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Denver, CO Parking Rules: Towing & Impound Rights (2026)

Some Restrictions
Compiled from the official code textEditor Martyn O'NeillLast verified September 2026

Key Facts

Impound charge, 6,000 lb GVW or less
$120.00 (Sec. 54-813(a)(1))
Impound charge, over 6,000 lb GVW
$170.00 (Sec. 54-813(a)(2))
Storage
$20.00 per day light class, $30.00 heavy class, starting 24 hours after receipt at the lot and charged for every day or portion of a day
Boot fee ceiling
$125.00, and a new rate must be published 90 days before it takes effect (Sec. 54-811(21))
Deadline to request an impound hearing
10 days from the postmark on the notice or from personal service; an illegal impound forgives all charges and storage fees
Deadline to claim before disposal
30 calendar days from the date the Sec. 54-814 notice was postmarked
Charge to stop a private-property tow already hooked up
capped at $15.00 when the owner arrives before removal and terminates the service (Sec. 55-178(7))
Who runs what
Manager of Safety for impound, notice and waivers; Manager of General Services for disposal; Director of Excise and Licenses for tow licensing

Summary

Denver charges $120 to impound a vehicle of 6,000 pounds gross weight or less and $170 for anything heavier, with storage running $20 or $30 a day once the car has sat at the lot for twenty-four hours. Nothing is released until those charges are paid. In exchange, the Manager of Safety must send the registered owner a certified letter itemizing the bill and naming the agency that hears challenges, and a vehicle found to have been impounded illegally has every charge and storage fee forgiven.

(a)No vehicle removed and impounded shall be released until the charges for impoundment and storage shall have been paid.(1)The charge for impoundment of vehicles weighing up to six thousand (6,000) pounds (gross vehicle weight) shall be one hundred twenty dollars ($120.00). If the vehicle is not lawfully claimed and removed by the owner within twenty-four (24) hours, a storage charge assessment shall commence at twenty dollars ($20.00) per day after twenty-four (24) hours following the receipt of the vehicle at the impoundment lot, and twenty dollars ($20.00) per day for every day or portion of a day thereafter.(2)The charge for impoundment of vehicles weighing in excess of six thousand (6,000) pounds (gross vehicle weight) shall be one hundred seventy dollars ($170.00) ... [Sec. 54-814(c)] ... (2)The fact that the owner may request a hearing concerning the legality of the impoundment of the vehicle, and the name and phone number of the city agency to contact for that purpose ... Requests for hearings pursuant to subparagraph (c)(2) above shall be made in writing by the owner of record to the agency indicated in the notice within ten (10) days of the postmarked date of sending such notice, or within ten (10) days after personal service of such notice. In the event it is determined at such hearing that the vehicle was illegally impounded, all charges and storage fees assessed against the vehicle shall be forgiven.

View official code

Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 147 Update 3).

Full Breakdown

Denver is a consolidated city and county, so a single impound regime covers the whole jurisdiction. Division 2 of Chapter 54 lets the chief of police, the undersheriff and the manager of transportation and infrastructure remove a vehicle from any public or private way or place inside the City and County of Denver. Section 54-811 lists twenty-four separate grounds, and several carry their own clock. A car that merely looks abandoned on a public way can be taken only after notice is posted on the windshield and seventy-two hours have run. A tow-away removal under subsection (4) requires that the block first be posted with an official sign giving notice both of the parking limitation and of the fact that the area is a tow-away area. Under amendments adopted by Ordinance 373-23 in 2023, if the person authorized to do the removal reasonably believes the vehicle is actively being used as a dwelling or sleeping place, an extra forty-eight hours must pass before it goes.

The money is fixed by section 54-813 rather than left to whoever hooks up the car. Impoundment costs one hundred twenty dollars for a vehicle at or under 6,000 pounds gross vehicle weight and one hundred seventy dollars above that line. Storage does not start at the moment of the tow: the assessment begins twenty-four hours after the vehicle is received at the impoundment lot, then runs at twenty dollars a day for the lighter class and thirty dollars a day for the heavier one, charged for every day or portion of a day. Booting is separate and separately capped. Sections 54-811(21) and 54-811(23) hold the immobilization fee to no more than one hundred twenty-five dollars, require the manager of transportation and infrastructure to publish any new rate in an official city publication ninety days before it takes effect, and give the owner seventy-two hours to arrange release before the boot becomes a tow.

Section 54-814 supplies the notice and hearing half. The Manager of Safety must report the impound to the state department of motor vehicles within three working days, and then, within five working days of the department's report back, send certified mail to the owner of record and to any lienholder. That letter has to state where the vehicle is and where it was towed from, give an itemized statement of the amount due, warn that the vehicle may be auctioned or otherwise disposed of if it is not claimed within thirty calendar days of the postmark, and name the city agency to contact about a hearing on the legality of the impoundment. The request is made in writing within ten days of the postmark or of personal service. The Manager of Safety may also waive or adjust charges outright, and section 54-813(b) says three situations are routinely waived or refunded: the driver was taken into custody and released without charges being filed, storage accrued while the vehicle was held as evidence and no conviction followed, or a vehicle licensed in the county was reported stolen and then recovered and impounded by police.

Violations & Fines

Section 54-813(a) is absolute at the front end. No impounded vehicle is released until impoundment and storage charges are paid, so the real penalty for delay is the daily meter. Let thirty calendar days run from the postmark on the section 54-814 notice and the Manager of Safety may declare the vehicle abandoned and transfer custody to the Manager of General Services, who under section 54-816 can sell it at public auction, take sealed bids, convert it to scrap metal, donate it, or apply to the county court to convert it to Denver Police Department use.

An auction must be advertised at least once in an official city publication and cannot be held less than ten days after that notice, and if no bid exceeds the accumulated charges the vehicle may be declared sold to the city for the amount of those charges. There is no right of redemption after a sale. Surplus proceeds go to the general fund, and a former owner has one year from the sale date to ask the Department of General Services to initiate a refund before the claim is extinguished.

On the operator side, towing a vehicle in Denver without the records section 55-172 requires be carried in the tow truck, without the proof of lawful possession section 55-173 requires, or without the license section 55-186 requires, is unlawful, and section 55-193 lets the director of excise and licenses suspend, revoke or refuse to renew a towing license for fraud, for violating the article, or for other good cause, with the licensee answerable for the acts of its operators.

Frequently Asked Questions

What will it cost to get my car out of a Denver impound lot?
One hundred twenty dollars for the impound itself if the vehicle is 6,000 pounds gross vehicle weight or under, one hundred seventy dollars if it is heavier. Storage is added only after the vehicle has been at the lot for twenty-four hours, at twenty dollars a day for the lighter class and thirty for the heavier, and a partial day counts as a full day. Section 54-813(a) bars release until the total is paid. If your car was booted rather than towed, the immobilization fee is capped at one hundred twenty-five dollars.
Can I argue that Denver should not have towed my car?
Yes. The certified notice the Manager of Safety sends under section 54-814(c) must name the agency that hears challenges to the legality of the impoundment. You have ten days from the postmark on that notice, or ten days after personal service, to make the request in writing. If the hearing decides the vehicle was illegally impounded, all charges and storage fees assessed against it are forgiven. Separately, section 54-813(b) directs routine waiver or refund when you were arrested and never charged, when storage built up while the car was held as evidence and you were not convicted, or when a county-licensed vehicle was reported stolen and then recovered.
How long does Denver hold a vehicle before it can sell it?
The notice under section 54-814 must warn that unless the vehicle is claimed within thirty calendar days from the date the notice was sent, judged by the postmark, it is subject to disposal by auction or otherwise. Section 54-816 then lets the Manager of General Services auction it, take sealed bids, scrap it, donate it, or apply to the county court to convert it to police use. An auction is advertised once in an official city publication and cannot happen fewer than ten days later, and no redemption is possible once a sale has occurred.
A tow truck is hooking up my car in a private lot. What can they charge me to stop?
Fifteen dollars. Section 55-178(7) makes it unlawful for a public towing service or operator to demand a service charge above fifteen dollars from an owner or custodian who arrives on the scene before the vehicle is removed and terminates the service. The same section bars towing from private property at all unless the owner or custodian asked for it, or the property owner first gave the tower a written statement that every reasonable effort was made to locate the vehicle owner, and it requires the police department to be notified within thirty minutes of any removal.
Does Denver cap what a private tow company charges?
Denver does not publish a maximum private tow rate in its ordinance the way it fixes the city impound charge. What section 55-180 requires instead is disclosure: every public towing service must file a schedule of current rates and hours of availability with the director of excise and licenses, where it becomes a public record, must carry a printed or typewritten schedule of charges in each tow truck, must hand a copy to the owner before performing the work when the owner arranges it in person, and must state how payment is to be made. C.R.S. 40-10.1-405 supplies the statewide towing framework. Note that the code export still carries the older state law reference to C.R.S. 1973, 40-13-101 et seq., which predates the recodification, so verify the current statute number before relying on it.
Is Denver required to account for the vehicles it tows?
Yes, and this is recent. Section 54-815.5, added by Ordinance 373-23 in 2023, obliges the director of the department of safety and every other city agency authorized to tow or impound to report to city council on the first of May and the first of November each year. Each report must cover any attempt made to contact or assist the owner before the tow, the time and date of the tow, the specific reason for it, a listing and photographic record of the damage where the vehicle was found to be extensively damaged, and the time and date of retrieval if the vehicle was impounded.

Sources & Official References

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