Wyoming Caps No Tow Rate but Puts the Burden of Proof on the Tow Company

The statutory home for Wyoming's nonconsensual towing rules is a single section, W.S. 31-5-1701, in Article 17 of the Motor Vehicle Code. It directs the Wyoming Department of Transportation to write rules for removing vehicles from the highways when the owner or operator cannot actively assist, and it lists what those rules must contain: a voluntary rotation list of tow and recovery carriers for law enforcement to call, basic standards for rotational calls, minimum equipment standards, carrier inspections, geographic call areas, a reprimand and suspension scheme, an appeals process under the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act for carriers, and the rate disclosure requirement in paragraph (b)(ix). Read carefully, that section regulates the carrier's relationship with the state rather than setting consumer prices. Wyoming has enacted no rate schedule, no maximum hookup or per-mile figure, no cap on daily storage, no after-hours release fee limit and no drop fee for an owner who returns while the vehicle is still hooked up. If you want to know what a tow will cost in Wyoming, the answer is the rate sheet the carrier filed, not a number in the statute book.

The rate sheet is enforceable, though. The Wyoming Highway Patrol's published Operations and Administrative Procedures for Tow and Recovery Carriers requires every carrier on the list to furnish a current and accurate list of all charges on a Patrol-supplied form, to present any revision before it takes effect, and to comply with the fees on the schedule it filed. Fees must be the reasonable charges usually applied in the industry, and the Patrol repeats the statute's burden of proof language. The Patrol also bans surcharges that exist only because the state called: no law enforcement call-out or emergency call-out fee may be added simply because the job came from the Highway Patrol rotation list when a private call would not carry it, and a carrier may not tell a customer, in words or by implication, that the rate is tied to the Highway Patrol or that the Patrol gains anything from the tow.

Two rights matter most in the first 48 hours. First, personal property: under the same Patrol procedures a listed carrier agrees to release all items of personal property during normal business hours at no additional charge to the lawful owner, when authorized by the Highway Patrol, before any accrued charges are paid. That covers what was inside the vehicle, not parts of the vehicle itself or a contracted load. Second, choice of company: the Patrol procedures direct troopers, whenever reasonable, to ask the motorist whether they prefer a specific carrier, and a requested company may be called even if it is not on the rotation list. Asking for your own tow company at the roadside is a right worth using.

Storage and the lien are governed by Title 29, not Title 31. A Wyoming towing and recovery service holds a possessory lien under W.S. 29-7-101, which the legislature confirmed by adding that a towing and recovery service as defined in W.S. 31-13-101(a)(xiv) is not a warehouse and is entitled to a lien under that section. The clock then runs against the carrier. W.S. 29-7-102(e)(i) requires the carrier, within 30 days from the date payment is due, to send notice of intent to file, enforce and foreclose the lien by certified mail, return receipt requested, to every person known to claim an interest, including the vehicle's make, year, model, plate and VIN. W.S. 29-7-102(e)(ii) then caps collectable storage fees at 180 days from the date service was completed unless that notice went out and foreclosure has begun. W.S. 29-7-102(e)(iv) requires the carrier to ask WYDOT for a title search within five business days after a towed vehicle has sat in a recovery lot for more than five business days, and to notify lienholders of the vehicle's location within one business day of getting the results. The lien itself terminates 180 days after the work was performed unless a lien statement was filed, and 180 days after filing unless foreclosure has commenced, under W.S. 29-7-104(a).

A tow from private property is handled differently again. W.S. 31-13-104(c) allows a police officer to remove a vehicle from private property only on the written request of the owner or person in lawful possession, on a form prescribed by the department. Where an officer impounds a vehicle, W.S. 31-13-104(f) requires a notice of intent to impound to be posted in a prominent position on the vehicle for at least 24 hours if it is on a highway and 5 days if it is on public or private property. When a towing service tows an abandoned vehicle that is not under the control of a city, town or county, W.S. 31-13-104(g) gives it three hard deadlines: notify the county sheriff within 30 minutes of completing the tow with a full description of the vehicle and its current location, request a WYDOT title search within 3 business days, and send certified mail notice to the owner and lienholders within 3 business days of identifying an address. The owner may reclaim the vehicle within 30 days of the postmark on that notice by paying towing, storage and notice charges, under W.S. 31-2-111(b).

One local wrinkle that changes the answer block by block: W.S. 31-13-103 makes the abandoned vehicle act uniform statewide, but expressly allows any city or town to enact or enforce an ordinance on a matter covered by the act, which supersedes the state act to the extent of any conflict. Cheyenne, Casper and Laramie can therefore set impound and notice rules that differ from the statute, and a municipal lot tow is the case where checking the city code actually pays.

There is no state agency that adjudicates a driver's complaint about a tow bill in Wyoming. S. 31-5-1701(b)(ix): in any action where the fee charged by a towing company is in issue, the burden of proof to show the fee is fair and reasonable is on the towing company, so a driver who pays under protest and sues in small claims or circuit court starts ahead. Where the tow came off the Wyoming Highway Patrol rotation list, complaints go first to the local Highway Patrol Division Lieutenant, with reconsideration under the Patrol's tow procedures; the Patrol can issue a written warning, remove a carrier from the rotation list for up to 60 days, remove it for a year, or remove it permanently, and any sanction beyond a written warning must be imposed by the Director of the Wyoming Department of Transportation or a designee.

A carrier facing a sanction of a year or more may also lose its operating authority for the same period. S. 29-7-105(b) requires certified mail notice stating the amount due, the nature of the proposed sale and the time and place of any public sale before the vehicle can be sold, 29-7-105(c) lets any person claiming a right in the vehicle stop the sale by paying the lien and reasonable expenses, 29-7-105(f) requires the carrier to hold any surplus proceeds for the owner on demand, and 29-7-105(j) makes a lien claimant liable for damages caused by failure to comply with the section.

S. 29-7-102(b) makes it a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $750 for anyone to remove property from a lien claimant's possession without the written consent of both the owner and the lienholder, so retaking a car from an impound lot without paying is itself an offense.