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How police towing works in Houston
When Houston police order a tow, a private tow company with a City agreement does the work and takes the car to a private storage lot that has its own agreement with HPD. Here is how the pieces fit.
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.
Who does the towing
Tow companies that want police tows sign a Police Authorized Tow Service Agreement (PATSA) with HPD and are assigned to tow zones. Heavy-duty wreckers have a separate agreement. HPD's Auto Dealers Detail licenses wrecker drivers, inspects trucks and handles complaints. In 2021 HPD reported 214 active PATSAs and 891 licensed wrecker drivers.
Cars from police tows go to a Police Private Storage Lot: a privately owned, state-licensed storage lot inside the city that has signed HPD's storage lot agreement. There is no single City impound lot.
Sources: HPD Police Authorized Tow Service Agreement (PATSA) form; HPD wrecker tow zone map; HPD 2026 Police Private Storage Lot Agreement with exhibits (form dated Sept. 29, 2026); HPD presentation: Chapter 8 changes to towing ordinances (Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee, June 17, 2021); Houston Code ch. 8, art. III (Municode)
At the scene
If you are there and able, the officer must give you a reasonable time to call a wrecker of your choice for a consent tow, taking traffic into account. Wrecker drivers may not solicit your business at the scene.
For a police-ordered tow, the officer fills out a wrecker slip listing the car, visible damage, where it was towed from, why, and which storage lot it goes to. City Code says no fee may be charged without that completed slip.
If you agree to a tow at a police scene, the driver must first give you a written slip with the exact fee, how and when you must pay, the company's contact details and where the car will go.
Sources: Houston Code ch. 8, art. III (Municode); HPD Motorist Bill of Rights (rev. Dec. 12, 2025)
What it can cost in 2026
The City sets the maximum each year. From January 1, 2026: $232 for a tow that does not need a heavy-duty wrecker, and $354 an hour with a two-hour minimum when a heavy-duty wrecker is needed. Recovery work, such as uprighting a vehicle, has no fixed price but must be reasonable.
If you have the car taken to a place you choose and it is unloaded more than 20 miles away, a mileage fee of up to 2% of the tow rate ($4.64) may be added for each mile past 20. HPD's flyer states the $4.64 figure more generally; the City Code ties it to an owner-chosen destination.
Storage is limited by state law: no more than $22.85 a day for a vehicle 25 feet long or less, plus the other fees the state allows, each listed separately on your receipt.
Sources: City rate notice for 2026 (ARA, Nov. 25, 2025); Houston Code ch. 8, art. III (Municode); HPD Motorist Bill of Rights (rev. Dec. 12, 2025); TDLR: VSF fees and other charges
Finding the car and getting it back
HPD sends people to findmytowedcar.com (search by plate or VIN) or its wrecker tow line, 713-308-8580. Police storage lots must release a car within one hour of a request, 24 hours a day, under HPD's 2026 lot agreement, and their phone message must give HPD's after-hours complaint number, (832) 394-4869.
Under state law the lot must take cash, debit and credit cards, and must release the car to the owner with ID and proof of insurance.
Sources: findmytowedcar.com (HPD's towed-vehicle lookup); HPD Auto Dealers Detail: Towed Vehicles FAQ; HPD 2026 Police Private Storage Lot Agreement with exhibits (form dated Sept. 29, 2026); Texas Occupations Code ch. 2303 (Vehicle Storage Facility Act)
Complaints and hearings
Complaints about a tow company or storage lot go to HPD's Auto Dealers Detail (hpd.AutoDealers@HoustonPolice.org, 832-394-4800) and can also go to TDLR, the state licensing agency. A hearing on whether a tow was lawful is held in a justice court; in Harris County the request goes to Precinct 2, 3, 6 or 8 (see the hearing guide).
Sources: HPD Motorist Bill of Rights (rev. Dec. 12, 2025); Harris County Justice Courts: Information about Tow Hearings; TDLR: towing consumer information
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