ELYRIA — The Lorain County Board of Commissioners publicly disputed claims made by the Lorain County Deputies Association in a response posted Thursday morning on the commissioners’ official Facebook page.
The post addressed a late-night press release issued by the deputies’ association alleging the county had defaulted on vehicle fleet lease payments with Enterprise Fleet Management and that 41 sheriff’s cruisers were facing imminent repossession.
In their social media response, the commissioners described those claims as “false information” and referred to the situation as a “manufactured crisis,” stating that the vehicles were not scheduled to be repossessed and “were never going to be.”
According to the commissioners, county Deputy Administrator Karen Perkins contacted Enterprise Fleet Management and confirmed that no repossession was planned.
The commissioners’ post places responsibility for fleet payments with the Lorain County Sheriff’s Office, noting the sheriff is an elected official responsible for processing departmental invoices. The statement alleges the Sheriff’s Office did not pay a $13,583.81 invoice by December 2025, which generated an automated default notice sent to the department.
The commissioners also stated the sheriff currently has approximately $346,000 in his equipment lease account and noted that the Board approved the Sheriff’s Office 2026 budget on December 19, 2025.
The deputies’ association, in its Wednesday night release, claimed the county had failed to pay more than $57,000 in lease obligations and that deputies had begun removing equipment from cruisers in preparation for repossession.
As of publication, neither the Sheriff’s Office nor the deputies’ association had publicly responded to the commissioners’ Facebook post.