Cincinnati, OH Business Licensing & Operations: Towing Companies (2026)

Chapter 869 of the Cincinnati Municipal Code, rewritten by Ordinance No. 166-2001, governs both police-directed towing and private non-consent towing. Section 869-5 sets the eligibility bar for wrecker operators who want to join the city's police rotation list, the roster the police department calls down when it needs a disabled or illegally parked vehicle removed. To qualify, an operator must carry general liability insurance of at least $1,000,000 with no more than a $1,000 deductible, plus garage-keepers legal liability insurance of at least $100,000 with no more than a $500 deductible, both requiring the insurer to give the city ten days' notice before any cancellation or material change.

60 (the state's private-property towing statute) or Section 869-11 of this chapter. A single conviction bars rotation-list eligibility for one year from removal; two or more convictions within five years extend that bar to three years from the last conviction. Section 869-7 has the city manager or designee publish the fee schedule and equipment, training, and storage-security standards operators on the list must meet. 60(B), except in accordance with that state statute, Cincinnati doesn't set its own substantive non-consent towing rules beyond incorporating the state law.