Bonner County, ID Business Licensing & Operations: Towing Companies (2026)

Bonner County Revised Code § 2-430 is the county's authority for non-consent towing from county roads. It is a tow-and-storage rule, not a licensing scheme: the section names a commercial towing service as one of two ways to remove a vehicle but sets no towing-company license, rate schedule or storage-lot standard, and a search of the exported code found no separate wrecker provision for road parking.

Subsection A gives the trigger and the actor. Whenever a peace officer finds a vehicle parked in violation of section 2-401 (parking that impedes the free flow of vehicle traffic or violates a posted prohibition) or section 2-420 (parking that impedes county snow removal crews), the officer is authorized to remove and tow away the vehicle, or cause it to be removed and towed away by any county road crew or commercial towing service. The decision to tow sits with the peace officer, and the county road department is itself an authorized tower.

Subsection B covers what happens next. A vehicle towed for illegal parking is placed in a storage garage or compound. It is restored to the owner upon satisfactory proof of ownership to the sheriff and the storage operator, and upon payment of the towing and storage charges. The owner therefore deals with both the Bonner County Sheriff and the operator of the compound, and the charges are the owner's to pay before release.

Subsection C keeps the tow separate from prosecution. Impounding a vehicle under this section does not prevent or preclude criminal proceedings charging the violator with any violation of law on account of which the vehicle was impounded.

The underlying parking offenses carry their own penalty. Section 2-490 makes a violation of section 2-401 or 2-420 an infraction with a fixed penalty of one hundred dollars ($100.00). Under section 2-480, proof that the vehicle was parked in violation, together with proof of who was the registered owner at the time, is prima facie evidence that the registered owner parked it, and the owner can rebut that with evidence such as a lease or rental agreement.