After holding an abandoned motor vehicle for 30 days after the day the vehicle is removed, the county may sell or dispose of it as follows:
(A) If the vehicle appears to be worth less than $500, the county may dispose of the vehicle as a junked motor vehicle, as provided hereby. With the consent of the owner, the county may remove and dispose of a motor vehicle as a junked motor vehicle without regard to the value, condition or age of the vehicle and without holding it for any prescribed period of time.
(B) If the vehicle appears to be worth $500 or more, it shall be sold at public auction. The county shall give 20 days written notice of the sale to the registered owner at his or her last known address, to each holder of a lien of record against the vehicle and to the State Division of Motor Vehicles. Any person having an interest in the vehicle may redeem it at any time before the sale by paying all costs accrued to date. The proceeds of the sale shall be paid to the Finance Officer of the county, who shall pay to the appropriate officers or persons the cost of removal, storage, investigation, sale and liens in that order. The remainder of the proceeds of sale, if any, shall be paid over to the registered owner, or held by the county for 60 days if the registered owner cannot be located with reasonable diligence.
(C) If the owner does not claim the remainder of the proceeds within 60 days after the day of the sale, the funds shall be deposited in the county's General Fund and the owner's rights in the vehicle are extinguished. When it receives the county's bill of sale from a purchaser or other person entitled to receive a vehicle disposed of as provided in this section, the State Division of Motor Vehicles shall issue a certificate of title for the vehicle as required by law.
(Ord. passed 7-1-87; Am. Ord. 2009-03-01, passed 3-2-09)