This website and the documents it makes are not a substitute for the advice of an attorney.
How El Paso police towing and the City storage facility work
The City owns the storage facility; a private contractor runs intake, release and the monthly online auction under a City contract.
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.
The contract
In March 2019 the City Council awarded a three-year contract (with possible extensions) to run the facility at 11615 Railroad Drive; the contractor is paid from the facility's revenue from towing, impoundment, notification, storage, law-enforcement and credit-card fees. An earlier contractor ran it under a contract awarded in November 2011.
Sources: 2019 contract award agenda item; Internal Audit A2020-02
Auctions
Unclaimed cars are sold online on the second Tuesday of each month, with a public preview the Saturday before. Under the 2019 contract a car becomes eligible for the City auction after 51 days of impoundment.
What the auditors found
In May 2020 the City's Internal Audit Office found some cars sold before day 51, no check of owners' military status before sales, and a hold lot for evidence and litigation cars over capacity, with some cars held 3 to 8 years.
Sources: Internal Audit A2020-02
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