Rock Hill, SC Business Licensing & Operations: Towing Companies (2026)

Rock Hill regulates non-consent towing through Chapter 30, Article III of its city code. It is unlawful for a wrecker owner or agent to go to an accident scene to solicit business unless called by the police dispatcher or the vehicle's owner or operator; responding to a tip from a gas station attendant or taxicab driver counts as a violation, and a wrecker's mere appearance at a scene without being summoned is prima facie evidence of a violation (City Code § 30-153). Wrecker operators cannot monitor police radio to beat other companies to a scene, and city employees are barred from steering business to any particular wrecker service, on pain of losing their job (§§ 30-154, 30-155).

A vehicle owner may request a specific wrecker firm; absent a request, the police department pulls the next company from its rotating call list, but only firms meeting the article's requirements qualify for that list, and police may drop a firm it reasonably believes provides poor service (§§ 30-156, 30-157). To join the rotation, a wrecker service needs a current business license under Chapter 11, Article II, approved liability and garage keeper's insurance, and must operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, storing all rotation vehicles inside city limits and releasing them to customers from that same location (§§ 30-159, 30-160, 30-161(a)).

Each firm must own or full-time lease at least one wrecker and one rollback, at least one ton in size with dual rear wheels; borrowed or short-term-rented equipment disqualifies a firm from the rotation (§§ 30-161(b), 30-163). Equipment is inspected annually by the city's wrecker inspector, and new trucks must pass inspection before joining the rotation (§ 30-162).