DeKalb County, GA Business Licensing & Operations: Towing Companies (2026)

DeKalb County Code Chapter 26, Article I governs wreckers operating on streets in the unincorporated area (Sec. 26-2). Sec. 26-5 makes it unlawful to operate or cause to be operated any wrecker there without first obtaining a business license from the county, and that license cannot be transferred to another owner or business. The police department ("the department") administers the chapter through its director, ordinarily the chief of police or a designee, per the definitions in Sec. 26-1. Sec. 26-6 lets the department petition the finance department to revoke a wrecker license for violating any provision of the chapter, or on four specific grounds: the license was obtained through fraud or a false statement about ownership, use, possession or operation; the licensee was found at an accident scene in violation of the chapter; the licensee used a police radio to learn an accident's location; or the licensee paid a gratuity to a bystander for accident-location tips.

A revoked owner cannot reapply for one year from the date the original license issued. Beyond licensing, the chapter layers on operational duties: Sec. 26-9 requires permanent, contrasting-color lettering at least 2½ inches tall on both sides of the wrecker showing the owner's name, address and phone number, and bars magnetic or removable signs. Sec. 26-10 requires weekly reports to the department listing every towed or stored vehicle still in the business's possession, due each Tuesday with the vehicle's description, VIN, tag, color and storage location.

Sec. 26-11 bars wreckers from responding to an accident scene unless called by the driver, owner or the department dispatcher, and bars monitoring police radio to learn of wrecks. Sec. 26-12 makes the wrecker operator responsible for cleaning accident debris from the street and right-of-way before leaving.