A Barnwell County judge ruled that there is no need to hand down an emergency injunction requiring Aiken County to pay a transport and removal service for the Aiken County Coroner's Office, stating the coroner could simply use the company with the lower bid to continue transportation services.
The ruling has pushed Aiken County Coroner Tim Carlton to move forward with Palmetto Mortuary Transport - a Columbia-based company that previously came in with a lower bid to transport bodies.
In a statement released Monday, Carlton said he will be contacting Clay Killian, Aiken County administrator, to make a determination as to when the contract with Palmetto Transport will be signed.
"It is our intention to work cooperatively with Palmetto Transport and to continue to serve the citizens of Aiken County with the care and compassion that has been the hallmark of this office," Carlton said.
The ruling means Rucker Removal Services, a Langley-based company that had been tasked to pick up and transport the deceased in Aiken County for many years, will not, at this time, be paid for its services.
Rucker has not been paid for more than $40,000 in services since April 2014, when County Council froze a budget line item of roughly $50,000 dedicated to the pickup and transportation of the deceased.
The court order denying a preliminary injunction requested by Carlton was released May 13 and was received May 18.
Carlton's Charleston attorney, Sandy Senn, had asked Barnwell County Circuit Court Judge James Barber in May for an emergency ruling compelling the County to pay Rucker for its services and allow Carlton to continue to use Rucker until a formal hearing was scheduled.
In the denial, Barber wrote that once Carlton attempted to formally hire Rucker, other companies approached with lower bids. On Jan. 21, 2014, Council passed a resolution awarding the contract to low-bidder Palmetto Mortuary Transport.
At the time, Carlton refused to work with Palmetto, and no contract was executed, according to the order. Carlton continued using Rucker and eventually, Rucker announced it would cease its services on May 15, pushing Carlton to cite irreparable harm as a reason for the court to make a ruling.
"The evidence does not show that Rucker is the only contractor who is able to perform the transport services," Barber wrote. "This Court therefore concludes that, if Rucker chooses to cease its services on May 15, 2015, irreparable harm will not result. Those services may then be provided by (Palmetto Mortuary Transport) at the lower rate at which (Palmetto Mortuary Transport) has already agreed to furnish those services."
In addition, Barber also denied a request from Carlton to order Council to appropriate funds to be placed in a contingency account to pay the outstanding balance to Rucker. Barber denied this request on the basis of the South Carolina Constitution, citing "money shall be drawn from the treasury of the State or the treasury of any of its political subdivisions only in pursuance of appropriations made by law."
"Consequently, this Court agrees with the Defendants that the separation of powers doctrine appears to limit this Court's authority to grant the very preliminary injunctive relief that the Plaintiff seeks," Barber wrote.
On Saturday, Carlton explained that his office is temporarily borrowing equipment from a local funeral home and working with Aiken County EMS to continue services until a contract is negotiated.
Derrek Asberry is the SRS beat reporter for the Aiken Standard and has been with the paper since June 2013.