This website and the documents it makes are not a substitute for the advice of an attorney.
What changed: towing updates in Corpus Christi
New laws, rules and rates that affect people whose cars were towed, newest first. Each item is our own short summary with a link to the official source.
City Council raised Corpus Christi's maximum wrecker fees, in effect October 1, 2022
Ordinance 032867 raised the Category A (10,000 lbs. or less) police rotation-list tow from $150 to $180, the total maximum for a rotation tow from $255 to $305, and the private property impound from $145 to $155. It also lets the City hire an outside company to run parts of the wrecker program, and it now ties storage fees to the state maximums.
Passed September 20, 2022. In effect October 1, 2022.
City approved a five-year software contract for police tows and the impound lot
The Council approved a five-year agreement, capped at $135,000, for software that dispatches rotation tows and runs the City's vehicle impound lot. The staff memo estimated about 14,000 vehicles a year are towed to the City lot.
A $20 City administrative fee was added for cars picked up at the police impound lot
Ordinance 031161 added a $20 administrative fee for each vehicle an owner recovers from the City vehicle impound lot, payable only to the City. The staff memo said the money would pay for more lot staff, for round-the-clock coverage, and for software to let people locate and pay for their car online.
Passed May 30, 2017. Still in the City Code (§ 57-249(4)f).
Corpus Christi rewrote its auto wrecker ordinance and raised tow fees
Ordinance 030403 replaced the City Code's auto wrecker article. It raised the Category A rotation tow from $110 to $150 and the private property impound from $115 to $145, added a rule that private-property tows must be photographed before hookup, and let owners take personal belongings out of a towed car without paying first.