Clark County Vehicle Impound Guide

Springfield Police dispatches tows through a rotation of six private companies, so there's no single lot to drive to. Finding the car means calling Clark County dispatch at (937) 328-2560 or the Springfield Police Records section — the arresting officer fills out a tow sheet at the scene that's filed with the Traffic Unit, and that's the official record of where the vehicle ended up. Asking the officer directly, or having an attorney pull the dispatch log right away, beats waiting until a shift change makes that information harder to track down.

Every police-ordered tow in Clark County requires exact cash — no credit cards, debit cards, or personal checks. Lots frequently can't make change for large bills, so getting the to-the-penny total from the specific yard before showing up matters, since storage keeps accruing daily.

No License, No Drive-Off

An ALS confiscates the license at arrest, and impound lots won't let an unlicensed or suspended driver take the car off the property. The registered owner needs to bring a second person with a valid license and proof of insurance to actually drive it away. If the owner is still in jail and wants to authorize someone else to retrieve the car, the lot requires a formally notarized authorization — photocopies, texts, or a phone call won't cut it, which is a real problem for anyone without quick access to a notary.

Tow yards also can't release a vehicle without written authorization from whichever agency made the arrest. For Springfield PD cases, that means a trip to police headquarters at 130 N. Fountain Avenue during lobby hours to get the physical release form before the tow yard will even talk. A second or subsequent OVI, or a charge of driving under an existing OVI suspension, escalates things further: a police release form isn't enough, and the defendant needs a formal Journal Entry from the Clark County Municipal Court spelling out exactly where and how the vehicle will be stored during the mandatory immobilization period.

The Lunch Hour Can Cost an Extra Day

Several of the family-run lots in the rotation close their release windows strictly from noon to 1 p.m. Showing up at 12:15 means waiting an hour in the parking lot — and if the vehicle's 24-hour storage mark happens to cross during that lunch closure, the lot automatically bills for an entire new day of storage.