The process of buying three new patrol trucks for the Park County Sheriff’s Office proved a little contentious on Tuesday.

County commissioners ultimately rejected the low bid from Fremont Motor Cody in favor of a higher bid from Denny Menholt Cody. The board favored the longer warranty on the Chevy Silverados offered by Denny Menholt and expressed concerns about whether Fremont had followed the bidding process — most specifically the dealer’s failure to list warranty information.

Had the commission chosen one of Fremont’s two offers, Denny Menholt technically could have decided to “raise a ruckus, because the other two bids did not meet the specifications,” said Commission Chairman Joe Tilden.

It initially looked like an easy choice: the Silverados from Denny Menholt — minus the value of three Dodge Rams being traded in by the sheriff’s office — came in at a net cost of $58,620. That was about $12,000 cheaper than a set of Ford F-150s offered by Fremont.

But when Sheriff Scott Steward took a closer look at Fremont’s “kind of … confusing” bid, he saw the company had also offered up three Dodge Rams at a net price of $45,694. That made the Rams the cheapest option by nearly $13,000.

However, Steward later learned that the Silverados come with a 100,000-mile powertrain warranty, better than the 60,000-mile warranty on the Rams. Given how many miles his deputies put on their vehicles in three or four years, he said the extra coverage is useful.

The commission initially appeared a little split between the lower cost and longer warranty. To compare apples-to-apples, Steward asked Fremont what it would cost to extend the Rams’ powertrain coverage to 100,000 miles and was told it would be $4,900 per vehicle — making them more expensive than the Silverados and ending the discussion.

Bert Miller of Denny Menholt had told commissioners he would honor whatever decision they made, but questioned the fairness of allowing Fremont to clarify its bid. Miller also described his competitor’s submission as “chicken scratch on paper.”

As a vendor, he said, “it’s my responsibility to give you a bid, clearly responsibly as to what the sheriff asked for ... and the sheriff clearly asked for what the warranties are.”

After commissioners unanimously voted to accept his bid Tuesday, Miller thanked them and said the decision might “help other vendors step up and do things right.” Steward said he’d be letting other vendors know that his office will be adhering to the standards it spells out.

Many law enforcement agencies have been forced to shift to trucks for their patrol vehicles, as automakers are generally no longer making police sedans. Steward said his office’s policy on pursuits has “immensely changed” with the switch, as “we don’t do pursuits in pickups” unless it involves a major crime.