Spalding County Vehicle Impound Guide

Spalding County has no central impound lot. The Sheriff's Office and the Griffin Police Department run a rotating list of independent, state-certified towing companies, and whichever one was up on the rotation when you were arrested is holding your car. To find out which, call the arresting agency's dispatch: Spalding County Sheriff's Office at (770) 467-4282, or Griffin Police at (770) 229-6450.

Non-consensual towing by law enforcement is governed by O.C.G.A. § 44-1-13 and Department of Public Safety rules. Every wrecker on the rotation has to hold a Non-Consensual Towing permit and keep a secure lot inside the county, meaning six-foot fencing, lighting, and a lock or enclosed building.

What the state lets them charge

Under DPS Maximum Rate Tariff No. 5, the base tow of a passenger vehicle is capped at $175. Storage runs about $15 a day and starts after the first 24 hours. On top of that, notification fees are capped cumulatively at $91 and an after-hours release fee is capped at $65.

Those add-ons are why speed matters. Someone arrested at 1 a.m. Saturday whose family can't pull together the cash and paperwork until Sunday evening can be looking at well over $300 before anyone has even dealt with criminal bail. Getting the car out inside the first 24 hours avoids the daily storage charge entirely.

The insurance card problem

Releasing the car requires current proof of insurance. For most people the only copy of that card is in the glovebox of the car sitting in the lot, and lot operators won't let you into the vehicle to get it until every fee is paid. Come with a digital copy on your phone or a fresh printout from your insurer's website.

Cash, and exact amounts

Tariff No. 5 says operators have to accept certified checks or money orders. In practice the independent lots enforce cash only, to shut out chargebacks and bad checks. Call the specific wrecker company dispatch assigned you and get the exact total to the dollar, then bring that amount in cash.

If you're not the registered owner

If the driver isn't the registered owner, or the driver is still in custody and someone else is retrieving the car, the lot will not release it without a notarized power of attorney from the registered owner naming the person picking it up. That person also brings their own photo ID. Standard release documents are a government photo ID, proof of ownership by title or current registration, and the insurance proof.

Two towing companies serving the Griffin rotation are Griffin & Griffin Towing at (706) 341-3869 and Towing Services of Griffin at (770) 343-5818. Dispatch will tell you which one has your vehicle.