Warwick, RI Business Licensing & Operations: Towing Companies (2026)

Section 76-305 of the Warwick traffic code lets an owner or person in control of property remove vehicles trespassing on it without the trespasser's consent, using a 'certificated tower', defined elsewhere in the article as a carrier holding a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the state public utilities administrator to tow vehicles. The property owner retains the certificated tower in writing and the vehicle can be relocated to a private impoundment lot without resorting to judicial process, but the lot must sit within ten miles of the point of removal, keep the same release hours it keeps for intake, and post those hours outside its office.

Charges for towing and storage, billed under the certificated tower's published tariff, fall on the vehicle's last registered or legal owner, who can contest the tow through judicial process; if a court finds the vehicle was not actually trespassing, the towing charges shift to the property owner who ordered the removal instead, though the registered owner must still pay the tower in full before pursuing reimbursement. A certificated tower may only remove a vehicle at an owner's direction if given that direction in writing, and it must keep that writing in its records; the writing is a complete defense to any resulting civil or criminal claim. 1-8, and after 30 days without payment it can proceed to foreclosure and sale under Sec. 76-309.