Santa Ana, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Towing Companies (2026)
Key Facts
- Rulemaking authority
- Chief of police, by general order
- List review cycle
- Recommended to council every 5 years
- Private-property tows
- Police notice required per Veh. Code §22658
- Storage fee
- Set by city council resolution
Summary
Tow operators who want police-dispatched tows in Santa Ana must qualify for the police department's rotational tow list under Sec. 32-107, which lets the chief of police set binding standards for getting on, staying on, and being removed from the list. Operators towing from private property must also ensure police are notified before the tow under state Vehicle Code Section 22658.
In order to provide a workable and comprehensive policy regarding the towing and/or storage of abandoned, disabled, stored or impounded vehicles from public or private property, the chief of police hereby authorized to promulgate and issue, by general order, and amend, if necessary written rules and regulations governing the following but by no means exclusive subjects:(a)Requirements and standards for placement on the rotational tow list;(b)Requirements and standards for continued placement on the rotational tow list;(c)Grounds for, and procedures governing, discipline and removal from the rotational tow list; and(d)Any other pertinent and relevant matters pertaining to the administration of a rotational tow list.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 32).
Full Breakdown
Sec. 32-107 authorizes the chief of police to promulgate, issue and amend, by general order, written rules and regulations governing placement on Santa Ana's rotational tow list, continued eligibility, and the grounds and procedures for discipline or removal from the list. Those general-order rules 'shall have the same force and effect of law,' and failing to obey them counts as a violation of Article IV of Chapter 32 for purposes of renewing, suspending or revoking a tow company's spot on the rotation. At least once every five years, the chief must recommend a rotational tow operator list to the city council.
Separately, Sec. 32-94 addresses tows initiated from private property: the tow operator is responsible for making sure the property owner or person in lawful possession notifies the Santa Ana Police Department before an illegally parked vehicle is towed, consistent with California Vehicle Code Section 22658, and the operator may make that notification on the property owner's behalf when authorized to do so. The city council may set a fee by resolution to cover the cost of logging and creating computer entries for vehicles stored after removal from private property, payable by the registered owner or the owner's agent. Article IV was rewritten in its entirety by Ord. No. NS-2637 in 2003, replacing rules dating to a 1982 ordinance.
Violations & Fines
A tow company that violates the chief of police's general-order rules under Sec. 32-107 risks non-renewal, suspension or removal from the rotational tow list: the mechanism that determines who receives police-dispatched tow calls in Santa Ana. Sec. 32-107 states these regulations carry the same force and effect of law, so noncompliance is treated as a violation of Article IV for rotational-list purposes, separate from any general municipal code penalty.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who decides which tow companies get Santa Ana's police tow calls?
Do I need to notify police before towing a car from private property?
Are there separate towing rules from Santa Ana's business license article?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Santa Ana
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