The Lenexa City Council voted to deny an appeal from Johnson County Tow and upheld a one-year revocation from the police tow rotation list.

City staff described repeated failures by Johnson County Tow to answer calls for police-ordered tows, saying the company missed 46 calls from January through September 2024 and failed to respond on several occasions after a brief reinstatement in November. Staff asked the council to uphold Chief Layman’s suspension of the company from the department’s tow rotation for 12 months.

City staff said the police tow rotation is governed by Lenexa’s city code (Article 38(c)) and by a police tow service provider agreement that requires participating companies to be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and to meet insurance and location requirements. “So based on that type of standard, we feel like there is clear just cause for Chief Layman to have revoked Johnson County Tow from the police tow rotation list and we would ask that you uphold that revocation of 1 year,” Mackenzie, a city staff member, told the council.

Captain Justin Schoffer, Support Services, described how the call rotation works and the department’s capacity without the company. “We have 4 total companies on the rotation. So they get 2 calls and if they don't answer on the second call we move to the next company in the rotation,” Schoffer said. He added the department can operate with the remaining three vendors.

The council considered a motion to deny the appeal. The motion was moved by Council member Craig and seconded by Mark. The council voted in favor and the motion passed.

Johnson County Tow did not appear at the hearing; staff said the company had been offered the opportunity to submit written materials or appear in person but had not done so. City staff said Chief Layman notified the company on Nov. 12 that the firm would be revoked from the rotation for one year under the chief’s authority in city code.

No additional disciplinary details, penalty amounts, or a specific re-application process were specified during the council discussion. Chief Layman and Captain Choefer were present at the meeting but did not provide new details during the public record on the appeal.

The council also approved the meeting minutes and the consent agenda earlier in the session; other procedural items and council member remarks followed the appeal decision.