55-16-103 - Definitions.
55-16-103. Definitions.
As used in this section and §§ 55-16-104 55-16-109:
(1) Abandoned motor vehicle means a motor vehicle that:
(A) Is over four (4) years old and is left unattended on public property for more than ten (10) days;
(B) Is in an obvious state of disrepair and is left unattended on public property for more than three (3) days;
(C) Has remained illegally on public property for a period of more than forty-eight (48) hours;
(D) Has remained on private property without the consent of the owner or person in control of the property for more than forty-eight (48) hours; or
(E) Has been stored, parked or left in a garage, trailer park, or any type of storage or parking lot for more than thirty (30) consecutive days;
(2) Demolisher means any person whose business is to convert a motor vehicle into processed scrap or scrap metal, or otherwise to wreck or dismantle motor vehicles;
(3) Immobile motor vehicle means any motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, or combination or part of a motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer that is immobilized and incapable of moving under its own power due to an accident, mechanical breakdown, weather conditions or other emergency situation;
(4) Obvious state of disrepair means a motor vehicle exhibiting one (1) or more of the following characteristics: inoperable under its own power, without one (1) or more wheels or inflated tires, burned throughout, or with more than one (1) broken window;
(5) Police department means the Tennessee highway patrol, the sheriff's department of any county, or the police department of any city or town. In any county with a population of four hundred thousand (400,000) or more, according to the 1980 federal census or any subsequent federal census, with a metropolitan form of government, police department also means any department, board or commission designated by the legislative body of the metropolitan government to perform the duties of a police department specified in this chapter;
(6) Possession, as used in § 55-16-108(e), shall be construed to mean either physical possession or constructive possession by a unit of government. Physical possession means seizure and physical custody by a unit of government. Constructive possession shall be determined by the power and intent of a unit of government to control; and
(7) Unattended motor vehicle means any motor vehicle, semitrailer, or combination or part of a motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer, that is on public or private property, unattended by the owner or authorized driver, and interferes with or impedes the orderly flow of traffic, or a motor vehicle that is unattended by reason of the arrest of the driver of the motor vehicle.
[Acts 1967, ch. 250, § 1; T.C.A., § 59-1603; Acts 1989, ch. 185, § 1; 1994, ch. 635, §§ 1, 2; 1996, ch. 868, §§ 2, 3; 1998, ch. 760, § 3; 1999, ch. 302, § 1; 2002, ch. 736, §§ 1, 2.]