Owensboro, KY Business Licensing & Operations: Towing Companies (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing law
- Wrecker Service Ordinance, Municipal Code Ch. 27 Art. II
- Administered by
- Owensboro Police Department, under city manager
- Emergency response time
- 20 minutes or less, 24/7
- Minimum equipment
- 1-ton wrecker with winch and wheel lifts
- First violation penalty
- Suspension up to 6 months
- Repeat violation
- Permanent removal from rotation list
Summary
The City of Owensboro's Wrecker Service Ordinance, Municipal Code Ch. 27 Art. II, has the police department run a rotational list of wrecker services for damaged, disabled, abandoned or illegally parked vehicles. A vehicle owner can pick a preferred wrecker, but when no preference is given the radio dispatcher must call the next wrecker on the rotation, not a company of its own choosing.
This article shall henceforth be known as the "Wrecker Service Ordinance". The purpose of this article is to provide the city and the city police department personnel with a safe, efficient and equitable system for the removal of damaged, disabled, abandoned, or illegally parked motor vehicles from city streets. ... Where the motor vehicle operator is injured, unavailable, or otherwise indicates no preference for destination of a wrecked vehicle, the radio dispatcher shall dispatch the next wrecker on the rotational wrecker list who shall transport the vehicle to its storage facility. Only the service provider and wrecker dispatched by the city police department shall respond to a non-preference call. All wrecker service providers are prohibited from assigning or delegating the non-preference call it accepted and assumed responsibility for, to any other wrecker service. ... Wrecker service providers who are frequently unavailable or refuse non-preference calls assigned to them may be charged with a violation and penalized as provided in section 27-17.
Full Breakdown
Sec. 27-11 establishes the Wrecker Service Ordinance so the police department can run a rotational system for removing damaged, disabled, abandoned, or illegally parked vehicles from city streets, administered under the city manager. To join the rotation list, Sec. 27-13 requires a wrecker company to hold a city business license, pay an annual administrative fee set by the city manager, run 24-hour service seven days a week with a 20-minute emergency response time, be independently owned and operated from one location with its own storage facility in the city, carry a minimum 1-ton wrecker equipped with a motor-driven winch, wheel lifts, an ABC fire extinguisher, safety chains, broom and shovel, hold a Kentucky Division of Motor Carriers for-hire I.D. with its name and DOT number painted on the truck, keep VIN-level tow and storage records, employ only drivers with a valid unrestricted Kentucky operator's license, and carry insurance approved by the city manager; wreckers may not park on public streets in a residential zone.
Sec. 27-14 gives the vehicle owner or operator the right to name a preferred wrecker and destination at an accident scene, which the officer in charge must honor. Sec. 27-15 governs non-preference calls: when no preference is given, the dispatcher sends the next wrecker on the rotation to the storage facility, and that wrecker may not reassign the call to another company. Sec. 27-16 lets police move a legally parked but unoccupied vehicle in an emergency, at the city's expense, dropping that wrecker's rotation slot.
Violations & Fines
Sec. 27-17 lets the city manager appoint an enforcement officer to investigate complaints and impose penalties on a preponderance-of-the-evidence finding. A first violation, including frequently refusing or being unavailable for non-preference calls, draws suspension from the wrecker list for up to 6 months. A second violation by the same company within 2 years draws suspension of at least 6 months and up to 1 year, and any third violation within that 2-year window is permanent removal from the list. The city manager's decision on compliance and penalties is binding and final.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who decides which wrecker tows my car after an accident in Owensboro?
What does a company need to get on Owensboro's wrecker rotation list?
Can a wrecker company reject a non-preference tow call in Owensboro?
What happens to a wrecker company that violates Owensboro's towing ordinance?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Owensboro
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