HOUSE BILL NO. 1248 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE SIMMONS.
2035H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT To repeal section 304.155, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to abandoned property.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 304.155, RSMo, is repealed and one new section enacted in lieu 2 thereof, to be known as section 304.155, to read as follows: 304.155. 1. Any law enforcement officer within the officer's jurisdiction, or an 2 officer of a government agency where that agency's real property is concerned, may authorize 3 a towing company to remove to a place of safety: 4 (1) Any abandoned property on the right-of-way of: 5 (a) Any interstate highway or freeway in an urbanized area, left unattended for ten 6 hours, or immediately if a law enforcement officer determines that the abandoned property is 7 a serious hazard to other motorists, provided that commercial motor vehicles not hauling 8 materials designated as hazardous under 49 U.S.C. 5103(a) may only be removed under this 9 subdivision to a place of safety until the owner or owner's representative has had a reasonable 10 opportunity to contact a towing company of choice; 11 (b) Any interstate highway or freeway outside of an urbanized area, left unattended 12 for twenty-four hours, or after four hours if a law enforcement officer determines that the 13 abandoned property is a serious hazard to other motorists, provided that commercial motor 14 vehicles not hauling materials designated as hazardous under 49 U.S.C. 5103(a) may only be 15 removed under this subdivision to a place of safety until the owner or owner's representative 16 has had a reasonable opportunity to contact a towing company of choice;
EXPLANATION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is intended to be omitted from the law. Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language. HB 1248 2
17 (c) Any state highway other than an interstate highway or freeway in an urbanized 18 area, left unattended for more than ten hours; or 19 (d) Any state highway other than an interstate highway or freeway outside of an 20 urbanized area, left unattended for more than twenty-four hours; provided that commercial 21 motor vehicles not hauling waste designated as hazardous under 49 U.S.C. 5103(a) may only 22 be removed under this subdivision to a place of safety until the owner or owner's 23 representative has had a reasonable opportunity to contact a towing company of choice; 24 (2) Any unattended abandoned property illegally left standing upon any highway or 25 bridge if the abandoned property is left in a position or under such circumstances as to 26 obstruct the normal movement of traffic where there is no reasonable indication that the 27 person in control of the property is arranging for its immediate control or removal; 28 (3) Any abandoned property which has been abandoned under section 577.080; 29 (4) Any abandoned property which has been reported as stolen or taken without 30 consent of the owner; 31 (5) Any abandoned property for which the person operating such property is arrested 32 for an alleged offense for which the officer takes the person into custody and where such 33 person is unable to arrange for the property's timely removal; 34 (6) Any abandoned property which due to any other state law or local ordinance is 35 subject to towing because of the owner's outstanding traffic or parking violations; 36 (7) Any abandoned property left unattended in violation of a state law or local 37 ordinance where signs have been posted giving notice of the law or where the violation causes 38 a safety hazard; 39 (8) Any abandoned property illegally left standing on the waters of this state as 40 defined in section 306.010 where the abandoned property is obstructing the normal movement 41 of traffic, or where the abandoned property has been unattended for more than ten hours or is 42 floating loose on the water; or 43 (9) Any abandoned property for which the person operating such property or vehicle 44 eludes arrest for an alleged offense for which the officer would have taken the offender into 45 custody. 46 2. The department of transportation or any law enforcement officer within the 47 officer's jurisdiction may immediately remove any abandoned, unattended, wrecked, burned 48 or partially dismantled property, spilled cargo or other personal property from the right-of- 49 way of any interstate highway, freeway, or state highway if the abandoned property, cargo or 50 personal property is creating a traffic hazard because of its position in relation to the interstate 51 highway, freeway, or state highway. In the event the property creating a traffic hazard is a 52 commercial motor vehicle, as defined in section 302.700, the department's authority under 53 this subsection shall be limited to authorizing a towing company to remove the commercial HB 1248 3
54 motor vehicle to a place of safety, except that the owner of the commercial motor vehicle or 55 the owner's designated representative shall have a reasonable opportunity to contact a towing 56 company of choice. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to vehicles transporting 57 any material which has been designated as hazardous under Section 5103(a) of Title 49, 58 U.S.C. 59 3. Any law enforcement agency authorizing a tow pursuant to this section in which 60 the abandoned property is moved from the immediate vicinity shall complete a crime inquiry 61 and inspection report. Any state or federal government agency other than a law enforcement 62 agency authorizing a tow pursuant to this section in which the abandoned property is moved 63 away from the immediate vicinity in which it was abandoned shall report the towing to the 64 state highway patrol or water patrol within two hours of the tow along with a crime inquiry 65 and inspection report as required in this section. Any local government agency, other than a 66 law enforcement agency, authorizing a tow pursuant to this section where property is towed 67 away from the immediate vicinity shall report the tow to the local law enforcement agency 68 within two hours along with a crime inquiry and inspection report. 69 4. Neither the law enforcement officer, government agency official nor anyone 70 having custody of abandoned property under his direction shall be liable for any damage to 71 such abandoned property occasioned by a removal authorized by this section or by ordinance 72 of a county or municipality licensing and regulating the sale of abandoned property by the 73 municipality, other than damages occasioned by negligence or by willful or wanton acts or 74 omissions. 75 5. The owner of abandoned property removed as provided in this section or in section 76 304.157 shall be responsible for payment of all reasonable charges for towing and storage of 77 such abandoned property as provided in section 304.158. 78 6. Upon the towing of any abandoned property pursuant to this section or under 79 authority of a law enforcement officer or local government agency pursuant to section 80 304.157, the law enforcement agency that authorized such towing or was properly notified by 81 another government agency of such towing shall promptly make an inquiry with the national 82 crime information center and any statewide Missouri law enforcement computer system to 83 determine if the abandoned property has been reported as stolen and shall enter the 84 information pertaining to the towed property into the statewide law enforcement computer 85 system. If the abandoned property is not claimed within ten working days of the towing, the 86 tower who has online access to the department of revenue's records shall make an inquiry to 87 determine the abandoned property owner and lienholder, if any, of record. In the event that 88 the records of the department of revenue fail to disclose the name of the owner or any 89 lienholder of record, the tower shall comply with the requirements of subsection 3 of section 90 304.156. If the tower does not have online access, the law enforcement agency shall submit a HB 1248 4
91 crime inquiry and inspection report to the director of revenue. A towing company that does 92 not have online access to the department's records and that is in possession of abandoned 93 property after ten working days shall report such fact to the law enforcement agency with 94 which the crime inquiry and inspection report was filed. The crime inquiry and inspection 95 report shall be designed by the director of revenue and shall include the following: 96 (1) The year, model, make and property identification number of the property and the 97 owner and any lienholders, if known; 98 (2) A description of any damage to the property noted by the officer authorizing the 99 tow; 100 (3) The license plate or registration number and the state of issuance, if available; 101 (4) The storage location of the towed property; 102 (5) The name, telephone number and address of the towing company; 103 (6) The date, place and reason for the towing of the abandoned property; 104 (7) The date of the inquiry of the national crime information center, any statewide 105 Missouri law enforcement computer system and any other similar system which has titling 106 and registration information to determine if the abandoned property had been stolen. This 107 information shall be entered only by the law enforcement agency making the inquiry; 108 (8) The signature and printed name of the officer authorizing the tow; 109 (9) The name of the towing company, the signature and printed name of the towing 110 operator, and an indicator disclosing whether the tower has online access to the department's 111 records; and 112 (10) Any additional information the director of revenue deems appropriate. 113 7. One copy of the crime inquiry and inspection report shall remain with the agency 114 which authorized the tow. One copy shall be provided to and retained by the storage facility 115 and one copy shall be retained by the towing facility in an accessible format in the business 116 records for a period of three years from the date of the tow or removal. 117 8. The owner of such abandoned property, or the holder of a valid security interest of 118 record, may reclaim it from the towing company upon proof of ownership or valid security 119 interest of record and payment of all reasonable charges for the towing and storage of the 120 abandoned property. 121 9. Any person who removes abandoned property at the direction of a law enforcement 122 officer or an officer of a government agency where that agency's real property is concerned as 123 provided in this section shall have a lien for all reasonable charges for the towing and storage 124 of the abandoned property until possession of the abandoned property is voluntarily 125 relinquished to the owner of the abandoned property or to the holder of a valid security 126 interest of record. Such lien shall be enforced in the manner provided under section 127 304.156. HB 1248 5
128 10. Any personal property within [the] abandoned property [need not] removed as 129 provided in this section or in section 304.157 shall be released to the owner thereof [until 130 the reasonable or agreed charges for such recovery, transportation or safekeeping have been 131 paid or satisfactory arrangements for payment have been made, except that] including, but 132 not limited to, any medication prescribed by a physician [shall be released to the owner 133 thereof upon request]. The company holding or storing the abandoned property shall [either] 134 release the personal property to the owner of the abandoned property [or allow the owner to 135 inspect the property and] when requested. However, the company holding or storing the 136 abandoned property may require that the owner of the abandoned property complete 137 documentation evidencing the release of the personal property to such owner and shall 138 provide an itemized receipt for the contents. The company holding or storing the property 139 shall be strictly liable for the condition and safe return of the personal property[. Such lien 140 shall be enforced in the manner provided under section 304.156] while it remains in their 141 possession or control. 142 [10.] 11. Towing companies shall keep a record for three years on any abandoned 143 property towed and not reclaimed by the owner of the abandoned property. Such record shall 144 contain information regarding the authorization to tow, copies of all correspondence with the 145 department of revenue concerning the abandoned property, including copies of any online 146 records of the towing company accessed and information concerning the final disposition of 147 the possession of the abandoned property. 148 [11.] 12. If a lienholder repossesses any motor vehicle, trailer, all-terrain vehicle, 149 outboard motor or vessel without the knowledge or cooperation of the owner, then the 150 repossessor shall notify the local law enforcement agency where the repossession occurred 151 within two hours of the repossession and shall further provide the local law enforcement 152 agency with any additional information the agency deems appropriate. The local law 153 enforcement agency shall make an inquiry with the national crime information center and the 154 Missouri statewide law enforcement computer system and shall enter the repossessed vehicle 155 into the statewide law enforcement computer system. 156 [12.] 13. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 301.227, any towing company 157 who has complied with the notification provisions in section 304.156 including notice that 158 any property remaining unredeemed after thirty days may be sold as scrap property may then 159 dispose of such property as provided in this subsection. Such sale shall only occur if at least 160 thirty days has passed since the date of such notification, the abandoned property remains 161 unredeemed with no satisfactory arrangements made with the towing company for continued 162 storage, and the owner or holder of a security agreement has not requested a hearing as 163 provided in section 304.156. The towing company may dispose of such abandoned property 164 by selling the property on a bill of sale as prescribed by the director of revenue to a scrap HB 1248 6
165 metal operator or licensed salvage dealer for destruction purposes only. The towing company 166 shall forward a copy of the bill of sale provided by the scrap metal operator or licensed 167 salvage dealer to the director of revenue within two weeks of the date of such sale. The 168 towing company shall keep a record of each such vehicle sold for destruction for three years 169 that shall be available for inspection by law enforcement and authorized department of 170 revenue officials. The record shall contain the year, make, identification number of the 171 property, date of sale, and name of the purchasing scrap metal operator or licensed salvage 172 dealer and copies of all notifications issued by the towing company as required in this chapter. 173 Scrap metal operators or licensed salvage dealers shall keep a record of the purchase of such 174 property as provided in section 301.227. Scrap metal operators and licensed salvage dealers 175 may obtain a junk certificate as provided in section 301.227 on vehicles purchased on a bill of 176 sale pursuant to this section. ✔
Statutes affected: