Hancock County Vehicle Impound Guide

Hancock County has no municipal impound lot, so a vehicle seized during a DUI arrest ends up at whichever private tow operator the arresting officer dispatches. Sneedville-based shops like Greasy Rock Auto, Sneedville Motors, and Overhome Auto & Ag Supply handle most local tows, and Myers Towing & Recovery, based across the county line in Rogersville, frequently covers recoveries near the Clinch River valley and connecting state routes.

Because an officer typically confiscates the driver's license at the time of arrest, the person who owns the car often can't legally be the one to drive it away, even after paying every fee in full. A second person with a valid license and insurance has to come retrieve it.

Storage fees accrue daily starting the moment the vehicle arrives at the lot, on top of the initial tow charge. There's no fee schedule standardized countywide; whatever the specific tow company quotes is what applies, and in a county where median incomes run well below the state average, those fees can climb past what an older vehicle is worth within a couple of weeks. If a bill goes unpaid long enough, the lot can file a mechanic's lien and sell the car to cover its costs — a permanent loss of the vehicle, not a fee that eventually goes away.

Anyone trying to get a car back should call the specific tow company directly, confirm the running total before showing up, and bring a second licensed driver along from the start — making that second trip because the first one couldn't legally drive the car home just adds another day of storage charges to the bill.