Hidalgo County Vehicle Impound Guide

Where your car went, and what it costs to get back, depends entirely on who arrested you. The McAllen Police Department and the Hidalgo County Sheriff both use a rotation of private wrecker companies, not a city or county lot, so your first job is finding out which company has the car. For a McAllen arrest, call the police records bureau or the arresting officer; you were probably handed a tow slip. For a county arrest, call the Sheriff's office.

The jurisdiction trap

If McAllen police arrested you but you were booked into the county jail in Edinburg because of crowding or magistration, your family will assume the car is in Edinburg with you. It isn't. It's in a private lot in south McAllen, and days of storage fees pile up while everyone chases the wrong trail.

McAllen costs a lot more

McAllen set its own tow fees by ordinance, and they run well above the rest of the county. A base tow is $300, plus $5 a loaded mile, a $20 impound fee, and storage at $50 a day, more than double the $22.85 state rate that applies outside the city. There's a $50 notification fee, a $100 security fee in some cases, and the one that stings: a $150 vehicle access fee that hits whenever you retrieve the car or your property on a weekend, a holiday, or after 5:00 PM. A Friday-night arrest in McAllen picked up Sunday runs about $645. Outside McAllen, expect a tow near the $272 cap and $22.85 a day.

Getting it released

Bring a valid government ID, the title or current registration, and proof of active insurance. A storage lot legally can't release the car without current insurance even after the bill is paid. You'll also sign a hold-harmless form.

If the registered owner is still in jail, a spouse or parent can't pick the car up without a notarized letter of authorization from the owner. Notaries aren't available in booking for civil paperwork, so in practice the family often has to wait until the defendant bonds out, with storage running the whole time.

Two more snags: many lots close for lunch around noon to 1, and some stop processing paperwork at 4:30 even though they're open until 5. And the card machine is frequently "down," so bring cash, in exact change, because lots often claim they keep none on site.

Fighting the tow

You have 14 business days from the tow to request a hearing before a Hidalgo County Justice of the Peace in the precinct where the vehicle was towed. If the judge finds there was no probable cause for the tow, your fees can be ordered reimbursed.