Retired Sheriff’s Department Vehicle Transfers to County Employee Use

Posted on October 15, 2019
Author Anita Goodan, WKVI

A retired police vehicle will be in service for county employees after action taken by the Starke County Commissioners last week.

Auditor Rachel Oesterreich said a 2013 Chevy Impala needs an oil change, brakes and rotors, but is in good mechanical shape to be used as a county vehicle.

Oesterreich said she spoke to Carrie Block from 1St Choice Insurance, the county’s liability insurance agent, about the best use for the vehicle, if the commissioners choose to include it in the fleet.

“She wanted to advise the commissioners that coming from a liability standpoint having the employees use a company vehicle to travel to training, conferences or anything pertaining to work is the safest coverage you could possibly have,” commented Oesterreich.  “If something were to happen, you would already know right away that everything is going to be covered and to what extent it’s going to be covered.  When employees use their own methods of travel things can get very complicated when it comes to accidents.”

Full coverage liability would be $714 a year while comprehensive coverage would be $417 a year.  Oesterreich said that several other counties have a vehicle for use as mentioned.

The commissioners agreed to utilize the vehicle for county purposes.  They will review it in six months to see if it is useful.  Mileage will be calculated to see what the county could be saving by using the vehicle.

The commissioners also agreed to conduct the necessary work to get the car ready to use for up to $600 from the Cumulative Capital Development Fund.