De Pere, WI Business Licensing & Operations: Towing Companies (2026)

Section 150-9 of the De Pere Code of Ordinances gives a traffic officer authority to order a vehicle towed and removed, notwithstanding Wis. Stat. § 342.40, whenever the vehicle creates an emergency under subsection (b) or sits in violation of the private-property and parking-facility rules in subsection (c). The emergency category covers a vehicle blocking the free flow of traffic, sitting in a posted tow-away zone or emergency snow removal zone, blocking access to a parking facility or private drive, or obstructing an emergency vehicle or fire safety equipment. On private property or in a parking facility, the officer can only order a nonemergency tow after getting a written complaint from the property owner or the person in control of the lot.

Before towing, the officer has to make a reasonable effort to contact the vehicle's owner. Once the vehicle is gone, the officer completes a municipal court citation in the registered owner's name, attaches a copy to the vehicle, and serves the owner, telling them where the vehicle is, that they can get it back by paying reasonable storage and towing fees, and that they can challenge the tow's reasonableness at the return date on the citation. A vehicle that appears stolen, or one whose owner cannot be identified after a traffic violation, can be impounded under the same section and released once the registered owner pays the towing and storage fee.