Boulder County, CO Business Licensing & Operations: Towing Companies (2026)

Article IV of Ordinance 2024-1 governs non-consent tows from any county-owned or county-maintained public property, including roads and parking lots. 2 lets an officer or other person authorized to enforce the county's parking rules order a vehicle towed when it blocks traffic, creates a health or safety hazard, is tied to criminal conduct, blocks a construction or street-closure project, must move for a fire, flood, snowstorm, or other emergency, is subject to removal under any other law, or meets the ordinance's definition of an Abandoned Vehicle or Inoperable Motor Vehicle.

If the driver or owner is present, willing, and able to move the vehicle immediately, they may do so instead of having it towed. Where an inoperable or abandoned vehicle is the only basis for the tow, the Sheriff's Office must make a reasonable effort to notify the owner first and give them 72 hours to move it to a lawful location before impoundment. Every tow under this Article must be carried out by a Licensed Towing Carrier, a term the ordinance defines as a person or entity whose primary business is towing motor vehicles by tow truck, who may also store towed vehicles, and who must hold a current towing carrier certificate from the Colorado Public Utilities Commission.

The driver or vehicle owner, not Boulder County, is solely responsible for paying the towing carrier's storage and towing charges directly, and anyone can find out where their vehicle was taken by contacting the Records Division of the Boulder County Sheriff's Office. § 30-15-410.