Chapter 10.15
IMPOUNDMENT
Sections:
10.15.010 Vehicles may be impounded.
10.15.030 Prerequisites to redemption.
10.15.040 Sale if not redeemed.
10.15.050 Refund of proceeds of sale.
10.15.080 Impounding not a bar to prosecution.
10.15.010 Vehicles may be impounded.
(1) The following are hereby declared to be nuisances:
(a) Any unattended vehicle stopped, standing or parked in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter.
(b) A vehicle found upon the streets or alleys of this city with faulty or defective equipment.
(c) Any disabled vehicle upon a street so located as to constitute an obstruction to traffic and the person or persons in charge of the vehicle are by reason of physical injury incapacitated to such an extent as to be unable to provide for its custody or removal.
(d) Any vehicle left unattended upon a street or alley in such a location as to constitute a definite hazard or obstruction to the normal movement of traffic.
(e) Any vehicle the driver of which has been taken into custody by the department of public safety under such circumstances as would leave such vehicle unattended in a street, alley, or restricted parking area.
(f) Any vehicle found being driven on the streets in a dangerous condition.
(g) Any vehicle found so parked as to constitute a fire hazard or an obstruction to firefighting apparatus.
(2) Vehicles constituting a nuisance under subsection (1) of this section may be removed or impounded by or under the direction of the department of public safety. Those vehicles which constitute an immediate traffic hazard or danger may be impounded without any notice to the owner thereof; provided, however, that notice shall be given to the registered owner as soon as possible after the impounding and an opportunity for a hearing before the director of public safety shall be afforded the owner in order to determine if the vehicle was rightfully impounded. Any other vehicle may not be impounded until written notice and an opportunity to be heard are given to the owner. [Ord. 95-72, 1995.]
10.15.020 Notice.
As soon as is reasonable under the circumstances, a written notice that a vehicle has been impounded shall be mailed to the owner and recorded lienholder, if there is one, of the vehicle at their last known address as shown by the records of the Motor Vehicle Division of the Utah State Tax Commission. If the license plates on the vehicle are from another state, written notice shall be mailed to the Department of Motor Vehicles in that state, requesting the Department to notify the registered owner of the vehicle that it has been impounded by the department of public safety and that it will be sold at public auction if not claimed by the owner or his proper representative, as provided in this chapter. [Ord. 95-72, 1995.]
10.15.030 Prerequisites to redemption.
Before the owner or his agent shall be permitted to remove a vehicle which has been impounded, he shall:
(1) Furnish satisfactory evidence to the department of public safety of his identity and his ownership of the vehicle.
(2) Request and obtain from the department of public safety a written order directed to the place of storage in which the vehicle is impounded, authorizing the release of the vehicle to the owner or his agent upon the payment to the place of storage of towing and storage charges reasonably incurred from the date of the impounding to the time of presenting the order of release from the department of public safety.
(3) Sign a written receipt for the vehicle and deliver the receipt to the place of storage upon receiving the impounded vehicle. [Ord. 95-72, 1995.]
10.15.040 Sale if not redeemed.
If, at the expiration of 30 days after mailing the notice provided for in NCC 10.15.020, the vehicle is not redeemed by the owner or his proper representative, the director of public safety or his authorized agent shall proceed to sell it at public auction to the highest bidder after first giving at least 10 days’ notice of the sale by publishing the notice at least twice in a newspaper of general circulation in the city, stating the time and place of the sale. The notice shall also describe the vehicle to be sold with reasonable certainty and shall state to whom, if anyone, the records of the office of the Motor Vehicle Division of the Utah State Tax Commission show it to belong, or that the owner is unknown, if such is the case. If the name of the owner or recorded lienholder, if any, is known, the department of public safety shall mail such owner or recorded lienholder a copy of the notice as published immediately after its publication to their last known address or their address as shown on the records of the Motor Vehicle Division of the Utah State Tax Commission. A copy of this notice as published shall also be mailed immediately after publication to the owner of the place of storage. The money received by the department of public safety from the sale of any such vehicle shall be applied first to the actual cost of towing and storage of the vehicle, then to pay the cost of advertising the notice of sale and the balance, if any, shall then be placed in the city treasury. [Ord. 95-72, 1995.]
10.15.050 Refund of proceeds of sale.
At any time within one year from and after a sale as provided by NCC 10.15.040, the former owner of the vehicle sold, upon application to the department of public safety and upon presentation of satisfactory proof that he was the owner of the vehicle sold, shall be paid the proceeds of such sale less the necessary expense thereof and less any towing, impounding and storage charges incurred. [Ord. 95-72, 1995.]
10.15.060 Records required.
The department of public safety shall keep a record of all vehicles impounded by manufacturer’s trade name or make, body type, motor and license number, the names and addresses of all persons claiming the same, any other descriptive matter that may identify the vehicles, the nature and circumstances of the impounding thereof, the violation on account of which the vehicles were impounded, the date of such impounding, and the name and address of any person to whom any such vehicle is released. [Ord. 95-72, 1995.]
10.15.070 State impounds.
Officers of the department of public safety shall also have authority to impound any vehicle subject to impounding under state law and in so doing shall use the procedure prescribed by state law or regulation. The vehicles impounded shall be held or disposed of pursuant to state law. [Ord. 95-72, 1995.]
10.15.080 Impounding not a bar to prosecution.
The impounding of a vehicle shall not prevent or preclude the institution and prosecution of criminal proceedings. [Ord. 95-72, 1995.]