Apex, NC Parking Rules: Towing & Impound Rights (2026)

The Town of Apex runs two separate towing regimes. Article XI of Chapter 20 governs non-consent tows a private lot owner orders. This page covers the other one: what happens when the town itself has a vehicle towed, and what the registered owner is owed afterward. Chapter 20, Article III is adopted under G.S. 160A-193, 160A-303 and 160A-303.2, and section 20-32 puts the chief of police or the chief's designee in charge of it.

Section 20-171 sets the town's ordinary trigger. A vehicle parked in a time-limited area, a loading zone, or another prohibited zone for 24 hours may be removed to a place of storage and safety. Removal is immediate, with no waiting period, for publicly sanctioned events or emergencies, for a vehicle in a reserved parking zone as defined by section 20-163, and for any vehicle parked so as to cause a danger to other users of the public streets. Subsection (c) makes removal and any storage fee incurred the registered owner's expense. Section 20-170(c) adds a second trigger: failure to pay Apex parking fines, which run $30.00 for most offenses, $50.00 for a fire lane or a blocked hydrant, and $100.00 for a space reserved for persons with disabilities, may itself be cause for towing or immobilization.

The town does not do its own wrecker work. Under section 20-38 the chief of police keeps an eligible list of towing services that apply and qualify to tow and store vehicles from the streets and other public places at the police department's request, and the department may use more than one firm from that list. The town council may instead sign an exclusive written contract specifying the charges for towing and storage. That contract may provide that the town owes the operator nothing for damages or charges and that the charge may be collected solely from the owner of the vehicle involved, so the bill follows the vehicle rather than the town budget.

The notice duty in section 20-39 is the part most owners need. The authorizing person must immediately tell the last known registered owner five things: a description of the vehicle, where it is stored, the violation charged if any, the procedure to get the vehicle back, and the procedure to request a probable cause hearing. The deadline splits on the plate: 24 hours for a North Carolina registration, 72 hours if the vehicle is registered elsewhere. Notice goes by telephone where feasible, and it must be mailed to the last known address whether or not the call succeeds, unless the owner or the owner's agent waives that in writing. For a vehicle with no valid plate, subsection (b) presumes the tower did not make reasonable efforts unless notice was posted on the windshield at least seven days before the tow, except where the vehicle impeded traffic or otherwise jeopardized the public welfare.

Two remedies follow. Section 20-40 gives the owner a probable cause hearing, but not before the town: the written request goes to the county magistrate designated by the chief district court judge, and the magistrate must set the hearing within 72 hours of receiving it. Section 20-41 lets the owner skip the wait. At any stage in the proceedings, including before that hearing, the owner may take the vehicle back by paying the towing fee or by posting a bond for double the amount of the towing fee, which keeps the challenge alive without leaving the car in storage. Section 20-42 handles the other end: an unclaimed vehicle is sold under G.S. 44A-4, 44A-5 and 44A-6 with no hearing beyond the probable cause hearing, and if nobody buys it and its value is less than the lien, the town may authorize its destruction.

One Apex power sits in the town charter rather than the code. Charter section 6.14 lets the town council provide by ordinance for wheel locks on illegally parked vehicles carrying three or more unpaid parking tickets at least 90 days overdue, and requires any such ordinance to include a warning affixed to the vehicle, an appeal hearing, charges for towing and storage, and an immobilization fee capped at $50.00.