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Audits, reports, rules and contracts about towing in Washington, 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.
Sets up a Department of Licensing program, paid from unclaimed auction surplus, that reimburses tow companies when they release a car to an indigent owner after a private-property tow or a police-directed tow not made after an arrest. Payments depend on available money, there is a waitlist, and the Department must report numbers to the Legislature each October.
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The Department of Licensing registers tow truck operators and takes complaints about them (RCW 46.55.170). The State Patrol takes complaints only about its own impounds and about tow truck equipment.
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The bill record for Chapter 99, Laws of 2026, which allows immediate impound of a vehicle blocking streetcar operations in a city of more than 700,000 people. Signed and effective March 18, 2026.
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The Patrol's current maximum rates for the tows it orders: $297 an hour for class A and E trucks, up to $1,041 an hour for the largest rotators, $75 storage and $149 an hour for labor or an after-hours release. Private-impound fee schedules are capped by reference to these rates (RCW 46.55.118).
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The page shows only the current year; earlier tables were not found online. These rates end October 14, 2026; re-check the page after October 15, 2026 for the new table.
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A House bill written after City of Seattle v. Long: vehicle residences would be impounded only as a last resort, could not be sold at auction, would get a hearing within two business days, and filing fees could be waived for hardship. It had a public hearing and no committee vote.
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The bill record for Chapter 326, Laws of 2023, which lets an authorized regional transit authority representative have a vehicle impounded immediately when it blocks high capacity transit. Effective July 23, 2023.
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A Senate bill that followed the WSU work group report: courts could release a vehicle used as a home, consider ability to pay and reduce fees, with a state account to repay tow companies. The Legislature's record shows a public hearing on January 10, 2024 as its last action; we found no record that it passed.
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The State Patrol's rules for tow trucks and for the companies it calls on rotation: inspections, letters of appointment, complaints, tow zones and fees. Section 140 says the Patrol sets maximum hourly and daily storage rates before October 15 each year, and a signed agreement to charge no more becomes part of each company's letter of appointment.
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The bill record for Chapter 287, Laws of 2018. It passed the Senate 46-3 and the House 76-22. RCW 46.55.400, from this law, lets a registered tow company take an abandoned RV straight to a licensed dismantler or disposal site with the state paperwork.
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The bill record and final House bill report for Chapter 37, Laws of 2013, which created RCW 46.55.118. Before it, there was no state limit on what a tow company could charge for a private impound. It caps class A, D and E private-impound hourly and storage rates at 135% of State Patrol rates and the after-hours release fee at 100%, and keeps local limits in effect before January 1, 2013. It passed the House 91-7 and the Senate without a no vote.
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The Department of Licensing's rules for tow companies: sign size, charges allowed, after-hours release within 60 minutes, records, auctions, and the rule that no auction may happen while a timely court hearing request is pending.
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The state law for every tow company and impound in Washington: registration, signs, the signed authorization, fee schedules, owner notices, the 10-day hearing, auctions and the tow company's lien. It was first enacted in 1985 (Chapter 377, Laws of 1985) and last amended in 2026.
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We are reviewing these before we post them: