Tow company for seized cars to remain the same

The Bourbon County Sheriff's Office will continue using Pearson Towing of Fort Scott any time there is a vehicle that has to be seized and impounded.

On Tuesday, Sheriff Bill Martin presented bids he received for the county's towing service for seized vehicles.

Pearson submitted a bid of $250 per vehicle, which includes towing, mileage and storage.

Saker Towing of Fort Scott submitted a bid of $50 for arriving at the scene to pick up the vehicle, plus $2 per mile after leaving the scene and $5 per day for storage.

Martin said even though it was not in the bid specifications, Pearson also will pickup trash and wash the vehicle so it can be prepared to be photographed.

In order to be able to compare the two bids equally, Martin calculated how much the county would be charged for impoundment of a vehicle. He said a vehicle could be impounded for several months. He said the average days of storing a vehicle is 255 days.

Undersheriff Ben Cole said if someone is arrested and goes to jail for a few days, that person will get their vehicle back. The bid is for forfeitures that take place when a person is arrested for a felony.

Julie Saker of Saker Towing told to county commissioners on April 19 and May 3 she doesn't believe her company is receiving its fair share of calls from the sheriff's office.

The county is in an agreement, along with the city of Fort Scott, to use a rotating schedule to dispatch the four area towing companies.

County Counselor Justin Meeks on Tuesday presented the research he has done on the issue. He obtained calendars from Central Dispatch, which showed which days Saker Towing was on call and how many times the company was dispatched on those days.

"Dispatch also provided a detailed accounting of the phone calls and the dispatched towing agencies within a certain time frame for the towing service you requested," Meeks said.

On April 25 another towing company was called to pickup a vehicle seized after a high-speed chase, Meeks said.

Martin said on March 8, the sheriff's office arrested an individual alongside U.S. 69 and Indian Road. The driver of the vehicle requested a different towing company, even though Saker was the tow of the day.

He said on March 16 a driver of another vehicle also requested a different towing company.

Martin said his deputies provide information on which company is the tow of the day, but drivers have the option of using a service of their choice.

On May 10, Julie Saker told commissioners her company was on call on May 7, she was listening to the scanner when she heard a deputy call for the tow of the day, but also heard the deputy tell dispatch he had spoken to another officer who said they were to call a different company.

Meeks said he did not have information on that incident.

"This is time intensive, but I can get information for May," Meeks said. "We're not technically over dispatch. They've been very nice to get this information, even though it created some work."

The information falls under the Kansas Open Meetings Act, which means Central Dispatch could legally charge a fee for the documents.

The information is for dispatches from January through April and only included information regarding Saker Towing. Meeks said obtaining the same information on each of the towing companies would have been more time consuming.

Commission Chair Barbara Albright suggested there be a meeting with Fort Scott Fire Chief Paul Ballou, who oversees Central Dispatch, and possibly other officials with the city to review the towing agreement.

Meeks said he would meet with the Fort Scott Police Chief to see if how the policy is working for his officers.