Does every tow truck in Texas have to be registered, even ones not used for hire?

Texas AG Opinion JM-1168: Did a 1989 Amendment Require All Tow Trucks to Register?

Plain-English summary

The acting executive director of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation asked about a 1989 amendment to V.T.C.S. article 6687-9b, the statute requiring tow trucks to register with the department. Before the amendment, the statute barred operating a tow truck in Texas "for compensation" without registering it; the 1989 amendment deleted the words "for compensation" from that provision. The director wanted to know whether that change meant every tow truck operating in Texas now had to register, without exception, or whether the department could still exempt certain categories by rule, since a bill analysis in the legislative file said the amendment was meant to "bring all tow trucks under the law."

The Attorney General concluded the amendment, by itself, did not actually broaden the registration requirement to reach every tow truck. The provision that seemed to require registration for "all tow trucks" doesn't itself create a registration mandate; it just says a person can't operate a tow truck unless it's registered "as provided by this Act," and the only provision that actually sets up registration only authorizes the commissioner to issue a certificate to a "tow truck owner," a term the statute defines as someone engaged in the business of using a tow truck to move disabled vehicles, a narrower class than "all tow trucks." More importantly, the 1989 bill left the statute's criminal penalty section untouched, and that section still only makes it an offense to operate an unregistered tow truck "for compensation." Since the legislature didn't remove "for compensation" from the enforcement provision, the opinion concluded the practical scope of the registration requirement had not been broadened by the 1989 amendment.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1990, shortly after the statute it construed was amended. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule mentioned here.

Who this opinion affected (as of 1990)

Tow truck operators and owners: The opinion meant that, despite the 1989 amendment's broader wording, tow trucks not used commercially for hire were not, in practice, newly required to register, since the criminal penalty for operating unregistered still applied only to compensated towing.

The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation: The opinion confirmed the department's registration authority under the statute reached only "tow truck owners" engaged in the towing business, giving the department a basis for continuing to limit registration (and any rule-based exemptions) to that narrower group rather than treating the statute as covering every tow truck in the state.

Common questions

Did removing "for compensation" from the Texas tow truck law mean everyone with a tow truck now has to register it?
No, according to this opinion. The Attorney General concluded the amendment did not broaden the registration requirement, because the statute's actual registration authority and its criminal penalty provision (left unchanged) still tie registration to operating as a business, or towing for compensation.

What did the legislature's own bill analysis say about the amendment's purpose?
The bill analysis in the legislative file said the amendment was meant to "bring all tow trucks under the law." The opinion acknowledged that stated intent but concluded the actual statutory language enacted did not achieve that broader result, because of how the registration and penalty provisions were structured.

Why did the criminal penalty section matter so much to this analysis?
Because the 1989 amendment did not remove "for compensation" from that section, which still only makes it an offense to operate an unregistered tow truck "for compensation." The opinion treated that as strong evidence the practical registration requirement remained tied to commercial towing.

Background and statutory framework

V.T.C.S. article 6687-9b defines a "tow truck" broadly as a motor vehicle or mechanical device adapted or used to tow, winch, or otherwise move disabled motor vehicles (§ 1(4)). Section 2(a), as amended by the 71st Legislature (Acts 1989, ch. 1039, § 2.52), broadly states that, with an exception not relevant here, "a person may not operate a tow truck in this state unless the tow truck is registered with [the Department of Licensing and Regulation] as provided by this Act." Before the 1989 amendment, section 2(a) had instead barred operating a tow truck "for compensation" without registration; the amendment deleted those words. A bill analysis in the legislative file (C.S.H.B. 863, 71st Leg. (1989)) described the amendment as bringing "all tow trucks under the law by removing the phrase 'for compensation' as the criteria for a tow truck to be registered."

The opinion concluded, however, that section 2(a) does not itself impose a registration requirement; it only bars operating a tow truck unless registered "as provided by this Act," pointing to section 2(b) as the only provision that actually sets up registration. Section 2(b) directs the commissioner to issue a certificate of registration to a "tow truck owner" whose vehicle meets the commissioner's rules and who pays the fee, and the statute defines "tow truck owner" (§ 1(5)) as a person engaged in the business of using a tow truck to tow, winch, or otherwise move a motor vehicle, a narrower class than every possessor of a tow truck. The opinion found this class of business-engaged tow truck owners is undoubtedly smaller than the class of all tow trucks, even if the line isn't always clear in every individual case.

The opinion found the more decisive evidence in section 8 of the statute, which sets the penalty for failing to register: the 1989 bill that deleted "for compensation" from section 2(a) did not delete those same words from section 8, which still makes it a Class C misdemeanor to operate a tow truck "for compensation" without a certificate of registration. Because the act does not make it an offense simply to operate an unregistered tow truck, only to operate one for compensation without registration, the opinion concluded that, notwithstanding the bill analysis's stated broader purpose, the 1989 amendment did not actually broaden the scope of the registration requirement under article 6687-9b.

Citations

Statutes:

• V.T.C.S. art. 6687-9b §§ 1(4), 1(5), 2(a), 2(b), 5, 8
• Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 1039, § 2.52

Source

• Landing page: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/jim-mattox/jm-1168
• Original PDF: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1990/jm1168.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain, the linked PDF is authoritative.

April 26, 1990

Mr. Larry E. Kosta
Acting Executive Director
Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation
P. O. Box 12157
Austin, Texas 78711

Opinion No. JM-1168

Re: Extent of coverage of article 6687-9b, V.T.C.S., which regulates the operation of tow trucks (RQ-1883)

Dear Mr. Kosta:

You ask about the scope of a statute that requires tow trucks to be registered. V.T.C.S. art. 6687-9b. Specifically, you ask whether certain types of vehicles are exempt from the registration requirement.

Article 6687-9b defines "tow truck" as "a motor vehicle or mechanical device adapted or used to tow, winch, or otherwise move disabled motor vehicles." Id. § 1(4). As amended by the 71st Legislature, section 2(a) contains a broad prohibition on the operation of unregistered tow trucks:

Except as provided by Section 5[1] of this Act, a person may not operate a tow truck in this state unless the tow truck is registered with the [Department of Licensing and Regulation] as provided by this Act.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 1039, § 2.52, at 4206. Before the 1989 amendment, section 2(a) provided that a person could not operate a tow truck in Texas "for compensation" unless the truck was registered as provided by article 6687-9b. The 1989 amendment deleted the words "for compensation" from section 2(a). Consequently, you ask whether registration is now required for all tow trucks operated in Texas, without exception, or whether certain categories of tow trucks may be exempted by rule from the registration requirement.

The legislative history of the 1989 amendment shows that the legislature did intend to broaden significantly the scope of the registration requirement. An analysis in the bill file states that the amendment "brings all tow trucks under the law by removing the phrase 'for compensation' as the criteria for a tow truck to be registered with the department." Bill Analysis, C.S.H.B. 863, 71st Leg. (1989). We conclude, however, that deleting the words "for compensation" from section 2(a) of article 6687-9b was by itself insufficient to make "all tow trucks" subject to a registration requirement.

Section 2(a) does not itself impose a registration requirement. Rather, it states that a person may not operate a tow truck in Texas unless the tow truck is registered "as provided by this Act." The only part of the act that may be read to provide for registration is section 2(b), which states:

The commissioner shall issue a certificate of registration to a tow truck owner whose vehicle meets the registration requirements prescribed by rule of the commissioner and who pays the registration fee. (Emphasis added.)

A "tow truck owner" is "a person engaged in the business of using a tow truck to tow, winch, or otherwise move a motor vehicle." V.T.C.S. art. 6687-9b, § 1(5) (emphasis added). In other words, the authority of the commissioner to issue registration certificates extends only to persons engaged in the business of using a tow truck. It may not be clear in every case whether a particular person is engaged in the business of using tow trucks for the purposes set out in the act, but undoubtedly the class of tow trucks owned by persons engaged in the business of using tow trucks for those purposes is smaller than the class of all tow trucks.

Perhaps more significant in determining the scope of the registration requirement for tow trucks is section 8 of article 6687-9b, which sets out the penalty for failure to register a tow truck in accordance with article 6687-9b. The 1989 bill that deleted the words "for compensation" from section 2(a) did not delete those words from section 8, which provides:

(a) A person commits an offense if the person operates a tow truck for compensation without a certificate of registration issued under this Act.

(b) An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor. (Emphasis added.)

In other words, the act does not make it an offense to operate an unregistered tow truck. It makes it an offense to operate an unregistered tow truck for compensation.

In light of the language in section 2(b) and section 8 of article 6687-9b, we conclude that the 1989 amendment did not broaden the scope of the registration requirement for tow trucks under article 6687-9b.

SUMMARY

A 1989 amendment to article 6687-9b, which deals with registration of tow trucks, did not broaden the scope of the registration requirement under that article.

JIM MATTOX
Attorney General of Texas

MARY KELLER
First Assistant Attorney General

JUDGE ZOLLIE STEAKLEY
Special Assistant Attorney General

RENEA HICKS
Special Assistant Attorney General

RICK GILPIN
Chairman, Opinion Committee

Prepared by Sarah Woelk
Assistant Attorney General

Footnotes

1. Section 5 of the act actually sets out no exemptions from registration. Rather, it provides that any municipal registration shall be in addition to registration under article 6687-9b.