The Marshall County Sheriff’s Department is hoping to be able to better track license plates for buggies registered in the county.
Earlier this year, the Marshall County Commissioners established an ordinance outlining the procedures and fees. Buggies used by local Amish populations are thought to cause damage to local roadways, but prior to the ordinance adoption, a fee is not applied to their registration to help pay a portion of the damage costs.
Marshall County Sheriff Matt Hassel says there’s currently no way to track who owns the registration.
“Would they be able to, by getting a plate number, to be able to find who that buggy is registered to?” says Hassel.
Marshall County uses a bank in the eastern portion of the county to manage the registration applications and the vehicles in use.
Tracking those vehicles while they’re on the roadway, however, remains a bit of a concern. The registration is conducted through the county, not the state. That makes it difficult to share the database through state databases.
Commissioner Deb Griewank says the county is currently logging the receipts from those who apply for the registration plate.
“On that it will have the individual’s name and plate number,” says Griewank. “I don’t know how it could be implemented into a database. It does not go through the BMV at all.”
Hassel says something simple such as preparing a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet might do the trick. Dispatch would communicate who the owner of the buggy is supposed to be through their communication systems.
The plan is expected to move forward shortly.
