Whenever any motor vehicle is found parked or stopped in violation of any of the restrictions imposed by this chapter or other traffic regulations of the city or by state law, the officer finding such vehicle shall take its registration number and may take any other information displayed on the vehicle which may identify its user and shall conspicuously attach to such vehicle a citation in writing, on a form to be provided by the police department, for the driver to answer to the charge against him within ten (10) days within the hours and at a place specified in the citation.
(Ordinance 91-72, sec. 7, adopted 10/8/91; 1957 Code, sec. 18-58)
If a violator of the restrictions on stopping, standing or parking under the terms of this chapter does not appear in response to a notice affixed to such vehicle within a period of ten (10) days, the clerk of the municipal court shall send to the owner of the motor vehicle to which the citation was affixed a notice to inform of the violation and to require the violator to appear in court.
(Ordinance 91-72, sec. 7, adopted 10/8/91; 1957 Code, sec. 18-59)
Editor’s note–Former section 12-3-83 pertaining to the responsibility of the vehicle owner for illegal parking and deriving from the 1957 Code, sec. 18-60 and section 7 of Ordinance 91-72 adopted on October 8, 1991 has been deleted by section 27 of Ordinance 2008-37 adopted by the city on September 9, 2008.
In the event any vehicle shall be found standing or parked in or upon any regularly designated parking meter space, in a limited parking time zone, or in or upon any street, avenue, alley, sidewalk, thoroughfare or public place within the city limits, in violation of and contrary to any provision of this chapter or other rules, regulations and ordinances of the city, the same shall be a nuisance and may be removed by direction of any police officer and taken to a place of impoundment, and there kept until application for its redemption shall be made by the owner or his duly authorized agent. Such impoundment shall be in addition to any other penalty provided by this code. If the vehicle is to be impounded for a violation of any parking offense, five (5) or more citations must be unresolved on the vehicle within a twelve-month period before impounding is allowed unless an emergency is present. An unresolved parking citation occurs when a citation is issued under section 12-3-81 and the owner does not respond within ten (10) days as required in that section. A certified notice, return receipt requested, shall be sent to the owner ten (10) days before the impounding.
(Ordinance 91-72, sec. 7, adopted 10/8/91; 1957 Code, sec. 18-62)
When a vehicle is impounded under the provisions of section 12-3-84, at any time prior to its sale as an abandoned vehicle, the owner or his duly authorized agent shall be entitled to the possession thereof upon the payment of five dollars ($5.00) to the city, for the cost of the administration of this section, together with all other costs of removal and storage that may have accrued thereon, plus any fines or costs owed to the city for parking violations, unless the owner posts a bond under the requirements of section 12-3-88. If the owner posts a bond, the vehicle shall be released.
(Ordinance 91-72, sec. 7, adopted 10/8/91; 1957 Code, sec. 18-63)
After the vehicle has been impounded under section 12-3-84, a notice shall be prepared and sent certified mail by the municipal court to the owner within forty-eight (48) hours of the impounding of the vehicle. The notice shall specify the procedures for redeeming an impounded vehicle, including the name, address and telephone number of the person to be contacted, the bonding procedure and the right to a hearing.
(Ordinance 91-72, sec. 7, adopted 10/8/91; 1957 Code, sec. 18-64)
After the impounding of a vehicle, the owner shall have the right to a hearing before a municipal court judge to contest the underlying parking violation, to contest the circumstances surrounding the impounding of the vehicle, or to present any other defense he or she might have to the actions taken. An expedited hearing shall be held within forty-eight (48) hours of the impounding or the next municipal court working day after the impounding, whichever is the greater time, if the owner requests such an expedited hearing in writing.
(Ordinance 91-72, sec. 7, adopted 10/8/91; 1957 Code, sec. 18-65)
The owner of a vehicle which is impounded may secure release of the vehicle pending the hearing by making an appearance on the unresolved citations and posting a bond in the amount of the fines, court costs, administrative fees, towing fees and storage fees owed. If the municipal court is closed so that the owner cannot make an appearance, the owner may post the bond and obtain release of the vehicle without an appearance. If the owner cannot afford the bond for his vehicle, he shall be allowed a hearing within twenty-four (24) hours of his request for a hearing or the next municipal court working day after his request, whichever is the greater time. At this hearing, if the owner is found not guilty of the traffic offenses, or the court otherwise finds that the vehicle should not be impounded, the court shall order the vehicle released without the payment of any fees. If the owner posts a bond and fails to appear at any hearing scheduled to contest the impounding of the vehicle or the underlying traffic violation, the bond shall be forfeited.
(Ordinance 91-72, sec. 7, adopted 10/8/91; 1957 Code, sec. 18-66)
If an impounded vehicle is not redeemed within twenty (20) days from the date that notice is given to the vehicle’s owner and lienholders of record, such vehicle is declared to be abandoned.
(Ordinance 91-72, sec. 7, adopted 10/8/91; 1957 Code, sec. 18-67)
In the event that any impounded vehicle shall be abandoned and shall not be redeemed by its owner, it shall be sold at public auction. Such sale shall take place after at least twenty-one (21) days have elapsed from the date that notice was provided to the owner and any lienholders of record, pursuant to V.T.C.A., Transportation Code, chapter 683 and V.T.C.A., Transportation Code, chapter 501. Proceeds from the sale shall be used to pay the penalties, charges and costs incurred in impounding the vehicle and administering this section.
(Ordinance 91-72, sec. 7, adopted 10/8/91; 1957 Code, sec. 18-68)