Towed car rules by state

State-by-state summary

• Alabama: Alabama has a state-run unclaimed/abandoned vehicle process through the Department of Revenue, including a public portal and a public list of vehicles in that process.
• Alaska: Alaska’s official state material focuses on lien, title, and notice rules rather than a statewide public impound locator.
• Arizona: Arizona has detailed statewide towing statutes, but private-property fee caps are largely set locally by cities, towns, or counties.
• Arkansas: Arkansas regulates nonconsent towing through the Arkansas Towing and Recovery Board, while local police agencies also play a role when a vehicle is removed under law-enforcement authority.
• California: California has detailed statewide rules for private-property towing in the Vehicle Code, including sign, timing, release, and rate rules.
• Colorado: Colorado statewide towing rules are centralized in the Public Utilities Commission, which permits towing carriers and sets maximum nonconsensual towing rates.
• Connecticut: Connecticut DMV regulates wreckers through its dealer/repairer licensing system and publishes statewide maximum charges for nonconsensual private-property trespass tows.
• Delaware: Delaware now has a dedicated state statute for private-property and public-parking-area nonconsensual tows of vehicles 5,000 pounds or less.
• District of Columbia: The District has an official owner-facing towed-vehicle page and phone line through DC DMV, while towing operations and impoundment are handled with DC Department of Public Works and police involvement depending on the tow.
• Florida: Florida has detailed state statutes on private-property towing, but it does not provide a single statewide public search for all towed vehicles.
• Georgia: Georgia does regulate private-property nonconsent towing statewide through the Department of Public Safety, including a statewide maximum rate tariff effective June 17, 2024.
• Hawaii: Hawaii has statewide towing statutes with unusually specific fee and notice rules, including set private-property tow and storage charges in section 290-11.
• Idaho: Idaho has a statewide Idaho Transportation Department portal for many law-enforcement, posted-private-property, and certain private-landowner tows.
• Illinois: Illinois does not show a single statewide public towed-vehicle search on the official state pages found, but Chicago runs an official real-time city vehicle search and several other large cities publish impound or release pages.
• Indiana: Indiana’s official pages did not show a statewide public towed-vehicle lookup for owners, but state law and state guidance set statewide notice and consumer-protection rules for abandoned and private-property tows.
• Iowa: Iowa’s official statewide guidance is built around abandoned-vehicle processes through the Iowa DOT and Iowa Code, not a single public statewide towed-car locator.
• Kansas: Kansas does not appear to provide a single statewide public search for all towed vehicles.
• Kentucky: Kentucky regulates towing and storage more centrally than Iowa or Kansas: towing and storage companies must hold a Kentucky Transportation Cabinet certificate and file rate sheets with KYTC.
• Louisiana: Louisiana has statewide regulation for non-consensual towing through the Louisiana Public Service Commission, and state law requires local law enforcement to keep tow-storage reports reasonably obtainable for the public.
• Maine: Maine does not appear to have a single statewide public towed-vehicle search page, and the Secretary of State is still studying possible statewide towing regulation.
• Maryland: Maryland has a statewide private-property towing statute, but fees are tied to local public-safety impound rates rather than one uniform statewide schedule.
• Massachusetts: Massachusetts regulates involuntary private-property and police-ordered towing at the state level through the Department of Public Utilities' Transportation Oversight Division.
• Michigan: Michigan has a statewide official search for abandoned or towed vehicles through the Secretary of State.
• Minnesota: Minnesota's towing rules for private property are spread across Chapter 168B, with city impound lots handling many real-world lookups and releases.
• Mississippi: Mississippi’s statewide material I found is centered on lien, notice, and title rules at the Department of Revenue, not a public statewide towed-vehicle locator.
• Missouri: Missouri has detailed statewide towing statutes, but I did not find a public statewide towed-vehicle search run by the state.
• Montana: Montana’s statewide pages focus on tow-truck operator laws, complaint resolution, and abandoned-vehicle handling through law enforcement rather than a public statewide vehicle-search portal.
• Nebraska: Nebraska’s DMV explains title and lien procedures for vehicles towed from private property, including required mailed notice to owners and lienholders.
• Nevada: Nevada has the clearest statewide public lookup I found: cities in the Las Vegas Valley point vehicle owners to AutoReturn for police impounds, private-property tows, and repossessions in their jurisdictions.
• New Hampshire: New Hampshire’s official materials focus more on notice, tow-list administration, and fee review than on a statewide public lookup.
• New Jersey: New Jersey has a statewide Predatory Towing Prevention Act enforced through the Division of Consumer Affairs, but statewide fee caps for private-property non-consent towing were not found; instead, municipalities and counties set schedules of towing and storage services and rates.
• New Mexico: New Mexico regulates towing services statewide under NMDOT-issued rules in 18.3.12 NMAC, including notice deadlines, payment rules, and approved tariffs for non-consensual towing.
• New York: New York does not show a single statewide towed-vehicle locator on the official state pages reviewed, and private-property towing rules are heavily local.
• North Carolina: North Carolina has statewide towing notice statutes, but I did not find a current official statewide public towed-vehicle search on a state agency site.
• North Dakota: North Dakota’s statewide rules focus on abandoned motor vehicles, including vehicles removed from private property without consent when they meet the statutory definition of abandoned.
• Ohio: Ohio has detailed statewide rules for private-property towing, including PUCO-set maximum removal and storage charges.
• Oklahoma: Oklahoma has a statewide VIN-based lookup for vehicles impounded by law enforcement, run through Service Oklahoma and DPS.
• Oregon: Oregon does not show a statewide public towed-vehicle search page in the official state sources I found.
• Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania does not have a statewide public towed-vehicle lookup in the official state sources I found.
• Rhode Island: Rhode Island regulates non-consensual towing through the Division of Public Utilities and Carriers, which specifically oversees tow companies and approves tariffs for towing done without the owner’s prior consent.
• South Carolina: South Carolina does not show a single statewide towed-vehicle search on the state pages found here, but state law and official court guidance require quick law-enforcement notification for non-consensual private-property tows.
• South Dakota: South Dakota’s official sources reviewed here do not show a single statewide public towed-vehicle lookup, but they do lay out statewide abandoned-vehicle and impound notice rules.
• Tennessee: Tennessee has an abandoned-vehicle process run through the Department of Revenue, but the state’s public-facing materials now describe its portal as an abandoned/immobile vehicle system rather than a simple statewide live towed-car finder.
• Texas: Texas licenses tow companies, tow trucks, tow operators, and vehicle storage facilities through TDLR, and state law/TDLR guidance set statewide maximum private-property tow and storage charges unless a municipality or county sets a lower fee.
• Utah: Utah has a statewide impound lookup run by the Utah State Tax Commission, and Utah DMV explains the state’s impound-notice process.
• Vermont: Vermont’s statewide official tool is the DMV abandoned-vehicle application search, which is tied to the abandoned-vehicle certification process.
• Virginia: Virginia sets statewide default limits for many private-property non-consent passenger-car tows, but local ordinances can set different limits in some places.
• Washington: Washington licenses registered tow truck operators through the Department of Licensing and uses Chapter 46.55 RCW for towing, impound, notice, redemption, and fee rules.
• West Virginia: West Virginia does not appear to offer a public statewide towed-vehicle lookup on the WV.gov, DMV, or State Police pages reviewed.
• Wisconsin: Wisconsin has local official tow/impound pages, but no statewide public towed-vehicle search was found on WisDOT pages reviewed.
• Wyoming: Wyoming does not appear to have a public statewide towed-vehicle lookup.