuit court was of the opinion that the case presented no material issues of fact, "but rather a strict interpretation of the law as defined by section 47-1-59 of the Mississippi Code of 1972, as amended." The court accordingly granted summary judgment in favor of Southeast Collections, relying upon Miss. Code Ann. Sec. 47-1-59 (1981), which provides:

(1) When the sheriff, marshal or any other peace officer of this state has in his lawful custody a prisoner who, through accident, injury or illness, is in need of hospitalization, such officer may take such prisoner to the nearest hospital ... and if upon arrival at such hospital any physician licensed to practice medicine in this state certifies that in his opinion such prisoner is in need of hospitalization, such prisoner shall be hospitalized in such hospital for as long as in the opinion of such physician it is necessary to so hospitalize such prisoner....

(2) The actual expense of guarding the prisoner in the hospital shall be paid out of the general funds of the county where the prisoner was originally confined or arrested. The expense contracted incident to the hospitalization aforesaid shall be paid by the prisoner; otherwise he may be hospitalized as a state aid patient. However, if the prisoner is ineligible for state aid or the amount available for hospitalization as a state aid patient is inadequate to pay all such hospital expense of a prisoner who is financially unable to pay his own expenses, the board of supervisors of the county where the prisoner was originally confined or arrested shall, upon presentation of the certificate of the physician certifying that said prisoner was in need of hospitalization, pay from the general funds of the county the reasonable and customary charges for such services or as much thereof as is not paid by state aid. Any such payment to a hospital shall be discretionary with the board of supervisors if its county supports the hospital involved by a special tax levy for its operation and maintenance.

Summary judgment is appropriate only where "... the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." MRCP 56 (1972). The power to grant summary judgment is not discretionary with the trial court and the above test must be met in all cases. National Screen Serv. Corp. v. Poster Exchange Inc., 305 F.2d 647 (5th Cir.1962); see also Wright & Miller, Federal Practice &...

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