Towed in Sacramento: finding your car and getting it back

Call the Sacramento Police Department's non-emergency line, 916-808-5471, at any hour on any day. Have your license plate number ready.¹

The tow yard needs a vehicle release document from the police before it will hand the car back. The police department's records counters issue it:¹

• Public Safety Center, 5770 Freeport Blvd., Suite 100, Sacramento 95822. Open Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., except city holidays. Records: 916-808-0620.²
• William J. Kinney Police Facility, 3550 Marysville Blvd., Sacramento 95838.

Take the release to the tow yard to pick up the car.¹

The department's towed vehicles page lists three things:¹

• A licensed driver. The police check the license of whoever picks up the car. If the registered owner doesn't have a valid license, someone who does has to come along.
• Proof you can take it. Someone picking up for the owner needs a power of attorney or a notarized letter from the owner that names the car.
• Current registration. The car must have current registration, or a temporary operating permit, before it's released.

The owner pays the towing, storage, lien and release charges, some to the police and some to the tow company. The page lists the current amounts.¹

Under California Vehicle Code section 14602.6, the police can impound a car for 30 days when its driver has a suspended or revoked license, or has never been licensed. That's true even when the owner was licensed and someone else was driving:¹

• The car stays the full 30 days. Hardship, or needing it for work or school, isn't taken into account.
• It can come out early if the driver who was stopped gets a valid California license. The owner then goes to the police for the release.
• If day 30 falls on a weekend or city holiday, the release can be picked up on the last business day before it.
• The registered owner can ask for a hearing on whether the tow was justified. Call 916-808-6135 within 10 days of the date on the "Notice of Stored Vehicle" that comes in the mail. The hearing is by phone, within 48 business hours of the request.

If the car was impounded as evidence, it's released once the investigation is done. Call Investigations at 916-808-0650 to find the officer handling it.¹

A car the Sheriff's Office had towed is released by its Towing Enforcement Unit, 2101 Hurley Way, Sacramento 95825, 916-876-6641. The lobby is open Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed from noon to 1 p.m., weekends and county holidays. Releases aren't processed after 3:30 p.m. without arranging it first. Its release requirements are:³

• The registered owner, with government-issued ID, or someone with the owner's notarized written authorization.
• Proof of current registration. If the DMV has given you an "incomplete application" printout instead, bring both pages and a DMV vehicle moving permit (form REG 172).
• Someone with a valid driver's license, carrying it.
• The release fee, paid by money order or card, not cash or a personal check.

The Sheriff's form we read is dated September 16, 2020, so call ahead before you go.³