Newberry County Vehicle Impound Guide

There's no single impound lot in Newberry County. A zone-based rotation overseen by SCHP Troop Two decides which private operator tows a given vehicle, and the options include Kibler's Inc. Paint & Body Shop on Wilson Road, Forbis Towing serving the Newberry-Columbia-Prosperity area, and ASAP Road Rescue for lighter-duty jobs. The arresting officer is supposed to hand over a tow slip or at least mention the destination verbally, but that information gets lost constantly in the chaos of a DUI arrest. When it does, calling the Sheriff's Office non-emergency dispatch with the plate number, make, model, or VIN pulls the vehicle's location from the rotation log.

Timing the pickup matters more than the posted hours suggest. Tow trucks run around the clock, but the office staff who actually process a release usually take a strict lunch break, typically noon to 1 p.m., and the gate stays locked during it. Calling ahead to confirm someone's actually there saves a wasted trip. The same goes for closing time: even if a lot advertises hours until 5 or 5:30, release processing often stops 30 to 60 minutes earlier so staff can reconcile the cash drawer and lock up. Arriving by 3:30 p.m. gives a real shot at same-day release; showing up at 4:50 almost guarantees the vehicle sits overnight, adding a full extra day of storage.

These rotation lots tend to sit in industrial zoning or share space with a larger collision repair shop, so the entrance that actually processes releases is often a side door or a specific cashier window, not the main retail front most people walk toward first.

If the arrested driver isn't the vehicle's registered owner, the yard won't hand it over without that owner physically showing up with valid photo ID. Some lots will accept a notarized letter of authorization plus a copy of the owner's ID if the owner genuinely can't be there, but that's at the individual lot's discretion, so a phone call to confirm beforehand saves a wasted trip.

State law requires the sheriff or police chief to run an NCIC records search identifying the vehicle's owner and lienholder, then send formal notice by certified or registered mail. Waiting for that letter to show up before acting is a real financial mistake: storage fees accrue from the moment the car enters the lot, not from when the notification arrives, so the smarter move is contacting the arresting agency immediately after release rather than sitting on it.

One protection worth knowing: towing companies on the rotation have to submit their fee schedules to the SCHP Troop Two Commander for approval, and standard tows must be billed as a flat fee, while only genuine special operations, like winching a car out of a ditch, can be billed hourly in half-hour increments. Every wrecker is required to carry a physical copy of its approved fee schedule. Overbilling by mislabeling a routine tow as a special operation happens often enough in these decentralized rotation systems that it's worth demanding an itemized receipt and checking the wrecker class against the invoice before paying.