---
type: "Bill"
title: "Tow truck drivers and towing and recovery operators; civil penalty for improper towing."
description: "Creates a civil penalty of $150 to be paid into the Literary Fund for any tow truck driver or towing and recovery operator convicted of improperly towing in Planning District 8 (Northern Virginia). The bill exempts tow truck drivers and towing and recovery operators in Planning District 8 from any requirement by a towing advisory board for written authorization in addition to a written contract in the event that a vehicle is being removed from private property. The bill requires that a tow truck driver in Planning District 8 immediately notify the animal control office in the locality from which the vehicle is being towed if the vehicle is occupied by a companion animal. The bill limits the membership of a local towing advisory board to only representatives of local law-enforcement agencies, representatives of licensed towing and recovery operators, and one member of the general public and requires the chairmanship of any towing advisory board within Planning District 8 to rotate annually between board members who represent a licensed towing and recovery operator, a local law-enforcement agency, and the general public."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2017"
identifier: "HB 1960"
citation: "Virginia HB 1960 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Motor Vehicles", "Northern Virginia"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Timothy D. Hugo"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 33
vote_count: 10
first_action: "2017-01-10"
last_action: "2017-04-26"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e36cf040-c66e-4396-96c3-549d2571f450"
source_url: "http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+sum+HB1960"
source_hash: "c60b361dde3b4f677d1dd2af43048bfe5945b42e00313cbb5fc29917f5e27cf5"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia HB 1960 (2017) — Tow truck drivers and towing and recovery operators; civil penalty for improper towing.

Creates a civil penalty of $150 to be paid into the Literary Fund for any tow truck driver or towing and recovery operator convicted of improperly towing in Planning District 8 (Northern Virginia). The bill exempts tow truck drivers and towing and recovery operators in Planning District 8 from any requirement by a towing advisory board for written authorization in addition to a written contract in the event that a vehicle is being removed from private property. The bill requires that a tow truck driver in Planning District 8 immediately notify the animal control office in the locality from which the vehicle is being towed if the vehicle is occupied by a companion animal. The bill limits the membership of a local towing advisory board to only representatives of local law-enforcement agencies, representatives of licensed towing and recovery operators, and one member of the general public and requires the chairmanship of any towing advisory board within Planning District 8 to rotate annually between board members who represent a licensed towing and recovery operator, a local law-enforcement agency, and the general public.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0825)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+CHAP0825)
2. **House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1960ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+HB1960ER)
3. **House: Committee substitute printed 17104664D-H1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+HB1960H1)
4. **House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/17 17101900D** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+HB1960)
5. **House: Reenrolled bill text (HB1960ER2)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+HB1960ER2)

## Votes

- House concurred in Governor's recommendation to Amendment #2 — **99–0** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Transportation with substitute — **21–0** (pass) · legislature
- Senate amendment agreed to by House — **66–31** (pass) · legislature
- Read third time and passed House — **68–28** (pass) · legislature
- House rejected Governor's recommendation to Amendment #1 — **33–67** (fail) · legislature
- Passed Senate with amendment — **31–9** (pass) · legislature
- Senate concurred in Governor's recommendation #2 — **39–1** (pass) · legislature
- Constitutional reading dispensed — **39–0** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Transportation with amendment — **10–3** (pass) · legislature
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute — **6–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Timothy D. Hugo — primary (person)
- Kaye Kory — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2017-01-10** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/17 17101900D `introduction`
- **2017-01-10** Referred to Committee on Transportation `referral-committee`
- **2017-01-17** Assigned Transportation sub: Subcommittee #2 `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-03** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2017-02-06** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2017-02-06** Committee substitute agreed to 17104664D-H1
- **2017-02-06** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB1960H1
- **2017-02-07** Read third time and passed House (68-Y 28-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2017-02-08** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2017-02-08** Referred to Committee on Transportation `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-20** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2017-02-20** Reading of amendment waived
- **2017-02-20** Committee amendment agreed to
- **2017-02-20** Engrossed by Senate as amended
- **2017-02-21** Placed on Calendar
- **2017-02-21** Senate amendment agreed to by House (66-Y 31-N)
- **2017-02-24** Enrolled
- **2017-02-24** Signed by Speaker
- **2017-02-24** Signed by President
- **2017-02-28** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on 2/28/17
- **2017-02-28** Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, March 27, 2017
- **2017-03-24** Governor's recommendation received by House
- **2017-04-05** Placed on Calendar
- **2017-04-05** House concurred in Governor's recommendation to Amendment #2 (99-Y 0-N)
- **2017-04-05** House rejected Governor's recommendation to Amendment #1 (33-Y 67-N)
- **2017-04-05** Governor's recommendation adopted in-part
- **2017-04-05** Reenrolled
- **2017-04-05** Reenrolled bill text (HB1960ER2)
- **2017-04-05** Signed by Speaker as reenrolled
- **2017-04-05** Signed by President as reenrolled
- **2017-04-05** Communicated to Governor
- **2017-04-05** Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, May 5, 2017
- **2017-04-26** Approved by Governor-Chapter 825 (effective 7/1/17) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/e36cf040-c66e-4396-96c3-549d2571f450`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).