An abandoned motor vehicle is hereby declared to be a nuisance, and the police department is hereby authorized to take into custody any such vehicle. The police department may employ its own personnel, equipment and facilities or hire persons, equipment and facilities to remove, preserve and store an abandoned motor vehicle.
(Ordinance 2022-04-18 adopted 4/11/2022)
(a) 
Upon the impoundment of an abandoned motor vehicle, the police department shall notify within ten (10) days thereof, by certified mail, the last known registered owner of the motor vehicle and all lienholders of record, pursuant to the Certificate of Title Act or chapter 31, Parks and Wildlife Code, that the vehicle has been taken into custody. The notice shall describe the year, make, model and vehicle identification number of the abandoned motor vehicle, set forth the location of the facility where the motor vehicle is being held, inform the owner and any lienholders of their right to reclaim the motor vehicle not later than the twentieth day after the date of the notice, on payment of all towing, preservation and storage charges resulting from placing the vehicle in custody, or garagekeeper’s charges if notice is under Transportation Code 683.032, as amended. The notice shall also state that the failure of the owner or lienholders to exercise their right to reclaim the vehicle within the time provided constitutes a waiver by the owner and lienholders of all right, title and interest in the vehicle and their consent to the sale of the abandoned motor vehicle at a public auction.
(b) 
If the identity of the last registered owner cannot be determined, if the registration contains no address for the owner, or if it is impossible to determine with reasonable certainty the identity and addresses of all lienholders, notice by one (1) publication in one (1) newspaper of general circulation in the area where the motor vehicle was abandoned is sufficient notice under this article. The notice by publication may contain multiple listings of abandoned vehicles, shall be published within the time requirements prescribed for a notice by certified mail and shall have the same contents required for a notice by certified mail.
(c) 
The police department, or in the event the police department hires as its agent persons, equipment and facilities to remove, preserve and store an abandoned motor vehicle it takes into custody, is entitled to reasonable storage fees for a period of not more than ten (10) days, beginning on the date the department takes custody and continuing through the day the department mails notice as provided by this section, and a period beginning on the day after the day the department mails notice and continuing through the day any accrued charges are paid and the vehicle is removed.
(Ordinance 2022-04-18 adopted 4/11/2022)
If an abandoned motor vehicle has not been reclaimed as provided above, the police department shall then sell the abandoned motor vehicle at a public auction. Proper notice of the public auction shall be given. The purchaser of the motor vehicle takes title to the motor vehicle free and clear of all liens and claims of ownership, shall receive a sales receipt from the police department and is entitled to register the purchased vehicle and receive a certificate of title from the appropriate authority. From the proceeds of the sale of an abandoned motor vehicle, the police department shall reimburse itself for the expenses of the auction, the cost of towing, preserving and storing the vehicle that resulted from placing the abandoned motor vehicle in custody, and all notice and publication costs incurred, if any. Any remainder from the proceeds of a sale shall be held for the owner of the vehicle or entitled lienholders for ninety (90) days and then shall be deposited in an account that may be used for the payment of auction, towing, preserving, storage and all notice and publication costs that result from placing another abandoned vehicle into custody, if the proceeds from a sale of another abandoned motor vehicle are insufficient to meet these fees. The city may transfer funds in excess of $1,000.00 from the account to the city’s general revenue account.
(Ordinance 2022-04-18 adopted 4/11/2022)
A motor vehicle left for more than ten (10) days in a storage facility operated for commercial purposes after notice is given by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, to the owner and to any lienholders of record to remove the vehicle, or under any of the other circumstances as set forth in V.T.C.A., Transportation Code, chapter 683, subchapter C, as amended, shall be subject to the provisions of said chapter.
(Ordinance 2022-04-18 adopted 4/11/2022)
Any person, firm, corporation or unit of government on whose property or in whose possession is found any abandoned motor vehicle, and a person who is the owner of a motor vehicle whose title certificate is faulty, lost or destroyed, may apply to the state department of transportation for authority to sell, give away or dispose of the vehicle to a demolisher. The application shall be governed by V.T.C.A., Transportation Code, chapter 683, subchapter D, as amended.
(Ordinance 2022-04-18 adopted 4/11/2022)