Washington County, OR Parking Rules: Towing & Impound Rights (2026)

Two separate county instruments govern a Washington County tow, and they cover different ground. Chapter 8.16 of the Washington County Code, titled by Section 8.16.010 as "Ordinance No. 639, an ordinance relating to the towing and disposition of vehicles" and last carried forward by Ordinance No. 737 on October 26, 2010, is the general chapter. Its own parking prohibitions at Section 8.16.055 apply "in the unincorporated areas of Washington County within the Metro Urban Growth Boundary." Layered on that, ESPD Ordinance No. 2, adopted September 19, 2017 and printed as Appendix A to the code, applies "within the boundaries of the Enhanced Sheriff's Patrol District." Neither instrument contains a countywide-application clause, both are enforced by sheriff's deputies, and the only two territorial statements the code makes about towing are therefore both narrower than the county itself. A driver towed in Beaverton, Hillsboro or Tigard is dealing with that city's own code and its police department, not with Chapter 8.16.

Section 8.16.060 lists seven categories subject to immediate towing, among them any vehicle parked on county-owned or operated property without express written permission from the county, and any vehicle in a space reserved for disabled persons without the decal, insignia or plate Oregon law requires. Subsection G is the county's anti-shuffle rule. Once a vehicle has been tagged as disabled or as parked in violation and the twenty-four-hour period has expired, relocating it to another public road or right-of-way anywhere in Washington County resets nothing, and it may be towed where it now sits if the condition or the violation is unchanged. That power is conditional: 8.16.060(G) bars a tow under it unless the notice affixed to the vehicle clearly stated the moved-vehicle consequence in advance.

Cutting the other way, Section 8.16.070 gives an owner a real abort right. If a deputy learns at any point before the vehicle is actually hooked that the owner, or anyone with a right to possession, still asserts an interest in it, whether by moving it or simply by telephoning to say it is not abandoned, the deputy will not tow it as abandoned. The definition in 8.16.030 sets the trigger that abort right answers: deputies normally treat a vehicle as abandoned once it has sat on a public road or right-of-way more than twenty-four hours and it is either not registered to an address near where it is parked or the deputy has other reliable information of abandonment. A crash vehicle left on private property beside the road counts as abandoned where the deputy reasonably believes the collision or pursuit happened within the previous seventy-two hours.

On private property, Section 8.16.045 permits an arrest tow only where the officer reasonably believes the vehicle is stolen, has probable cause that the vehicle or its contents are evidence, or the person in charge of the property does not consent to the vehicle being left there. If that owner or person in charge is not present, the deputy must presume no consent and tow. The section does not apply if a legal driver is on scene able to remove the vehicle with the vehicle owner's permission, or if the property owner is present and prefers to have it towed at their own discretion and expense.

Getting the vehicle back runs entirely on state law. Section 8.16.080 splits impounds two ways: an abandoned or disabled vehicle follows the liens, notice, disposition and hearing provisions of ORS Chapter 819, and every other vehicle towed under the chapter follows ORS Chapter 809. There is no county hearings officer for tows and no county tow-release counter. Where Washington County did make an election of its own is the disposal of low-value vehicles. Section 8.16.110 provides that a vehicle taken under ORS 819.110 appraised above five hundred dollars but under one thousand, or one taken under ORS 819.120 appraised under one thousand, is sold and disposed of by the tow company that towed it under ORS 819.160 and ORS 87.152, so the county never takes that sale in hand. ESPD Ordinance No. 2 repeats both rules at its sections 2.8 and 2.10 for the patrol district.

Before the vehicle leaves, Chapter 9.12 governs what deputies do with what is inside it. Section 9.12.030 requires the inventory to be completed before constructive custody passes to the third-party towing company, with two exceptions, one for officer safety and one for evidentiary impounds. A driver or passenger not being taken into custody may first remove personal items such as backpacks, purses or electronics cases, and deputies will not open those absent consent or a recognized warrant exception. Any valuables found are listed on a property receipt, a copy of which is left in the vehicle or handed to the person in control of it.