Opinion ID: 1379397
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Standing and Joinder

Text: All parties concede Petitioners have standing because the issue is one of public importance that requires resolution for future guidance. Baird v. Charleston County, 333 S.C. 519, 511 S.E.2d 69 (1999); see Thompson v. South Carolina Comm'n on Alcohol & Drug Abuse, 267 S.C. 463, 229 S.E.2d 718 (1976) (holding the plaintiffs had standing because the questions involved were of such wide concern, both to law enforcement personnel and to the public); Berry v. Zahler, 220 S.C. 86, 66 S.E.2d 459 (1951) (holding the question of public interest originally encompassed in an action should be decided for future guidance). The County Auditor argues the case should be dismissed because Petitioners failed to join the Charleston Delegation as an indispensable party pursuant to Rule 19, SCRCP. We disagree. The County Auditor asserts the Charleston Delegation is the most vitally interested party in this litigation and should be joined in the case. She claims this Court must dismiss the Complaint for failure to join the Charleston Delegation as an indispensable party. First, the remedy under Rule 19, SCRCP is for the Court to make the Charleston Delegation a party, not to dismiss the action. According to Rule 19, SCRCP: If [an indispensable party] has not been so joined, the court shall order that he be made a party. If he should join as a plaintiff but refuses to do so, he may be made a defendant, or, in a proper case, an involuntary plaintiff. (emphasis added). Second, the Charleston Delegation is not an indispensable party under Rule 19, SCRCP because complete relief can be accorded to the Petitioners and the School District without the joinder of the Charleston Delegation, and the Charleston Delegation has not claimed an interest in the subject of the action.