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COLUMBIA, S.C. (WACH, AP) -- The South Carolina Supreme Court will decide a challenge brought by four counties to the first-in-the-South presidential primary.

The court said Monday it will take the case.

The decision comes after the South Carolina Republican Party on Monday filed a response to the litigation.

In that Supreme Court filing, the state GOP said claims by Beaufort, Chester, Greenville and Spartanburg are wrong because the Legislature approved plans for the state to run the primary scheduled for January. The GOP also said the court can't get involved in questions about how much counties should be reimbursed.

Counties say their taxpayers picked up a nearly $1 million tab in the 2008 presidential primaries and they shouldn't subsidize this primary. Counties have argued that the primary is private function but that their taxpayers will foot much of the tab for putting on January's event.

Last week, Beaufort, Chester, Greenville and Spartanburg counties told the Supreme Court that the state didn't have enough money to handle the primary. They said their taxpayers had to cover nearly $1 million in expenses for the 2008 Republican and Democratic presidential primaries.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)