Jonesboro, AR Business Licensing & Operations: Towing Companies (2026)
Key Facts
- Response time
- 25 minutes max after dispatch
- Base tow rate cap
- $125.00 city-wide
- After-hours release fee
- $30.00
- Storage fee starts
- after 24 hours held
- Daily storage cap
- $40.00 per day
- Penalty
- removal from police call list
Summary
Wrecker companies that want tow calls from the Jonesboro Police Department must run 24-hour service, carry liability insurance, secure their storage lots, and respond within 25 minutes. Rates are capped by ordinance, and the police chief can pull a non-compliant company from the call list.
Each company must provide 24-hour continuous service, both for the acceptance or release of vehicles or property and for request for service...The wrecker company shall notify any person calling for an after-hours release that there is a $30.00 fee...No storage fee is to be assessed until the vehicle has been stored for at least 24 hours...No more than 25 minutes will be allowed from the time of request for a wrecker to appear at the scene...(b)Penalty.(1)Any violation of this subsection can subject you to being removed on a temporary or permanent basis from the call list of the Jonesboro Police Department.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 16).
Full Breakdown
Sec. 66-83 sets detailed operating standards for any wrecker company accepting police-dispatched tows. m. 00 fee, but no storage fee may be charged until a vehicle has been held at least 24 hours. Each company must carry liability insurance, maintain a lighted and fenced storage yard secure from unauthorized entry, and keep a separate secure area for vehicles held as evidence. Wreckers must pass a current vehicle inspection, carry a proper commercial license, be equipped with a 10-pound ABC fire extinguisher and amber warning lights, and display the company name permanently on the truck.
No wrecker may respond to a scene unless called by police or the vehicle's owner or driver, and once dispatched a company has no more than 25 minutes to get a suitable wrecker to the scene. Drivers must be listed with the department along with license numbers, and drivers with excessive violations, violent-crime convictions, or a felony within five years may be barred from police-referral calls; the company must report a departed driver within 15 days. 00 after-hours release fee.
Violations & Fines
Failing to conform to these regulations and specifications constitutes grounds for penalties under Sec. 66-83(b): the chief of police (or a designee) can remove a company temporarily or permanently from the police department's call list. Before that happens, the company gets to present a defense to the complaint, but the chief has final say on the outcome; there is no separate criminal fine written into this section.
Frequently Asked Questions
How fast must a Jonesboro wrecker respond to a police call?
Can a wrecker company charge me a storage fee right away?
What happens if a wrecker company breaks these rules?
Is there a cap on what a wrecker can charge for a police-requested tow?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Jonesboro
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