Porterville, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Towing Companies (2026)

Porterville Municipal Code § 15-110 creates a rotation list so the Police Department can call an available towing operator quickly to move damaged, disabled or illegally parked vehicles, vehicles held for safekeeping or evidence, and abandoned or inoperative vehicles that constitute a nuisance. Section 15-112 requires every operator on the list to hold a City business license, sign a tow service agreement (TSA) with the City, pass a background check run by the patrol division commander, and follow written rules and specifications the commander promulgates for drivers and storage yards.

Under § 15-113(A), the patrol division commander sets the number of towing operators the rotation list will carry each year, deciding on or before July 1, weighing factors including police operational needs, city population growth, newly annexed land area, current operators' average response times and the administrative burden of managing the list. Operators apply for a rotation slot with a letter of interest filed between July 1 and July 15 each year under § 15-114, and the commander can remove an operator under § 15-119 for falsifying an application, violating the article, the TSA or the rules and specifications, or engaging in misconduct inconsistent with quality service; a removed operator can appeal to the chief of police under § 15-117.

Section 15-121 preserves a vehicle owner's or operator's right to call a towing company of their own choosing instead of a rotation-list operator, and § 15-122 lets the City run its own towing operation and storage yard alongside the private rotation list.