St. Louis, MO Parking Rules: Towing & Impound Rights (2026)

St. Louis is an independent city, not part of St. Louis County or any other county, so every stage of a tow stays inside city government. Chapter 17.56 is titled the Vehicle Towing Code and splits the work between the Metropolitan Police Department, which removes vehicles under Section 17.56.030, and the Director of Streets, who removes them under Section 17.56.040 and runs the impound side. Section 17.56.010.D defines an impoundment area as any area designated by the Board of Police Commissioners with the approval of the Director of Streets, or designated by the Director of Streets alone. The city lot named in the code is the Towing Service Division at 7410 Hall Street.

The ordinance does not price a tow or a day of storage. Section 17.56.130 directs the Director of Streets to establish a schedule of reasonable fees for the cost of removal, and Section 17.56.180 gives the same officer the storage schedule; both say the fee is payable by the owner on redemption. Other sections simply point back at that schedule rather than naming a figure, so Section 15.50.032.C and Section 17.52.080.C each make an owner liable for the scheduled fees for towing and storage. Current dollar amounts therefore come from the Street Department, not from the code.

What the code does price is the extras. Under Section 17.63.030 a vehicle the city has immobilized must clear a $50 administrative fee before release, deposited in the Parking Trust Fund and charged on top of any towing or storage cost. The device attaches under Section 17.63.010 once a vehicle carries four or more unanswered parking violation notices, and Section 17.56.020.B.4 lets that same count, or a single unanswered traffic summons, justify a full tow. Removing the device yourself carries a fine of not less than $500 or imprisonment of not less than 90 days, or both, under Section 17.63.020.B. A loud-stereo impound adds a separate $500 administrative penalty under Section 15.50.032.C when the sound was plainly audible more than 75 feet horizontally or vertically from the vehicle.

Redemption runs through Section 17.56.190, which sets five conditions and makes clearing your traffic and parking fines one of them. Section 17.56.170 puts the tracing duty on the Director of Streets, who must make reasonable efforts to identify the owner and then mail notice of the location, the redemption procedure and the disposal rule in a sealed envelope with postage prepaid. Holding periods sit in Section 17.56.150: 30 days for vehicles taken under Section 17.56.020.B.1 through B.7, and 10 days for the abandoned-parts categories in B.8 through B.10. Section 17.56.210 requires a notice posted in City Hall and in the impound areas seven days before any sale or destruction.

Stolen cars carry the sharpest local rule. Section 17.63.040 forbids the Department of Streets or any city department or quasi-government agency from charging a towing or storage fee, including dollying and labor, for a stolen automobile recovered inside the city limits, so long as the registered owner claims it at the Towing Service Division at 7410 Hall Street during regular business hours with a valid state ID within 72 hours of being contacted by police. Those 72 hours exclude Sundays and St. Louis city holidays, and Section 17.63.050 makes the contact time written on the police report the presumed start. Section 17.63.060 also bars the administrative fee where the tow followed parking tickets picked up after the theft report was filed. Separately, Section 17.56.055 requires police to notify the owner within 48 hours of recovery and to wait a further 48 hours before towing.

Appeals split by who ordered the tow: a police removal goes to a hearing before the Director of Streets, while a Street Department removal is appealed to the Board of Public Service under Section 17.56.060. Private-lot tows are governed separately by Section 8.110.235, which requires the operator to telephone the Police Department before removal and file written notice within 24 hours, and which forbids towing from a lot of four or more spaces unless at least two signs, each a minimum of 12 inches by 18 inches, have been posted for 24 hours naming the towing firm, its storage location and its telephone number.