Rural/Metro Resolves Shareholders' Lawsuits; 1998 Class Action Settled; 2002 Allegations Dismissed

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.--Aug. 1, 20032, 2003--Rural/Metro Corporation , a leading national provider of ambulance and fire protection services, announced today that it has reached an out-of-court settlement in a 1998 shareholders' class-action lawsuit. The agreement is subject to court approval after the shareholder class has been notified of its terms.

Rural/Metro and certain of its former officers and directors were named in two purported class-action lawsuits in 1998. Haskell v. Rural/Metro Corporation, et al. (Haskell) was filed August 25, 1998 in Pima County, Arizona, Superior Court; and Ruble v. Rural/Metro Corporation, et al. (Ruble) filed September 2, 1998 in United States District Court for the District of Arizona.

Rural/Metro and certain of its former directors and officers, agreed to settle the cases to avoid further expensive litigation and uncertainty and to put the issue to rest. Rural/Metro and the individual defendants have consistently denied any wrongdoing, and the settlement is not an admission of liability by any party. Further, the settlement will have no impact on Rural/Metro's financial position or results of operations because the settlement amount is within applicable insurance limits.

John Banas, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, said, "While we believe the plaintiffs' claims are without merit, we have decided that it is in the best interests of Rural/Metro and its shareholders to settle the lawsuits and eliminate the risks, expense and disruption of continuing litigation."

The lawsuits, which contained virtually identical allegations, were brought on behalf of a class of persons who purchased the company's publicly traded securities including its common stock between April 28, 1997 and June 11, 1998. The Haskell case was stayed while the Ruble case moved forward. In March 2002, the court dismissed claims against some of the individual defendants in the Ruble case, allowing only limited claims against the Company and Warren Rustand, the Company's former CEO, to proceed. According to the terms of the Ruble settlement, both the Ruble and Haskell cases will be dismissed.

In other legal matters, a federal court judge has dismissed all claims against the company and certain of its current and former officers brought by Steven A. Springborn and Jeffrey T. Jensen in a purported class-action lawsuit filed in 2002. The allegations included violations of state and federal securities laws, breach of contract, and common law fraud, among others. Plaintiffs later conceded that their federal securities claims should be dismissed. In his order dismissing the remaining claims against Rural/Metro and all of the individual defendants, United States District Court Judge John W. Sedwick noted, "Based on the court's evaluation of the file, it does not appear that plaintiff could plead viable claims at this time."

Rural/Metro Corporation provides emergency and non-emergency medical transportation, fire protection, and other safety services in 26 states and more than 400 communities throughout the United States.

Except for historical information herein, this press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Those statements include, among others, statements relating to the proposed settlement of the class-action lawsuit. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of the following factors, among others: there can be no assurance that the parties in the securities class action lawsuit will be able to reach agreement regarding the final terms of the settlement agreement or that the settlement will be approved by the Court as proposed or at all. Additional factors that could affect the company are described in its Form 10-K as amended for the year ended June 30, 2002 under the caption "Risk Factors" in the Management's Discussion and Analysis section, and other factors as described from time to time in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The company disclaims any obligation to update its forward-looking statements.