(Metro Creative Graphics)

The Smith County government says it’s immune from a lawsuit that alleges the county and other entities worked with a local ambulance company to create an illegal monopoly for emergency medical services in the region.

Lawyers for the Smith County government filed documents in the 241st District Court on Monday saying the county and its related entity, Smith County EMS Administrative Agency, are both immune from the lawsuit.

The lawsuit in question alleges that Smith County, the city of Tyler, the Smith County EMS Administrative Agency, the East Texas Medical Center health system and ETMC EMS conspired to create an illegal monopoly in ambulance services in the region.

Champion EMS, which is owned by the Christus Trinity Mother Frances Health System, brought the lawsuit in April. The suit was a counterclaim to a suit ETMC EMS brought in May 2017 claiming Champion was infringing on its exclusive authority to operate in all of Tyler and most parts of Smith County.

Champion’s suit alleges the monopolistic behavior dates back to 1992, when the city of Tyler, Smith County and the Smith County EMS Administrative Agency originally entered into a five-year contract with ETMC EMS. The contract offered optional renewals every year.

Smith County filed three different legal arguments on behalf of both the county and Smith County EMS Administrative Agency. The major arguments say the entities are immune from the suit, ask the court to dismiss the lawsuit, and request a hearing on the issue as soon as possible.

The county says a Texas public health law “allows counties to enter into exclusive contracts with any suitable organization to provide emergency ambulance services, agreements which may be negotiated and made outside the competitive bidding and procurement process.”

“(Champion and Christus Trinity Mother Frances) mistakenly assume in error that there is a legal requirement to competitively bid agreements which provide emergency ambulance services,” the county argues. “(Their) claims have no basis in law or fact and must be dismissed.”

The county says it is immune because Champion is suing under the wrong law, because Champion did not provide the county with sufficient notice under another law, and because Champion did not first take its complaint to the Smith County Commissioners Court, among other reasons.

The county also alleges that the Smith County EMS Administrative Agency “possesses no legal capacity to be sued” because it has no separate legal existence from the county.

The county also is asking Champion to pay for its legal fees. The lawyer who filed the lawsuit is George Hyde from Russell Rodriguez Hyde Bullock LLP, a firm in Georgetown, Texas, that the Smith County Commissioners Court voted to retain.

Separately, the East Texas Medical Center Health System and ETMC EMS have asked for additional time to respond to the lawsuit. The Tyler City Council also will hold an executive session on Wednesday to discuss the suit.

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