Twin Falls, ID Business Licensing & Operations: Towing Companies (2026)

Chapter 12 of Title 9, the abandoned vehicles chapter of the Twin Falls Traffic Vehicular and Pedestrian Code, is where the City of Twin Falls, Idaho, regulates tow operators. Under § 9-12-3 the City can authorize any tow truck operator, as it sees fit, to remove and store motor vehicles. The operator has to make proper application to the City and, with that application, present the certification issued by the Idaho State Department of Law Enforcement as proof of compliance with Idaho Code section 49-3605.

The code spells out when the Police Department can have a vehicle towed. Section 9-12-4 allows impoundment without prior notice where an emergency exists or public safety is endangered, or the vehicle is blocking or impeding traffic, causing a hazard, impeding an emergency vehicle or snow removal, lacking current license plates, reported stolen, or held as evidence of a crime. Section 9-12-5 allows impoundment after a notice of intent to impound has been attached to the vehicle in plain view for forty eight (48) hours, for an abandoned vehicle, one parked or used in violation of law, or one so mechanically defective as to be unsafe.

Owners get a hearing. Under § 9-12-6 the Police Department gives written notice by certified mail within forty eight (48) hours of impoundment. The owner must request a post-storage hearing in writing within ten (10) days of the notice, and it is held within forty eight (48) hours of the request, excluding weekends and holidays, before a hearing officer who did not direct the storage. If storage is found invalid, the owner must present the written finding to the Police Department within twenty four (24) hours, weekends and holidays excluded, or take on later storage charges.

Fees are limited. Section 9-12-11(A) prohibits any fee for time after the towing equipment arrives and before the impound service is performed. Section 6-5-4 sets the storage amount for vehicles impounded by the Police Department at four dollars ($4.00) for the first day and one dollar ($1.00) for each day thereafter. Under § 9-12-9, no one can tow a vehicle from private property they own or control, other than an abandoned vehicle, unless a sign stating that unauthorized vehicles will be removed at the owner's expense is posted in a clearly conspicuous location, in large print.