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Towing operators urge county to press sheriff on call-area assignments; commissioners say sheriff controls towing dispatch
Summary
Several local tow operators told commissioners they are losing calls after dispatch-area changes and urged the board to act; commissioners noted that towing assignments are controlled by the sheriff and asked for call-history data to review distribution fairness.
Multiple local tow operators told the Starke County Board of Commissioners that recent changes to towing-area assignments have reduced their business and that calls are being routed across the county instead of by local area.
"You can't just eliminate it. So if I get a moped and then I got turned back, that didn't get taken off," said Steve Howser, who identified himself at the meeting and said he has been in towing for 40 years. Operators asked the commissioners to press for an area-based approach rather than a pure call-count method and to restore historically assigned territories.
Commissioners noted the sheriff has discretion over towing assignments. "The commissioners don't control what the sheriff does," the chair said, adding that the board would review call-history numbers to better understand distribution and fairness concerns. Staff agreed to compile dispatch and call data for review.
Several operators asked for a rotation or area-based allocation to avoid long runs across the county and to ensure heavy-call coverage is shared. Commissioners encouraged operators to work with the sheriff's office and offered to help by requesting the data needed to assess whether an area-based approach would be appropriate.
The board did not take formal action at the meeting but said it would follow up with sheriff's office records and dispatch data at a future meeting.
