Bastrop County Vehicle Impound Guide

A car towed at 11:30 p.m. can rack up two full days of storage before its owner has been out of jail for even 24 hours. Storage fees run on a midnight cutoff: the vehicle arrives at the lot at 12:15 a.m., and by 12:01 a.m. the following night, that's two calendar days billed even though the actual time elapsed is barely 24 hours. Someone arrested Friday night and held over the weekend can come back to 4 or 5 days of accrued storage before they're even physically able to retrieve the car.

You don't get to choose the tow company

Bastrop County runs a tow rotation list for non-consent tows, authorized under Texas Occupations Code Section 2308.209 specifically to prevent any one company from monopolizing the business. For the vehicle owner, that means no say in where the car ends up. When the Sheriff's Office dispatches a tow because the owner can't designate one themselves, due to arrest or intoxication, the destination is whichever company is next on the list.

What it costs

Under City of Bastrop Ordinance A4.10, a regular light-duty tow is capped at $150, heavy-duty at $300, and storage runs $20 a day. Extra labor adds up fast: winching at $75 an hour, wait time at $35 an hour, and cleanup at $75 an hour, all on top of the base tow and storage. After 24 hours (or occasionally 5 days, depending on the situation), the storage facility can also charge a $50 notification fee to send a certified letter to the registered owner. Add roughly 8.25 percent tax on the service fees and a three-day stay can land somewhere between $300 and $430 before winching or flat-tire charges.

The insurance you can't reach

Getting the car released requires a government ID, proof of ownership, and valid insurance, but two of the three are often locked away by the arrest itself. The driver's license usually gets confiscated at the scene, and the insurance card is frequently sitting in the glovebox of the very car that's impounded. Storage facilities are required by law to let an owner access the vehicle just to retrieve documents like that, but reaching the lot in the first place, without a license or a car, is its own obstacle.

Getting someone else to retrieve it

If the registered owner is still in jail, a family member can pick up the car using a notarized Right of Possession form (TDLR Form 1845) or a notarized power of attorney. Either one lets someone else complete the release on the owner's behalf without waiting for them to get out first.