What counts as this kind of tow
47 O.S. § 951(10), as published on OSCN, defines a nonconsensual tow as transportation of a vehicle without the consent or knowledge of the vehicle’s owner, possessor, agent, insurer, lienholder, or any other person in possession of or in charge of the vehicle. The definition includes removal from public or private property for abandonment or unauthorized parking by the property owner, agent, possessor, or other legal entity for the property owner.
The Commission’s nonconsensual towing Q&A, revised May 30, 2024, quotes OAC 595:25-1-2: an owner-request tow is one made by an operator at the request of the owner, or the owner’s authorized agent, and not compelled or required by a law enforcement officer. The same answer says a tow compelled by an officer, or by a property agent with a properly completed TRAF form timely filed with the Department of Public Safety, is a nonconsensual tow subject to the maximum rates in Order 741981. It also says wrecker services are not required to charge those maximums. They may charge less.
When Oklahoma law allows the removal
47 O.S. § 954A(A) says:
In addition to any procedure provided by local ordinance, whenever the owner or legal possessor of real property or an authorized agent has reasonable cause to believe that a vehicle has been abandoned thereon, said vehicle having been on said property for a minimum of forty-eight (48) hours, or whenever a vehicle is left upon said real property without express or implied permission, such vehicle may be removed as provided in this section.
That subsection does not mention a posted sign. The two grounds in the sentence are the 48-hour abandonment belief, and a vehicle left without express or implied permission.
Subsection B says the owner, legal possessor, or authorized agent may request any licensed Class AA wrecker service within the county where the property is located, by signing a Tow Request and Authorization Form prescribed by the Department. If a Class AA service in that county cannot do the removal in a reasonable amount of time, the same person may request a licensed Class AA service from an adjacent county, and the form has to note that a service in the property’s county was contacted and could not perform the removal in a reasonable amount of time.
Subsection H says no licensed Class AA wrecker service or its operator shall tow, or cause to be towed, a vehicle under this section until the Department’s form has been appropriately completed by the parties as required by Department rules.
Subsection C says a licensed Class AA wrecker service removing a vehicle under this section shall be subject to the maximum rates established by the Corporation Commission. The roster cards on this site do not show a Class AA designation. Ask the company before you treat a listing as that license class.
Notice
Subsection E says the property owner, legal possessor, or authorized agent and the wrecker driver shall jointly, and each in the presence of the other, inventory personal property found within or upon the vehicle and sign a statement that they did so. If an inventory cannot be completed, the reasons shall be clearly stated on the form.
Subsection D requires the form to have room for a description of the vehicle (type, year, manufacturer, color, identification number, and license tag), the wrecker service’s name, address, and business telephone, the property person’s name, address, telephone, and driver license or state identification number, an inventory, the time and date, and both signatures. The driver license or state identification number shall not be disclosed by the Department or the Commission to someone asking about the services without a court order or written consent from the property owner, legal possessor, or authorized agent.
Subsection G sets the notice clock. Within three business days of the time on the form, the licensed Class AA wrecker service shall request the Oklahoma Tax Commission or other appropriate motor license agent for the name and address of the current owner and any lienholder. That office shall respond in person or by certified mail within five business days of receiving the request. Within seven days of receiving that information, the wrecker service shall send notice of the vehicle’s location by certified mail, at the addresses furnished, to the owner and any lienholder. The subsection also says: if the licensed Class AA wrecker service has not complied with the notification procedures required by this subsection, the owner or lienholder shall not be required to pay for storage of the vehicle.
Storage and release of the vehicle
The same subsection says the owner or lienholder may regain possession of the vehicle in accordance with rules of the Department upon payment of the licensed Class AA wrecker services, costs of certified mailing, and the reasonable cost of towing and storage.
Order No. 741981 (Case No. TD 2023-000011) says the rates in that order determine the maximum fees for storage and after-hours release of nonconsensual towed vehicles, and that no wrecker or towing service shall charge a storage fee that is not prescribed in the order or that exceeds those maximums. It also says the operator shall release the vehicle from storage upon authorization from the owner, agent, or lienholder of the vehicle, or, for a total loss, the insurer accepting the claim or buying the vehicle where it is moving to an insurance pool yard for sale. Nothing in that storage section limits the operator’s right to require prepayment, in part or in full, or a guarantee of payment. The section does not require the operator to charge a storage or after-hours fee.
Outdoor storage rates in the order may be applied from the time the vehicle is brought onto the outdoor storage premises, for each calendar day, and the maximum fee for less than 24 hours is one calendar day. The order’s outdoor maximums are:
- Up to 20 feet
- $23.94 per 24 hours or portion, for a motorcycle, automobile, or light truck
- 20 to under 30 feet
- $31.92
- Over 30 feet, up to 8 feet wide
- $39.90
- Over 30 feet and over 8 feet wide
- $55.86
Indoor storage uses the same calendar-day rule. The order says indoor storage means the vehicle is kept in an enclosed facility. Its indoor maximums are $39.90, $47.88, $55.86, and $71.82 for the same four size groups. The Commission’s Q&A says indoor rates may be charged when the owner requests indoor storage, when the law enforcement office that requested the tow orders it, or when indoor storage is necessary to prevent further damage to the vehicle.
The order sets the after-hours release rate at $19.95 per quarter hour for any single vehicle or combination. After-hours means midnight to 8:00 a.m., or 5:00 p.m. to midnight Monday through Friday, or any time Saturday, Sunday, or a national holiday named in the order (and the Friday before a holiday that falls on Saturday, or the Monday after a holiday that falls on Sunday). The Q&A says these charges must be documented on the invoice.
47 O.S. § 953.2(C) says the storage and after-hours dollar amounts printed in that statute apply until the Commission sets rates. Order 741981 is the later order. Its paragraph 9 says any reading of § 953.1 or § 953.2 that would allow a rate other than the Commission’s order is superseded. Use the June 1, 2024 figures above, not the older dollar amounts still printed in § 953.2(D) through (F).
Personal property is a separate sentence in 47 O.S. § 955(E). That subsection applies to operators conducting a tow under § 955, which is an officer-ordered removal and can include a private parking lot accessible to the public. It says personal property includes everything in the vehicle except the vehicle, attached or installed equipment, keys or devices to start and unlock the vehicle, and the spare tire and tools to change the tire. If release of that property is during normal business hours prescribed by the Corporation Commission, it shall be at no cost to the registered owner. The Commission’s Q&A, citing § 955(E), says the operator is required to release personal property when presented with proper documentation, may not require payment of towing and storage before that release, and may not charge a fee for it during the normal business hours in the order. After-hours fees may be assessed when the property is released outside those hours.
Maximum rates under Order 741981
Checked October 19, 2026: the Commission’s Nonconsensual Towing page still heads its rate section “Current Rates” and says that, effective June 1, 2024, the Commission ordered new maximum rates. The order itself says the rates in Exhibit A to the joint stipulation become effective June 1, 2024. The maximum wrecker rate chart, revised May 31, 2024, says to check that page for current and complete rate information. No later rate order is linked from the current-rates section.
47 O.S. § 966(B), the Nonconsensual Towing Act of 2011, says the act applies to every wrecker operating in Oklahoma that removes and stores vehicles from Oklahoma roads and highways or private property as a result of a nonconsensual tow. Subsection C gives the Commission authority to establish wrecker rates for transportation and storage of motor vehicles removed due to a nonconsensual tow from those roads, highways, or private property, to supervise and enforce the rates, and to mediate and adjudicate complaints about the charges.
Order 741981, paragraph 9, says no wrecker or towing service transporting or storing vehicles or other property towed as a result of a nonconsensual tow shall charge any rate, fee, or charge in excess of those established by Commission order, or any rate for a service the order does not address. 47 O.S. § 953.1(A) is narrower on its face: it sets Commission maximums for a Department-licensed wrecker on the Department’s rotation log, or a city, county, or other political-subdivision rotation log, when an officer requests or directs the tow. A private-property removal under § 954A is separately “subject to the maximum rates established by the Corporation Commission.”
Distance rates below are from the Commission’s Q&A for Order 741981, Section 11(C). Weight includes equipment and lading. The same figures are on the rate chart.
- 8,000 lb or less, 25 miles or less
- $4.99 per mile
- 8,000 lb or less, over 25 miles
- $4.16 per mile
- 8,001 to 12,000 lb, 25 miles or less
- $5.65 per mile
- 8,001 to 12,000 lb, over 25 miles
- $4.99 per mile
- 12,001 to 40,000 lb, any distance
- $9.56 per mile
- 40,001 lb or over, any distance
- $11.23 per mile
- Combination of vehicles, any distance
- $11.23 per mile
Hookup rates may be charged only when distance rates are used. The Q&A lists $108.06 for a single vehicle of 8,000 pounds or less, $124.69 from 8,001 to 12,000, $141.31 from 12,001 to 24,000, and $157.94 for 24,001 pounds or over and for a combination. An operator may not charge both the hookup rate and the hourly rate charged instead of distance.
Hourly rates may be charged instead of distance rates. For a passenger vehicle the Q&A lists, per hour and per 15 minutes: $99.75 and $24.94 at 8,000 pounds or less; $133.00 and $33.25 from 8,001 to 24,000; $199.50 and $49.88 from 24,001 to 44,000; $299.25 and $74.81 at 44,001 pounds or over and for a combination. If the service takes less than one and a half hours, the charge for one and a half hours may be applied. Hourly and distance rates are not both charged on the same tow, except documented wait or standby time when distance rates are used, and documented recovery time.
Two fees in the order apply only to a tow under § 954A. For a vehicle under 10,000 pounds GVWR, the wrecker may charge a drop fee instead of the towing and storage fees when the owner, authorized operator, or agent wants the operable vehicle back before it leaves the private property where the tow started. The wrecker must relinquish the vehicle and may collect the drop fee for costs up to that point. The drop fee shall not exceed $99.75 and may not be charged when other wrecker or towing service fees are charged. The Q&A says the drop fee is not adjusted by the fuel surcharge. Separately, the operator may collect up to $33.25 to obtain ownership and lienholder information from Service Oklahoma, another state’s motor vehicle agency, or a law enforcement agency. That fee may be collected in addition to certified postage and the towing and storage of the vehicle. The law-enforcement registration-check fee of $19.95 is not for a § 954A tow. The order says it shall not be applicable to vehicles towed under § 954A.
The rate chart says distance, hourly (excluding recovery), and hookup rates may be adjusted weekly by a fuel surcharge based on the Department of Energy weekly retail on-highway diesel price for the Midwest region, using $2.00 per gallon as the base, with a one-percent increase in fees for every ten-cent increase starting at $2.10. The chart also sets extra labor at $47.88 per person per hour, with time and justification on the invoice. The Q&A says no fee other than those established by OCC orders or Oklahoma statutes may be charged for a nonconsensual tow. The order requires an itemized bill, including start and stop times needed to calculate hourly charges, and a statement that complaints may be addressed to the Corporation Commission Transportation Division.
Oklahoma City ordinances
Section 954A(A) opens with “in addition to any procedure provided by local ordinance.” Two Oklahoma City ordinances are quoted here from the ordinance text as adopted. On October 19, 2026, the consolidated Municode page for the traffic code did not return the section text, so this page does not treat a later unofficial copy as the code.
Ordinance No. 24,443, passed April 10, 2012, enacted §32-331. It says: “No person owning, operating, or managing a private parking lot shall immobilize vehicles present on such property through the use of a vehicle immobilization device.” In that ordinance, a private parking lot is real property, a structure, or a lot owned, operated, or managed by a non-governmental party and used for the paid parking or storing of vehicles, including paid parking used by the general public. The term does not include a lot owned, operated, or managed by a governmental agency or institution, a political subdivision, or a public trust. The section does not apply to a person immobilizing a vehicle on behalf of any of those public bodies. A search of later Chapter 32 ordinances indexed by the City did not show an amendment of §32-331. The ordinance does not set a tow-away sign rule.
Ordinance No. 25,709 (2017) amended §32-98, “Vehicles on private property.” As adopted there, an unattended vehicle found in violation of §32-319 may be impounded when the required complaint has been properly made and filed. The owner or legal occupant who complains shall sign a verified complaint alleging that the complaining party is the owner or legal occupant of the property. Upon that filing, or if there is cause to believe §32-319 has been violated, the Police Department may cause the vehicle to be impounded and placed in storage. The same ordinance says a vehicle impounded under that division shall be removed to the nearest garage or place of safekeeping designated by the City, and to no other place. Later indexed ordinances amended other Chapter 32 sections, including §32-92 in 2022, and did not list §32-98. This page does not quote §32-319, because that section’s current text was not in the ordinances read today, and it does not treat the 2017 police-impound path as a substitute for § 954A.
Using this directory
Oklahoma Licensed Wrecker Guide does not send a truck. You call a company. The Oklahoma City mailing-city list is the local roster. The statewide company list and the city index use the same Department of Public Safety records. A mailing city is where the state list says the company receives mail. It is not a promise of coverage for a particular lot. Confirm the vehicle, the address, and whether the company takes this job.
For a charge on a nonconsensual tow, the Commission’s Q&A gives the Transportation Division at 405-522-0131 and the nonconsensual tow rate complaint form. For a nonconsensual towing issue other than the regulated rates, the same Q&A and the Commission’s towing page say to contact Department of Public Safety Wrecker Services at (405) 425-2312. A driver-requested tow is a different transaction. Read towing cost in Oklahoma for what to ask before you agree to a price, and storage and vehicle release if the vehicle is already in a lot. Do not order a second tow until you know who has it.
This is general information from the statute, the Commission’s order and rate pages, and the two city ordinances above. It is not legal advice, not a rotation list, and not a statement about any named shop.