This website and the documents it makes are not a substitute for the advice of an attorney.
How police towing works in Fort Worth
Fort Worth uses a rotation of contracted tow companies, dispatched through AutoReturn, for police-ordered tows.
General information, not legal advice. The papers you got from the police, the tow company, the storage lot or a state agency control your dates. Agencies change phone numbers and steps, so check the agency's own page too.
You may get to choose
At a crash where you are present, the officer must let you name a tow company, repair shop, auto club or dealer, unless you are arrested and taken into custody or the car is a hazard or there is an emergency. If you don't choose, a City-contracted company is called, and its fees are set by the City.
- Tow trucks may not come to a crash unless called, and soliciting at the scene is banned.
Sources: Fort Worth City Code § 34-193; Fort Worth City Code §§ 34-186, 34-187
What it costs
Since October 1, 2023 the City-approved fees are $180 for a standard tow, $300 an hour for heavy duty (two-hour minimum), a $32 administrative fee, $22.85 impound and $22.85 a day storage. The standard fee was $65 in 2001, $100 in 2003 and $135 from 2004.
Finding the car and the deadlines
Use AutoReturn's Fort Worth search or call 817-349-4022. Notification letters go out after 48 hours. A towed car must be taken to a lot within one mile of the city limits and no more than 20 miles from where it was picked up. Tow-hearing notices to the City go to the Police Department in care of the City Secretary.
Sources: Fort Worth Police Auto Pound page; Fort Worth City Code § 34-183; Fort Worth City Code § 34-180
Parking-lot tows in Fort Worth
Fort Worth sets no fee limit of its own for private-property tows, so the state limits apply ($272 for a car). The tow must be reported to police within 45 minutes of leaving the scene.
Sources: Fort Worth City Code § 34-176; Fort Worth City Code § 34-184
Unclaimed cars
FWPD says unclaimed cars are sold online through its auctioneer. In 2016 the City's auditors found abandoned cars waited an average of 202 days before being auctioned.
Sources: Fort Worth Police Auto Pound page; 2016 Auto Pound audit
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