Pierce County District Court filing fee schedule (effective December 8, 2025)
Lists the vehicle impound filing fee of $83.
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Public records about towing in Tacoma
Audits, reports, rules and contracts about towing in Tacoma, each with a short summary in plain words and a link to the agency's own copy.
These are government documents. We link to the official copies. Summaries are ours; read the record itself before you rely on it.
Pierce County District Court: vehicle impound hearing pages, form and information sheet
Where private and other impounds in Tacoma are contested: a petition filed in person at the County-City Building, 930 Tacoma Ave S, Room 239, weekdays 8:30 to 4:00. The court's pages count 10 days from the date of the attempted or actual retrieval, and list what the court can decide.
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City of Tacoma RFP CT22-0354F: Towing and storage services
The City's 2022 request for proposals for towing City vehicles and for towing, storing and releasing vehicles the Tacoma Police Department or other City officials order impounded. It says towing requested by the City is billed at no more than the contractor's State Patrol rate schedule.
Official copy:
The contract awarded from this solicitation was not found online.
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Attorney General v. a Tacoma tow company: service members' vehicles sold at auction
The office sued Burns Towing Inc. of Tacoma in Pierce County Superior Court in 2018 for auctioning a deployed sailor's car without the court order federal law requires. In 2020 the court ruled the company violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act and the state Consumer Protection Act and ordered restitution; the office reported up to 35 service members' vehicles were sold.
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Tacoma Municipal Code 11.05.231: Human habitation of vehicles
Makes it a civil infraction to use a vehicle as a home on a public street for more than 72 hours without a permit, with fines of up to $50, $100 and $250. A vehicle that blocks traffic, threatens safety or discharges sewage can be impounded under chapter 46.55 RCW.
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Tacoma Municipal Code chapter 8.23: Public nuisance vehicles
The City's junk-vehicle rules. A junk vehicle on public property gets a notice sticker 24 hours before removal.
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Tacoma Municipal Code 11.05.700-.706: City impounds, contract, hearings and fees
Tacoma's rules for vehicles the City impounds: hold periods after a suspended-license arrest, the towing contract, the owner notice within 24 hours, who may redeem, the written hearing request to the Chief of Police within 10 days, the administrative hearing officer, an appeal to Tacoma Municipal Court within 15 days, and an administrative fee capped at $100.
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Tacoma Municipal Code 11.05.050: state traffic rules adopted by reference (including the booting ban)
Adopts state traffic laws into the city code, including RCW 46.55.300, which bans private booting.
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Records we are getting ready
We are reviewing these before we post them:
- The current police-impound towing contract and fee exhibit, the Chief of Police's hearing request form, the administrative fee amount and impound counts (requested from the City of Tacoma on 2026-10-07; response due about 2026-10-14)
- The Finance Director's statement naming the towing contractor and storage locations, filed with the City Clerk under TMC 11.05.701
- Pierce County Code impound rules (the county code site returned an error on 2026-10-06)