Tow owners organize in response to criminal crackdown proposal

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (KCTV) - Safety yellow dominated a semi-private dining room at Saints Pub and Patio in Independence Monday night. The color was on ball caps, jackets and vests as tow company owners and managers convened to vent and organize.

At least 24 companies were represented. Jared Innis, the president of the Missouri Tow Truck Association, sat at the end of a table to direct them on how to best respond to recently introduced ordinances aimed in part at addressing predatory towing.

“Let’s identify the problems and what solutions they want to have and get a good ordinance,” Innis said.

The push for tougher regulation and penalties comes after a mother and son duo at Metro Tow were charged with nearly 20 felony counts for how they handled nonconsensual towing and impounding. At issue was how they handled private towing contracts, mainly apartment complex parking lots.

Many of the owners gathered Monday night don’t handle private contracts. They’re too messy, one of the managers said off camera. It can result in conflicts. Some do only consensual towing, which is when someone calls after a collision or a breakdown. Some contract with city and county law enforcement.

Separate ordinances are being considered by both Kansas City’s City Council and the Jackson County Legislature. The Jackson County ordinance, sponsored by legislators DaRon McGee and Vanessa Huskey, is Innis’ main concern. It would create a licensing process specific to tow companies.

He’s fine with requiring a special license. Other counties he works in have had them for years. It’s good governance. His problem is with the cost and the penalties for violations.

“I’ve got tow companies in Clay County, Platte County and Buchanan County and the fees are all very similar between the three, and they’re 1/10 of what Jackson County is proposing,” Innis said.

Platte County, for example, charges $75 annually per business with an extra $25 annually for each vehicle in the fleet.

The proposed Jackson County ordinance specifies $1,000 per company and $250 per vehicle.

He’s also concerned about the proposed penalties: a minimum suspension of 45 to 90 days for a single violation of the rules.

“If you have 50 trucks and one guy goes out and doesn’t do it right, whether intentional or not, there are some serious consequences that I think are a little bit too severe,” Innis said.

They’ll be bringing their concerns to legislators in hopes of hammering out something before a vote. A hearing is scheduled before the legislature’s Inter-Governmental Affairs Committee on May 5.

He described the Kansas City ordinance as reasonable after a few tweaks which he has already discussed with council members.

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