ORDERS:
CONSENT ORDER OF DISMISSAL
On January 19, 2005 the
parties to this action entered into a Consent Agreement and Order with the
Court. Petitioner agreed to withdraw its contested case pending before the Administrative Law Court and to close Gertie’s Care Home. In consideration for the closure
of the facility, Respondent South Carolina Department of Health and
Environmental Control agreed to suspend $16,150 of the $17,000 total monetary
penalty assessed by the Department. Payment of the remaining $850 penalty was
to be made to the Department within thirty (30) days of the execution of the
Order.
On November 16, 2005,
the Department filed a Motion for Civil Contempt based upon Petitioner’s
failure to pay the $850 monetary penalty pursuant to the terms of the Consent
Agreement and Order. A hearing on the motion was held February 22, 2006, at
which Petitioner failed to appear.
By Order dated February
23, 2006, I found that Petitioner willfully and intentionally refused to pay
the fine to the Department. I ordered Petitioner to render payment to the
Department in the amount of $850 by March 10, 2006. Pursuant to the Order, I
also scheduled a hearing for March 10, 2006, at which time Petitioner was to
establish that the payment had been rendered to the Department. The Order
included a provision that if Petitioner failed to render payment by March 10,
2006, the Court would issue a bench warrant for Petitioner’s incarceration
until the payment is rendered.
By letter dated March
9, 2006, Petitioner’s attorney, Philip Fairbanks, Esquire, sent a letter to the
Department and a letter to the Court indicating that Petitioner had delivered a
Money Order for $850 to his office, which counsel placed in a trust account.
Counsel for Petitioner indicated that he would promptly remit a check drawn on
that account and send it to the Department. With the consent of the
Department, the Court continued the hearing scheduled for March 10, 2006. By
letter dated March 13, 2006, the Department informed the Court that it had
received a check from Petitioner’s attorney in the amount of $850 for payment
of the monetary penalty.
As the Petitioner has
rendered payment to the Department of the $850 monetary penalty, and with the
consent of counsel for both parties as indicated by their signatures below,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED
that this matter is DISMISSED.
Date: April 24, 2006 ________________________________
Ralph
King Anderson, III
Administrative
Law Judge |
