(a) 
The police department may take into custody an abandoned motor vehicle found on public or private property.
(b) 
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 it takes into custody.
(1987 Code, sec. 16-217)
(a) 
The police department, upon taking into custody an abandoned motor vehicle, shall notify, not later than the tenth day after taking the motor vehicle into custody, by certified mail, the last known registered owner of the motor vehicle and all lienholders of record pursuant to the certificate of title law, chapter 501 of the Texas Transportation Code, or chapter 31, Texas 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, and 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 section 8.04.034 of this article. 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 notice by certified mail, and shall have the same contents required for a notice by certified mail.
(c) 
The consequences and effect of failure to reclaim an abandoned motor vehicle are as set forth in a valid notice given under this section.
(d) 
The police department or an agent of the police department, upon taking custody of an abandoned motor vehicle, is entitled to reasonable storage fees for:
(1) 
A period of not more than ten (10) days beginning on the day the department takes custody and continuing through the day the department mails notice as provided by this section; and
(2) 
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.
(1987 Code, sec. 16-218)
If an abandoned motor vehicle has not been reclaimed as provided by section 8.04.032 of this article, the police department shall sell the abandoned motor vehicle at a public auction. Proper notice of the public auction shall be given, and, in the case of a garagekeeper’s lien, the garagekeeper shall be notified of the time and place of the auction. 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 proceeds of the sale of an abandoned motor vehicle, the police department shall reimburse itself for the expenses of the auction, the costs of towing, preserving, and storing the vehicle that resulted from placing the abandoned motor vehicle in custody, and all notice and publication costs incurred under section 8.04.032 of this article. Any remainder from the proceeds of a sale shall be held for the owner of the vehicle or entitled lienholder for ninety (90) days and then shall be deposited in a special fund that shall remain available for the payment of auction, towing, preserving, storage, and all notice and publication costs that result from placing another abandoned vehicle in custody, if the proceeds from a sale of another abandoned motor vehicle are insufficient to meet these expenses and costs.
(1987 Code, sec. 16-219)
(a) 
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 lienholder of record, under chapter 501 of the Texas Transportation Code, to pick up the vehicle, or for more than ten (10) days after a period when under a contract the vehicle was to remain on the premises of the storage facility, or a motor vehicle left for more than ten (10) days in a storage facility by someone other than the registered owner or by a person authorized to have possession of the motor vehicle under a contract of use, service, storage, or repair, is considered an abandoned vehicle, and shall be reported by the garagekeeper to the police department. If the notice to the owner or a lienholder is returned by the post office unclaimed, notice by one (1) publication in one (1) newspaper of general circulation in the area in which the vehicle was left in storage is sufficient notice.
(b) 
If a garagekeeper or storage facility acquires possession of a motor vehicle for a purpose other than repair, the garagekeeper or storage facility is entitled to towing, preservation, and notification charges and to reasonable storage fees, in addition to storage fees earned pursuant to contract, for a maximum of ten (10) days only until notification is mailed to the last known registered owner and all lienholders of record as provided by subsection (a) of this section. After such notice is mailed, storage fees may continue until the vehicle is removed and all accrued charges are paid. A garagekeeper who fails to report the possession of an abandoned vehicle to the police department within ten (10) days after it becomes abandoned may no longer claim reimbursement for storage of the vehicle.
(c) 
The police department, upon receipt of a report from a garagekeeper of the possession of a vehicle considered abandoned under the provisions of this section, shall follow the notification procedures provided by section 8.04.032 of this article, except that custody of the vehicle shall remain with the garagekeeper until after compliance with the notification requirements. A fee of ten dollars ($10.00) shall accompany the report of the garagekeeper to the police department. Such fee shall be retained by the police department receiving the report and used to defray the cost of notification or other cost incurred in the disposition of an abandoned motor vehicle.
(d) 
An abandoned vehicle left in a storage facility and not reclaimed after notice is sent in the manner provided by section 8.04.032 of this article shall be taken into custody by the police department and sold in the manner provided by section 8.04.033 of this article. The proceeds of a sale under this section shall first be applied to the garagekeeper’s charges for servicing, storage, and repair, but as compensation for the expense incurred by the police department in placing the vehicle in custody and the expense of auction, the police department shall retain two (2) percent of the gross proceeds of the sale of each vehicle auctioned, unless the gross proceeds are less than ten dollars ($10.00). If the gross proceeds are less than ten dollars ($10.00), the department shall retain the ten dollars ($10.00) to defray expenses of custody and auction. Surplus proceeds remaining from an auction shall be distributed in accordance with section 8.04.033 of this article.
(e) 
Except for the termination or limitation of a claim for storage for failure to report an abandoned motor vehicle, nothing in this section may be construed to impair any lien of a garagekeeper under the laws of this state.
(f) 
Fees levied under this section may be altered pursuant to section 1.02.004 of this code.
(g) 
A person charging fees under subsection (b) of this section commits an offense if the person charges a storage fee for a period of time not authorized by subsection (b). An offense under this subsection is punishable by a fine of not less than two hundred dollars ($200.00) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00).
(1987 Code, sec. 16-220)
(a) 
A person 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. Nothing in this section may be construed as being in conflict with the provisions of sections 8.04.062 and 8.04.063 of this article. The application, except one submitted by a unit of government, shall be accompanied by a fee of two dollars ($2.00) that shall be deposited in the state highway fund.
(b) 
The application must set out the name and address of the applicant, and the year, make, model, and vehicle identification number of the motor vehicle, if ascertainable, together with any other identifying features, and must contain a concise statement of the facts surrounding the abandonment, a statement that the title of the motor vehicle is lost or destroyed, or a statement of the reasons for the defect of title in the owner. The applicant shall execute an affidavit stating that the facts alleged in the application are true and that no material fact has been withheld.
(c) 
If the state department of transportation finds that the application is executed in proper form and shows that the motor vehicle has been abandoned on the property of the applicant or that the motor vehicle is not abandoned but that the applicant appears to be the rightful owner, the department shall follow the notification procedures as provided in section 8.04.032 of this article.
(d) 
If an abandoned motor vehicle is not reclaimed in accordance with section 8.04.032 of this article, the state department of transportation, on notification of that fact by the applicant, shall issue the applicant a certificate of authority to sell the motor vehicle to a demolisher for demolition, wrecking, or dismantling. A demolisher shall accept the certificate in lieu of the certificate of title to the motor vehicle.
(e) 
The state department of transportation may issue the applicant a certificate of authority to dispose of the motor vehicle to a demolisher without following the notification procedures of section 8.04.032 of this article if the motor vehicle is more than eight (8) years old and has no engine or is otherwise totally inoperable.
(f) 
A person in possession of an abandoned vehicle that was authorized to be towed in by a police department and that is more than eight (8) years old and has no engine or is otherwise totally inoperable may, on affidavit of that fact and approval of the police department, apply to the state department of transportation for a certificate of authority to dispose of the vehicle to a demolisher for demolition, wrecking, or dismantling only.
(g) 
The state department of transportation may adopt rules and prescribe forms that are necessary to carry out the provisions of this section.
(1987 Code, sec. 16-221)