304.155. Abandoned motor vehicles on public property, removal--hazards on land and water, removal, limited liability, when--towing of property report to highway or water patrol or crime inquiry and in
Abandoned motor vehicles on public property, removal--hazards on landand water, removal, limited liability, when--towing of propertyreport to highway or water patrol or crime inquiry and inspectionreport when, owner liable for costs--check for stolen vehiclesprocedure--reclaiming vehicle--lien for charges--recordmaintenance by towing companies--lienholder repossession,procedure.
304.155. 1. Any law enforcement officer within the officer'sjurisdiction, or an officer of a government agency where that agency's realproperty is concerned, may authorize a towing company to remove to a placeof safety:
(1) Any abandoned property on the right-of-way of:
(a) Any interstate highway or freeway in an urbanized area, leftunattended for ten hours, or immediately if a law enforcement officerdetermines that the abandoned property is a serious hazard to othermotorists, provided that commercial motor vehicles not hauling materialsdesignated as hazardous under 49 U.S.C. 5103(a) may only be removed underthis subdivision to a place of safety until the owner or owner'srepresentative has had a reasonable opportunity to contact a towing companyof choice;
(b) Any interstate highway or freeway outside of an urbanized area,left unattended for twenty-four hours, or after four hours if a lawenforcement officer determines that the abandoned property is a serioushazard to other motorists, provided that commercial motor vehicles nothauling materials designated as hazardous under 49 U.S.C. 5103(a) may onlybe removed under this subdivision to a place of safety until the owner orowner's representative has had a reasonable opportunity to contact a towingcompany of choice;
(c) Any state highway other than an interstate highway or freeway inan urbanized area, left unattended for more than ten hours; or
(d) Any state highway other than an interstate highway or freewayoutside of an urbanized area, left unattended for more than twenty-fourhours; provided that commercial motor vehicles not hauling waste designatedas hazardous under 49 U.S.C. 5103(a) may only be removed under thissubdivision to a place of safety until the owner or owner's representativehas had a reasonable opportunity to contact a towing company of choice;
(2) Any unattended abandoned property illegally left standing uponany highway or bridge if the abandoned property is left in a position orunder such circumstances as to obstruct the normal movement of trafficwhere there is no reasonable indication that the person in control of theproperty is arranging for its immediate control or removal;
(3) Any abandoned property which has been abandoned under section577.080, RSMo;
(4) Any abandoned property which has been reported as stolen or takenwithout consent of the owner;
(5) Any abandoned property for which the person operating suchproperty is arrested for an alleged offense for which the officer takes theperson into custody and where such person is unable to arrange for theproperty's timely removal;
(6) Any abandoned property which due to any other state law or localordinance is subject to towing because of the owner's outstanding trafficor parking violations;
(7) Any abandoned property left unattended in violation of a statelaw or local ordinance where signs have been posted giving notice of thelaw or where the violation causes a safety hazard;
(8) Any abandoned property illegally left standing on the waters ofthis state as defined in section 306.010, RSMo, where the abandonedproperty is obstructing the normal movement of traffic, or where theabandoned property has been unattended for more than ten hours or isfloating loose on the water; or
(9) Any abandoned property for which the person operating suchproperty or vehicle eludes arrest for an alleged offense for which theofficer would have taken the offender into custody.
2. The department of transportation or any law enforcement officerwithin the officer's jurisdiction may immediately remove any abandoned,unattended, wrecked, burned or partially dismantled property, spilled cargoor other personal property from the right-of-way of any interstate highway,freeway, or state highway if the abandoned property, cargo or personalproperty is creating a traffic hazard because of its position in relationto the interstate highway, freeway, or state highway. In the event theproperty creating a traffic hazard is a commercial motor vehicle, asdefined in section 302.700, RSMo, the department's authority under thissubsection shall be limited to authorizing a towing company to remove thecommercial motor vehicle to a place of safety, except that the owner of thecommercial motor vehicle or the owner's designated representative shallhave a reasonable opportunity to contact a towing company of choice. Theprovisions of this subsection shall not apply to vehicles transporting anymaterial which has been designated as hazardous under Section 5103(a) ofTitle 49, U.S.C.
3. Any law enforcement agency authorizing a tow pursuant to thissection in which the abandoned property is moved from the immediatevicinity shall complete a crime inquiry and inspection report. Any stateor federal government agency other than a law enforcement agencyauthorizing a tow pursuant to this section in which the abandoned propertyis moved away from the immediate vicinity in which it was abandoned shallreport the towing to the state highway patrol or water patrol within twohours of the tow along with a crime inquiry and inspection report asrequired in this section. Any local government agency, other than a lawenforcement agency, authorizing a tow pursuant to this section whereproperty is towed away from the immediate vicinity shall report the tow tothe local law enforcement agency within two hours along with a crimeinquiry and inspection report.
4. Neither the law enforcement officer, government agency officialnor anyone having custody of abandoned property under his direction shallbe liable for any damage to such abandoned property occasioned by a removalauthorized by this section or by ordinance of a county or municipalitylicensing and regulating the sale of abandoned property by themunicipality, other than damages occasioned by negligence or by willful orwanton acts or omissions.
5. The owner of abandoned property removed as provided in thissection or in section 304.157 shall be responsible for payment of allreasonable charges for towing and storage of such abandoned property asprovided in section 304.158.
6. Upon the towing of any abandoned property pursuant to this sectionor under authority of a law enforcement officer or local government agencypursuant to section 304.157, the law enforcement agency that authorizedsuch towing or was properly notified by another government agency of suchtowing shall promptly make an inquiry with the national crime informationcenter and any statewide Missouri law enforcement computer system todetermine if the abandoned property has been reported as stolen and shallenter the information pertaining to the towed property into the statewidelaw enforcement computer system. If the abandoned property is not claimedwithin ten working days of the towing, the tower who has on-line access tothe department of revenue's records shall make an inquiry to determine theabandoned property owner and lienholder, if any, of record. In the eventthat the records of the department of revenue fail to disclose the name ofthe owner or any lienholder of record, the tower shall comply with therequirements of subsection 3 of section 304.156. If the tower does nothave on-line access, the law enforcement agency shall submit a crimeinquiry and inspection report to the director of revenue. A towing companythat does not have on-line access to the department's records and that isin possession of abandoned property after ten working days shall reportsuch fact to the law enforcement agency with which the crime inquiry andinspection report was filed. The crime inquiry and inspection report shallbe designed by the director of revenue and shall include the following:
(1) The year, model, make and property identification number of theproperty and the owner and any lienholders, if known;
(2) A description of any damage to the property noted by the officerauthorizing the tow;
(3) The license plate or registration number and the state ofissuance, if available;
(4) The storage location of the towed property;
(5) The name, telephone number and address of the towing company;
(6) The date, place and reason for the towing of the abandonedproperty;
(7) The date of the inquiry of the national crime information center,any statewide Missouri law enforcement computer system and any othersimilar system which has titling and registration information to determineif the abandoned property had been stolen. This information shall beentered only by the law enforcement agency making the inquiry;
(8) The signature and printed name of the officer authorizing thetow;
(9) The name of the towing company, the signature and printed name ofthe towing operator, and an indicator disclosing whether the tower hason-line access to the department's records; and
(10) Any additional information the director of revenue deemsappropriate.
7. One copy of the crime inquiry and inspection report shall remainwith the agency which authorized the tow. One copy shall be provided toand retained by the storage facility and one copy shall be retained by thetowing facility in an accessible format in the business records for aperiod of three years from the date of the tow or removal.
8. The owner of such abandoned property, or the holder of a validsecurity interest of record, may reclaim it from the towing company uponproof of ownership or valid security interest of record and payment of allreasonable charges for the towing and storage of the abandoned property.
9. Any person who removes abandoned property at the direction of alaw enforcement officer or an officer of a government agency where thatagency's real property is concerned as provided in this section shall havea lien for all reasonable charges for the towing and storage of theabandoned property until possession of the abandoned property isvoluntarily relinquished to the owner of the abandoned property or to theholder of a valid security interest of record. Any personal propertywithin the abandoned property need not be released to the owner thereofuntil the reasonable or agreed charges for such recovery, transportation orsafekeeping have been paid or satisfactory arrangements for payment havebeen made, except that any medication prescribed by a physician shall bereleased to the owner thereof upon request. The company holding or storingthe abandoned property shall either release the personal property to theowner of the abandoned property or allow the owner to inspect the propertyand provide an itemized receipt for the contents. The company holding orstoring the property shall be strictly liable for the condition and safereturn of the personal property. Such lien shall be enforced in the mannerprovided under section 304.156.
10. Towing companies shall keep a record for three years on anyabandoned property towed and not reclaimed by the owner of the abandonedproperty. Such record shall contain information regarding theauthorization to tow, copies of all correspondence with the department ofrevenue concerning the abandoned property, including copies of any onlinerecords of the towing company accessed and information concerning the finaldisposition of the possession of the abandoned property.
11. If a lienholder repossesses any motor vehicle, trailer,all-terrain vehicle, outboard motor or vessel without the knowledge orcooperation of the owner, then the repossessor shall notify the local lawenforcement agency where the repossession occurred within two hours of therepossession and shall further provide the local law enforcement agencywith any additional information the agency deems appropriate. The locallaw enforcement agency shall make an inquiry with the national crimeinformation center and the Missouri statewide law enforcement computersystem and shall enter the repossessed vehicle into the statewide lawenforcement computer system.
12. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 301.227, RSMo, anytowing company who has complied with the notification provisions in section304.156 including notice that any property remaining unredeemed afterthirty days may be sold as scrap property may then dispose of such propertyas provided in this subsection. Such sale shall only occur if at leastthirty days has passed since the date of such notification, the abandonedproperty remains unredeemed with no satisfactory arrangements made with thetowing company for continued storage, and the owner or holder of a securityagreement has not requested a hearing as provided in section 304.156. Thetowing company may dispose of such abandoned property by selling theproperty on a bill of sale as prescribed by the director of revenue to ascrap metal operator or licensed salvage dealer for destruction purposesonly. The towing company shall forward a copy of the bill of sale providedby the scrap metal operator or licensed salvage dealer to the director ofrevenue within two weeks of the date of such sale. The towing companyshall keep a record of each such vehicle sold for destruction for threeyears that shall be available for inspection by law enforcement andauthorized department of revenue officials. The record shall contain theyear, make, identification number of the property, date of sale, and nameof the purchasing scrap metal operator or licensed salvage dealer andcopies of all notifications issued by the towing company as required inthis chapter. Scrap metal operators or licensed salvage dealers shall keepa record of the purchase of such property as provided in section 301.227,RSMo. Scrap metal operators and licensed salvage dealers may obtain a junkcertificate as provided in section 301.227, RSMo, on vehicles purchased ona bill of sale pursuant to this section.
(L. 1965 p. 487 §§ 1 to 3, A.L. 1982 S.B. 665, A.L. 1985 H.B. 288, et al., A.L. 1987 S.B. 290, A.L. 1988 H.B. 1581, A.L. 1992 H.B. 1794, A.L. 1996 S.B. 560, A.L. 1997 H.B. 257, A.L. 1999 S.B. 19, A.L. 2004 S.B. 1233, et al., A.L. 2005 H.B. 487, A.L. 2009 H.B. 683)CROSS REFERENCE:
Removal of abandoned motor vehicles from roadways pursuant to section 304.155 moved to shoulder or berm, limitations on department employees, RSMo 226.1115