Every year, tens of thousands of cars are towed in cities across the state.

Most towing companies are just doing their jobs and comply with laws created to keep tabs on them and help consumers, including fee limits.

But there are bad apples, and some officials want more local control to keep these rogue drivers in check.

Legislation being crafted at the Statehouse would give sole regulatory authority to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.

Cities fear that the state doesn't have the resources to stay on top of towing companies that stake out restricted parking lots, waiting to pounce on unsuspecting drivers who briefly leave their cars.

"We have police out 24 hours a day. Do they have people out 24 hours a day?" said John Gilchrist, legislative counsel for the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police, which represents states, villages and townships. The new rules would give the PUCO exclusive regulatory authority to go after trucks that don't display their state license numbers. The rules also would require tow-truck operators to tell police when they tow vehicles so officers don't waste time looking for towed cars that are mistakenly reported as stolen.

Towing companies already are supposed to do that, but Columbus police say reporting is spotty at best.

The legislation would make it a first-degree misdemeanor for towing companies to remove cars from private lots without the knowledge of property owners. The intent is to crack down on predatory operators who lurk around parking lots, including lots that they are not hired to tow from.

The legislation would also give the PUCO authority to establish operating hours for storage facilities and require companies to allow people to retrieve belongings from vehicles.

But local officials would not be able to go after companies that don't follow the rules, Gilchrist said.

"If we see a tow truck without a license, we can't enforce it," said Mike Weinman, the Columbus police legislative liaison. "It's insane."

Those with complaints now call police, the PUCO and city attorney offices.

One common complaint in Columbus is that towing operators charge more than the state-set maximum fees -- $90 for towing and $12 a day for storage.

Tim Duffey of Shamrock Towing said he charges $138.89 for towing and storage as well as taxes, gas, health insurance and workers' compensation.

"There is nothing in (state law) that says you can't charge for that," Duffey said.

Kim Kowalski, a spokeswoman for the Ohio attorney general's office, said there is no language in the law that addresses additional fees.

The city charges $125 per tow and $18 a day for storage. Sgt. Dan Hale, of the Columbus police impound section, said the city code spells out those charges.

Alan Martin, the PUCO's assistant transportation director, said the proposed legislation would give the state new enforcement tools, including fines of $1,000 a day per violation and the power to suspend or revoke operating certificates.

Right now, Martin said, "When we get complaints about predatory towing, . . . there's nothing we can do about it."

Columbus lost its ability to regulate towing companies in 2003 when state legislators enacted a law that said cities, counties and townships couldn't license them.

That followed a 2002 U.S, Supreme Court ruling that said federal law did not prevent local jurisdictions from regulating them. The proposed legislation, sponsored by state Rep. Tracy Heard, D-Columbus, closes a loophole in the law that could potentially allow tow trucks to go completely unregulated because it exempts companies operating within one city or contiguous municipalities.

Not fixing that loophole puts the state at odds with federal law and puts Ohio at risk of losing as much as $8 million in federal grants each year, she said.

Heard said she's willing to pursue ways for local police to enforce the laws in another piece of legislation later. She hopes to introduce the rules she is working on now by the end of the year.

The towing industry is pushing back, lobbying against the legislation.

"There are people who, yes, don't necessarily do our industry proud. But they are few and far between," said Bob Lambert, a lobbyist for the Towing and Recovery Association of Ohio.

"A lot of this stuff is really (about) personal responsibility."

mferenchik @dispatch.com