Hood County Vehicle Impound Guide

Police-initiated tows in Hood County run through rotation lists kept by both the City of Granbury and the Hood County Sheriff's Office, which means the same traffic stop could end up at a different lot depending on exactly which side of a municipal line it happened on. The arresting officer hands over a tow slip before transport; if it gets lost during booking, calling the non-emergency line for Granbury PD (817-573-2648) or the Hood County Sheriff (817-579-3307) with the plate or VIN will confirm where the car went.

Acorn Towing at 724 E Bluebonnet Dr, Suite A in Granbury, phone (817) 573-8285, is the primary lot and runs 24 hours. Daily storage is capped at $20 under local ordinance, the base tow fee for a light-duty vehicle is $255, and a notification fee of up to $50 can apply for certified mailings to lienholders. Release requires a valid photo ID, proof of ownership matching that ID, and payment in full. Don's Towing & Recovery, further out at 6701 Glen Rose Hwy, sometimes takes vehicles too; in a rural county, that distance matters if no one's available to drive a family member out to retrieve a car.

The storage math has a real trap and a real escape hatch built into the same rule. State regulation lets a lot charge for any part of a calendar day a vehicle sits there, but if the total time on the lot stays under 12 continuous hours, even across midnight, only one day's fee applies. A car towed at 11:00 PM Friday and picked up by 9:00 AM Saturday, ten hours later, costs $20. Picked up at 11:05 AM instead, past the 12-hour mark, it's $40. The difference is five minutes and an entire day's fee.

Release offices tend to keep municipal hours, including a hard lunch closure, so arriving at 12:05 PM with cash in hand just means waiting in the parking lot. Calling ahead to confirm a clerk is actually on site, and to get the exact amount owed down to the cent, avoids the wait. Many lots won't make change on a cash payment.

Only the registered owner can normally get a vehicle released. If that person is sitting in the Hood County Jail, the law still lets a family member into the vehicle, without paying a fee, to grab ownership documents like the registration card in the glovebox. Actually releasing the car requires the incarcerated owner to sign a notarized Vehicle Release Authorization form, which takes coordinating with jail staff or an attorney to arrange.

A tow believed to be illegal can be challenged within 14 calendar days at the Justice of the Peace court for the precinct where the vehicle was towed, for a fee of up to $20.

There's a narrow window where a family member can stop a tow before it starts. If someone arrives at the arrest scene while the vehicle is already hooked up but hasn't left the property, the owner or an authorized driver can demand its release by paying a local drop fee on the spot. If it isn't fully hooked up yet, the operator has to release it for nothing. Granbury's city ordinance is unforgiving after that point, though: an impounded vehicle left unclaimed for 20 days past the notification letter can be sold at public auction. Boats towed off Lake Granbury after a boating-while-intoxicated stop follow a separate process from standard car impounds, since securing a trailer and watercraft isn't the same job as towing a sedan.