Sheriff Deputies Narrowly Avoid Getting 41 Squad Cars Repo'd By Enterprise Over Unpaid Lease Payments

Even nan cops can't hide from the repo man. According to a property release, nan Lorain County Sheriff's Office successful Ohio was preparing for repossession of 41 constabulary cruisers by "removing gear, equipment, and individual items" from nan vehicles because of immoderate unpaid bills. The Lorain County Deputies Association stated regarding nan repossession:

It has travel to our attraction that nan Lorain County Commissioners person defaulted connected our conveyance fleet indebtedness pinch Enterprise Fleet Management. The commissioners, nan "good stewards" of taxpayers' money, grounded to salary complete $57,000 successful lease payments to Enterprise arsenic portion of nan contract. That intends that 41 of our Police Cruisers are group to beryllium repossessed connected Monday.

Those are immoderate beardown words for nan region commissioners, rightfully harsh though, if these claims are true. However, commissioners had immoderate beardown words of their ain successful return, denying that nan repo would happen. From News 5 Cleveland: 

The Lorain County Board of Commissioners has been made alert of mendacious accusation being shared by nan Sheriff's Deputies Association. This manufactured situation stated that nan Commissioners defaulted connected nan county's conveyance fleet lease pinch Enterprise Fleet Management and that 41 constabulary cruisers were group to beryllium repossessed.

As soon arsenic nan Commissioners were made alert of this issue, our County Deputy Administrator, Karen Perkins, made a little telephone telephone to Enterprise Fleet Management to corroborate nan vehicles successful mobility were not going to beryllium repossessed, nor were they ever going to be.

So, mendacious alarm? Maybe. 

County commissioners besides insist that blasted for nan precocious costs lies not pinch them, but pinch nan Sheriff's office.

The Lorain County Sheriff is an elected charismatic and is responsible for nan guidance and payments for their department. The Sheriff's Office is responsible for processing their ain invoices, including Enterprise Fleet Management. The Sheriff's Office did not salary nan afloat invoice of $13,583.81 by December 2025, which generated an automated announcement of default to nan Lorain County Sheriff's Department.

The Board of Commissioners approved nan Sheriff's 2026 yearly fund connected December 19, 2025.

It's almost arsenic though nan 2 organizations are connected different planets. Each entity blames nan different for not paying their bills, and nan amounts that each says nan different was expected to salary are rather different, truthful it's difficult to opportunity precisely who is mistaken here. What is clear is that Lorain County has immoderate issues. The repossession play comes during a clip of fund cuts to services for illustration emergency short-term shelters. From News 5:

"We've put each nan agencies successful a difficult position," Commissioner Marty Gallagher said past week. "Unfortunately, we had to make those reliable decisions. We each person to hunker down. We person to fund our money better. Unfortunately, immoderate of nan services person to beryllium cut."

Hopefully, nan commissioners are correct, and nan Sheriff's Office will not beryllium losing nan 41 cruisers to a repossession. It would costs a awesome woody much than nan fleet statement to telephone deputies each Ubers to respond to calls, arsenic nan Deputies Association (sarcastically?) referenced successful its statement. They say, "A Lannister ever pays his debts," but it seems that location are nary Lannisters successful nan Lorain County government.