Sauk County, WI Business Licensing & Operations: Towing Companies (2026)

The county's towing authority is not a standalone licensing chapter; it is written as an enforcement tool inside the traffic subchapter's penalty section. Sec. 6.012(1)(e) first declares that any vehicle parked or left standing on a highway, street, alley or public grounds in violation of the parking rules is a hazard to traffic and public safety. The operator can be asked by the sheriff or a deputy to move it voluntarily, but once a deputy has issued a citation for the illegal parking, stopping or standing, the deputy is independently authorized to have the vehicle relocated.

To actually remove and store the vehicle, the officer must order one of three specific categories of provider: a motor carrier holding a state towing permit, a licensed motor vehicle salvage dealer, or a licensed motor vehicle dealer who performs towing services. That provider may store the vehicle in its own storage garage, a rental parking ground, or any other facility it operates. The section adds that towing and storage costs are billed to the owner or operator of the removed vehicle in addition to any other penalty the traffic chapter imposes for the underlying parking violation, so a driver can face both the Sec.

6.011 forfeiture and a separate towing bill. Enforcement of the whole traffic subchapter, including this towing authority, falls to the Sauk County Sheriff's Department under Sec. 6.013. Because the code never sets up a county towing-company permit or registry, an eligible tow provider's credentials come entirely from the state motor carrier permit or dealer license named in Sec. 6.012(1)(e), not from Sauk County itself.