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Tow and boot hearings for Houston tows (Harris County)
Texas law gives the owner or operator of a towed or booted vehicle the right to a hearing in a justice court on whether the tow or boot was lawful. Most of Houston is in Harris County, which has its own filing rule.
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.
Which court
Harris County's justice courts send all tow and boot hearing requests to the courts in Precincts 2, 3, 6 or 8 (Local Rule 2.3.3, first adopted in 2005 and last amended November 9, 2021). A request filed in another Harris County justice court is passed on to one of them.
Parts of Houston are in Fort Bend and Montgomery counties. State law puts the hearing in a justice court of the county the car was towed from, so a tow from those parts goes to that county's courts.
Sources: Harris County Justice Courts: Information about Tow Hearings; Texas Occupations Code ch. 2308 (Texas Towing and Booting Act)
Deadline and fee
The written request must be delivered before the 14th day after the tow or boot, not counting Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, or the right to a hearing is lost. The Harris County filing fee is $54 ($21 state and $33 local), paid when you file.
Sources: Harris County Justice Courts: Information about Tow Hearings; Texas Occupations Code ch. 2308 (Texas Towing and Booting Act)
What the storage lot must tell you
When you pay, the storage lot must give you a written notice of your hearing rights that names the justice courts for the county. The court must hold the hearing within 21 days after it gets the request.
Sources: Texas Occupations Code ch. 2308 (Texas Towing and Booting Act)
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