(A) General provisions.
(1) The Police Department and all members thereof assigned to traffic duty are hereby authorized to remove and tow away, or have removed and towed away by commercial towing service, any car, boat, trailer or other vehicle illegally parked in any place where such parked vehicle creates or constitutes a traffic hazard, blocks the use of a fire hydrant or obstructs or may obstruct the movement of any emergency vehicle, or any vehicle which has been parked in any public street or other public place for a period of 24 hours.
(2) Vehicles towed away shall be stored on any city property or in a public garage or parking lot and shall be restored to the owner or operator thereof after payment of the expense incurred by the city in removing and storing such vehicle(s).
(B) Establishment of impounding yard for vehicles.
(1) Definitions. For the purpose of this subchapter, the following words and phrases shall have the following meanings ascribed to them respectively.
BUSINESS DAY. Any day in which the offices of City Hall are open to the public for normal business.
MOTOR VEHICLE. Every vehicle which is self-propelled, including, but not limited to, automobiles, trucks, vans, motorcycles and motor scooters.
OWNER OF RECORD/INTERESTED PERSON. The recorded title holder(s) or lien holder(s) of the motor vehicle as registered with the Secretary of State, State of Illinois, or is not registered in the state, the particular state where the motor vehicle is registered.
(2) Motor vehicle impoundment yard. The city shall establish and equip a motor vehicle impoundment yard with adequate security and surveillance capacities to store and protect any vehicles impounded by the city police or others who wish to use the facility.
(3) Motor vehicle impoundment. Pursuant to any part of the state statutes that permits or requires vehicle impoundment, the City Police Department shall cause any impounded vehicle to be taken to the city’s impoundment yard for impoundment and storage prior to the release of the vehicle. The fees imposed herein by the city shall be uniform for all similarly situated vehicles and are in addition to any other penalties or fees that may be assessed by a court of law for the underlying violations, or by a person, firm or entity that tows and stores the impounded vehicle. The city’s daily storage fee shall be determined annually by the City Clerk by averaging the daily storage fee charged by the private impoundment yards of Williamson and Jackson Counties and setting the city storage fee at the next lower dollar amount evenly divisible by five below that average.
(4) Seizure and impoundment. Whenever a police officer has reason to believe that a motor vehicle is subject to seizure and impoundment pursuant to this subchapter, the police officer shall provide for the towing of the motor vehicle to a facility controlled and operated by the city. This section shall not apply if the motor vehicle used in the violation was stolen at the time and the theft was reported to the appropriate police authorities within 24 hours after the theft was discovered or reasonably should have been discovered.
(a) The city shall notify, or make a reasonable attempt to notify, the owner of record/interested person or any person who is found to be in control of the motor vehicle at the time of the alleged violation, if there is such a person, of the fact of the seizure.
(b) The city shall also provide a notice that the motor vehicle will remain impounded pending the payment of all towing and storage charges.
(5) Disposition of impounded motor vehicle.
(a) An impoundment and storage fee imposed pursuant to this subchapter shall constitute a debt due and owing the city.
(b) A motor vehicle impounded pursuant to this subchapter shall remain impounded until:
1. The impound and storage fees are paid to the city and all applicable towing fees are paid to the towing agent, in which case the owner of record/interested person shall be given possession of the motor vehicle; or
2. Any motor vehicle that is not reclaimed or retrieved from the city’s impoundment facility within 35 days after notice is provided to the owner of record pursuant to statute shall be deemed abandoned and may be disposed of in accordance with the provisions of Article II of Chapter 4 of the State Motor Vehicle Code (625 ILCS 5/4-201 et seq.).
(c) It shall be the duty of the towing company in possession of a vehicle to obtain documentation issued by the Police Department confirming compliance with the foregoing requirements and to retain photo copies of that documentation in their files for a period of not less than 12 months following release of the vehicle. The foregoing information shall be made available to the authorities of the city for inspection and copying, upon their request. The towing or storage company is prohibited from releasing any vehicle they may tow within the city until and unless they obtain the documentation as noted above.
(d) The person purporting to be the owner of record/interested person, or the agents of the owner of record/interested person, must present proof of ownership, current proof of insurance and possess a valid driver’s license prior to release.
(e) Enforcement and administration of this section shall be consistent with the policies and procedures of 625 ILCS 5/4-201 through 5/4-215 of the State Vehicle Code to the extent that said policies and procedures do not directly conflict with the provisions of this section.
(6) Money to go to funds. The costs accrued in maintenance and operation of the impoundment yard shall be returned to the city’s General Fund, and all net fees collected under this section shall be placed into the city’s Police Safety Fund.
(7) Impoundment yard. The Police Department of the city shall be responsible for the day-to-day operation, collection of daily storage fees and all record keeping related to the impoundment yard. Oversight of the operation shall be performed by the City Treasurer. Any needed forms, ledgers or other necessary documents required for adequate monitoring of and accounting for the funds derived from the operation of the impoundment yard shall be developed and put into place by the Police Department with the assistance of the City Treasurer.
(1999 Code, § 24-6-7) (Ord. 02-14, passed 3-25-2014) Penalty, see § 10.99