United States District Court, S.D. Illinois
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
NANCY
J. ROSENSTENGEL, CHIEF U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE
This
matter is before the Court on the Motion to Dismiss filed by
Defendants County of Effingham, Illinois (“Effingham
County”), and James Niemann. Defendants ask the Court
to dismiss or stay this case on abstention grounds or,
alternatively, to dismiss it for failure to state a claim
under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) (Doc. 18). For
the reasons set forth below, the Court dismisses this action
on the grounds of abstention.
Background
Lakeside
EMS, LLC, (“Lakeside”) is an ambulance service
provider based in Shelby County, Illinois, that provides
inter-facility transfer of hospital patients in and out of
Effingham County (Doc. 1 at ¶¶ 10, 21-23). Lakeside
is licensed by the Illinois Department of Public Health,
which has placed no restrictions on where Lakeside can
provide ambulance services (Id. at ¶ 8, 20).
On
September 18, 2017, the Effingham County Board, with
Defendant James Niemann as its Chairman, enacted Effingham
County Ordinance Number 17-76 entitled, “Effingham
County Ground Ambulance Service Ordinance Amending Ordinance
14-93” (“the Ordinance”) (Id. at
¶ 24). The Ordinance requires any ambulance service with
a physical base of operation in Effingham County or that
provides “routine service of Transfers from acute care
facilities or as an Emergency Ambulance Services within the
County” to “acquire a letter of authorization
from the County Board, signed by not less than three Board
Members.” (Id. at ¶ 25).
The
Ordinance permits the County Board to limit the number of
authorization letters it issues, withdraw any letter of
authorization it issues, or revoke any letter of
authorization by a majority vote of the County Board
(Id.).
The
Ordinance further provides:
That no person or entity, other than the contractor
(“Mission Care of Illinois”) and ambulance
services having a mutual aid agreement with the contractor,
shall operate or cause to be operated a vehicle for emergency
ground ambulance purposes, nor furnish, conduct, maintain,
advertise, or otherwise be engaged in the business of service
of the emergency transportation of patients within the County
of Effingham.
(Id. at ¶ 27). Under this provision, Lakeside
alleges, the Ordinance gives Mission Care of Illinois, LLC,
d/b/a Abbott EMS (“Abbott”), the exclusive right
to provide “emergency ambulance services” in
Effingham County (Id. at ¶ 28). Lakeside has
asked Niemann and the Effingham County Board for a letter of
authorization, but the request has been denied without
explanation (Id. at ¶¶ 34-36).
On July
2, 2018, Niemann sent Lakeside a cease and desist letter
demanding that it cease operations within Effingham County
(Id. at ¶ 40). On July 20, 2018, the County
filed a complaint and motion for injunctive relief in the
Fourth Judicial Circuit of Illinois seeking an order
enjoining Lakeside from operating within Effingham County
(Id. at ¶ 41). Effingham County's motion
for injunctive relief was denied, but the state court action
remains pending (Id. at ¶¶ 42-43).
Less
than three months after the County filed the state court
action seeking to stop Lakeside from operating in Effingham
County, Lakeside filed the Complaint in this case pursuant to
42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Doc. 1). Lakeside alleges that the
Ordinance purports to regulate intra-facility ambulance
transfers but is actually intended to ensure fruitful
employment for Defendant Niemann and his family members who
are employed by Abbott (Id. at ¶¶ 64-67).
And, while there are more than twenty ambulance services that
routinely provide inter-facility transfers in and out of
Effingham County, none of which have obtained a “letter
of authorization” from Effingham County (other than
Abbott), Lakeside is the only ambulance service that has been
targeted by Effingham County (Id. at ¶¶
51-55).
Furthermore,
Lakeside claims, Defendants have no legitimate,
non-discriminatory, non-arbitrary purpose for enforcing the
Ordinance against it. For example, at an August 23, 2018
hearing on Effingham's motion for injunctive relief in
state court, Effingham County State's Attorney, Bryan
Kibler, claimed that the reason for enforcing the Ordinance
against Lakeside centers on Lakeside's advertising within
the County of Effingham and specifically at St. Anthony's
Medical Center (Id. at ¶ 58). The County does
not have an ordinance regulating advertising by ambulance
services within the County, however, and improper advertising
activities is not a rational basis for enforcing the
Ordinance against Lakeside (Id. at ¶ 60).
Based
on these facts, Lakeside claims that Defendants violated its
procedural due process rights (Count I), that Defendants'
conduct constitutes an unconstitutional regulatory taking
(Count II), and that Defendants violated the Equal Protection
Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment (Count III).
Defendants
have now moved to dismiss the case on several grounds (Doc.
18). First, Defendants assert the Younger abstention
doctrine applies. See Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37
(1971). Alternatively, Defendants assert the Pullman
abstention doctrine applies. See Railroad Comm'n of
Tex. v. Pullman Co., 312 U.S. 496 (1941). Finally,
Defendants assert non-abstention grounds for dismissing the
case including improper claim ...