Montgomery Court Watch

One industry, one advisory board, two county contracts

The towing file

What this page is. Public records, each with its source, retrieval time and file hash. It does not suggest or imply that any person or entity has engaged in illegal or improper conduct. Many people and entities have the same or similar names; open the source before relying on a match. Figures marked derived are computed from the records by the rule on the Method page and are not findings. Corrections.

Montgomery County created a Towing Advisory Board in April 2021 and seated it with nine people. Every one of them owned or ran a towing company. The board was disbanded in June 2023. Two years later the county's towing contracts went to a company whose president had held one of those seats — and the contract she replaced was cancelled mid-term, four months after its holder had renewed it.

None of that is an accusation, and the page says so at the bottom in its own words. It is a sequence of government records, each one dated and cited, put in order for the first time.

9 of 9board seats held by towing-company owners or officersagainst a 5% baseline for appointees generally
$44,023from these families to county officials40 gifts, 12 with no readable amount
25 daysbetween a $2,500 gift and the cancellationread the denominator below before this means anything
0gifts on file from the cancelled vendoronly the incoming vendor gave

What happened

April 2021. Commissioner Noack moved to create a Towing Advisory Board, seconded by Commissioner Metts. The minutes record that it should "consist of 2 members appointed from each Precinct." Two weeks later the court seated nine people. Every one of them owned or was an officer of a towing company, each named by the commissioner for their own precinct.

That much is ordinary. Industry advisory boards are routinely staffed by the industry — that is frequently the point of them. Against the wider record it is still the outlier: of 445 people appointed to county boards across twenty-four years of minutes, 24 — about 5% — ever gave money to a county official. A board that is 100% one industry is not the norm; it is the exception that was designed that way.

June 2023. The board was disbanded and towing operations moved to the Sheriff's Office. The same meeting approved the Fourth Amendment to the ordinance governing the towing rotation. What the board recommended in the twenty-six months in between is not in the minutes, and has not been produced.

November 2024. Allpoints Towing, LLC exercised the third of three renewal options on Project 21-37 Towing Services. A vendor at the end of its renewal ladder, still holding the county's towing work.

February 2025. Amy Milstead — president of Milstead Automotive, and one of the nine who had held a seat on the disbanded board — gave $500 to County Judge Keough on the 13th and $2,500 to Commissioner Gray on the 28th.

25 March 2025. The court moved to "acknowledge the immediate cancellation of Project 21-37 Towing Services contract with Allpoints Towing, LLC" and awarded 21-37 "with the only remaining bidder" to Milstead Automotive, LTD. The motion was made by Commissioner Riley and seconded by Commissioner Wheeler.

A sitting vendor's contract cancelled mid-term, four months after it renewed, and the work moved to the only bidder left from a solicitation four years old. Allpoints Towing appears nowhere in the county campaign-finance file. Only the incoming vendor gave.

June 2025. Project #25-24, Additional Towing Services, also went to Milstead Automotive. Between the two awards, Amy Milstead gave Constable Hayden $750 and Timothy Knox gave him $2,000.

October 2025. Five Knox-family gifts reached Commissioner Gray across twelve days, totalling $4,870.

7 May 2026. Project 25-24 was renewed — the first of three renewal options. This is not history. If the remaining options are exercised the arrangement runs toward the end of the decade.

The sequence, with its sources

  1. 2021-04-13the board

    Towing Advisory Board created on Commissioner Noack's motion, seconded by Commissioner Metts. The minutes record it should “consist of 2 members appointed from each Precinct.”

    Commissioners Court minutes, 2021-04-13
  2. 2021-04-27the board

    Board seated. Nine members, every one an owner or officer of a towing company.

    Commissioners Court minutes, 2021-04-27
  3. 2023-06-13the board

    Board disbanded; towing operations move to the Sheriff's Office. Fourth Amendment to the Ordinance Regulating Incident Management Towing Rotation approved the same day.

    Commissioners Court minutes, 2023-06-13
  4. 2024-11-19the contracts

    Allpoints Towing, LLC exercises the third of three renewal options on Project 21-37 Towing Services.

    Commissioners Court minutes, 2024-11-19
  5. 2025-02-13the money

    Amy Milstead, CEO, gives $500 to County Judge Keough.

    County campaign-finance report, Keough
  6. 2025-02-28the money

    Amy Milstead, President of Milstead Automotive, gives $2,500 to Commissioner Gray.

    County campaign-finance report, Gray
  7. 2025-03-25the contracts

    Court acknowledges the IMMEDIATE CANCELLATION of the 21-37 towing contract with Allpoints Towing, and awards 21-37 “with the only remaining bidder” to Milstead Automotive, LTD. Moved by Commissioner Riley, seconded by Commissioner Wheeler.

    Commissioners Court minutes, 2025-03-25
  8. 2025-05-15the money

    Amy Milstead gives $750 to Constable Hayden.

    County campaign-finance report, Hayden
  9. 2025-06-04the money

    Timothy Knox gives $2,000 to Constable Hayden.

    County campaign-finance report, Hayden
  10. 2025-06-10the contracts

    Project #25-24 Additional Towing Services awarded to Milstead Automotive, LTD. Moved by Commissioner Walker, seconded by Commissioner Wheeler.

    Commissioners Court minutes, 2025-06-10
  11. 2025-10-16the money

    Five Knox-family gifts to Commissioner Gray begin, totalling $4,870 over twelve days.

    County campaign-finance report, Gray
  12. 2026-05-07the contracts

    Project 25-24 renewed — the first of three renewal options. The arrangement runs on.

    Commissioners Court minutes, 2026-05-07

Who was seated

9 of 9 rows
Todd StoweCounty Judge's representativeStowe's Wrecker Service—
Shae AdamickPrecinct 1Johnny Adamick Wrecker Service, LLC—
Charlie MillerPrecinct 1Miller Towing & Recovery—
Richard WiblePrecinct 2S & B Towing—
Clint BassPrecinct 2Bass Towing & Recovery—
Amy MilsteadPrecinct 3Milstead Towing; officer of Milstead Collision and Milstead ManagementPresident of Milstead Automotive, the company later awarded both county towing contracts
Joe KearnsPrecinct 3Quick Tow Wrecker Service—
David KnoxPrecinct 4Saddle Creek Towing (registered agent)Seated under Commissioner Metts; Commissioner Gray took office 2023-01-10
Dalton KnoxPrecinct 4EMC Wrecker / EMC Car Care & Towing LLCSeated under Commissioner Metts

Read from the minutes of 2021-04-27. The two Precinct 4 seats were filled under Commissioner Metts; Commissioner Gray took office 2023-01-10.

The money

Doolittle
$21,850
Gray
$10,600
Gable
$6,075
Hayden
$3,250
Dunn
$1,498
Keough
$500
Riley
$250

received

40 of 40 rows
2026-05-18Amy MilsteadGable$200Owner | Milstead Automotive
2026-01-30Milstead Technologies LLCDoolittle$1,750—
2026-01-30Milstead Technologies LLCDoolittlelost to OCRMorris, Jim
2026-01-23Adamick, Stanley JasonDoolittle$1,000—
2025-10-28Knox, DavidGray$2,800—
2025-10-28Knox, DavidGraylost to OCRForms provided by Texas Ethics Commission | --- PAGE 25 ---
2025-10-27Knox, TimathyGray$1,000—
2025-10-27Knox, TimothyGray$30—
2025-10-23Knox, KatieGray$30eee eee }
2025-10-23Knox, WoodroeGray$10—
2025-10-23Knox, KatieGraylost to OCR—
2025-10-23Knox, WoadroeGraylost to OCR—
2025-10-16Knox, DaltonGray$1,000—
2025-09-19Amy MilsteadGable$1,000—
2025-08-22Milstead PC Investment LLCRileylost to OCR—
2025-08-13Milstead, KenRileylost to OCR—
2025-06-04Knox, Timothy ‘Hayden$2,000Forms provided by Texas Ethics Commission www. ethics.state.tx.us Vers
2025-05-15Milstead, Amy (Ms.)Hayden$750—
2025-02-28Milstead, AmyGray$2,500President Milstead Automotive
2025-02-28Milstead, AmyGraylost to OCRPresident Milstead Automotive | $150.00
2025-02-18Amy J. MilsteadGable$500—
2025-02-13Milstead, AmyKeough$500CEO
2025-01-24MILSTEAD HOLDINGS LLCDoolittle$10,000—
2024-08-27Amy MilsteadGable$1,700—
2024-07-23Milstead PC Investment LLCRiley$250—
2024-05-24Amy MilsteadGable$475—
2024-04-24Miller Towing & Recovery LLCDoolittlelost to OCR—
2024-04-18Kearns, JosephDoolittlelost to OCR—
2024-04-04Amy MilsteadGable$500—
2024-03-08Kearns, JoeDoolittlelost to OCRForms provided by Texas Ethics Commission | Version V4.1.0.
total $44,023
page 1 of 2

Contributions on file from these families to county officials. Texas sets no cap on giving to a county commissioner and a contribution is not a payment for anything. Some rows lost their dollar figure to OCR of the scanned filings, so the total is a floor. Full table on Contributions.

What this is not, and what would settle it

Not an allegation

A contract can be cancelled for cause, for non-performance, or at the vendor's own request, and four years into a solicitation the other bidders may simply have lapsed. None of those records have been requested yet, so none of them can be ruled in or out here.

Not a timing finding

Of 228 county awards with a usable date, 7 have any matched gift within 120 days and 2 fall within 30. A permutation test on contribution timing in this county returned null (p = 0.597). Twenty-five days is at the close end of a very small sample, and it is a question to open the file with, not a conclusion.

Not a story about one vote

The commissioner who received the $2,500 neither moved nor seconded the cancellation. Riley moved it; Wheeler seconded. That belongs on the page as much as the gift does.

What would settle it

The cancellation file for 21-37 — the notice, the stated cause, and whether the county or Allpoints initiated it. Then the original 2021 solicitation and what became of the other bidders, and whether the 2025 re-award went out for fresh bids at all. See Requests.

Every row below was read out of the Commissioners Court minutes for the date shown. Nothing here alleges wrongdoing: industry advisory boards are routinely staffed by the industry, Texas caps no contribution to a county commissioner, and a contract can be cancelled for cause, for non-performance or at the vendor's own request. Commissioners Court minutes — each timeline row cites the meeting that states it. county-cfr-*.txt — county campaign-finance reports as filed; some rows lost their amount to OCR. search the minutes · contractors · corrections