(a) Right to Hearing. As to any vehicle impounded pursuant to any ordinance of the City, by its agents or employees, a person who has a legal entitlement to possession of the vehicle has a right to a post-seizure administrative hearing to determine whether there was probable cause to impound the vehicle if such person files a written demand, on forms so provided for such a hearing, with the City within five days after such person has learned such vehicle has been impounded or within five days after the mailing of the date set in the notice of the stored vehicle, whichever occurs first. The notice of stored vehicle shall be sent in the mail to the legal and registered owner or their agent and to the garage where the vehicle is stored within twenty-four hours, in cases of out-of-state vehicles forty-eight hours, excluding weekends and holidays, after impounding and storage of the vehicle.
(Ord. 7-19-94)
(b) Conduct of Hearing.
(1) A hearing shall be conducted before the Municipal Judge within twenty-four hours of the receipt of a written demand therefor from the person seeking the hearing unless such person waives the right to a speedy hearing. Saturdays, Sundays and City holidays are to be excluded from the calculation of the twenty-four hours period. The sole issue before the Municipal Judge shall be whether there was probable cause to impound the vehicle in question.
(2) "Probable cause to impound" means such a state of facts as would lead a person of ordinary care and prudence to believe that there was sufficient breach of local, state or federal law to grant legal authority for the removal of the vehicle.
(3) The Municipal Judge shall conduct the hearing in an informal manner and shall not be bound by technical rules of evidence. The person demanding the hearing shall carry the burden of establishing that such person has the right to possession of the vehicle. The Police Department shall carry the burden of establishing that there was probable cause to impound the vehicle in question. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Municipal Judge shall prepare a written decision. A copy of such decision shall be provided to the person demanding the hearing and the registered owner of the vehicle, if not the person requesting the hearing. The Municipal Judge's decision in no way affects any criminal proceeding in connection with the impound in question and that criminal charges involved in such proceeding may only be challenged in the appropriate court. The decision of the Municipal Judge is final. Failure of the registered or legal owner or their agent to request or attend a scheduled post-seizure hearing shall be deemed a waiver of the right to such hearing.
(c) Decision of the Municipal Judge. The Municipal Judge shall only determine that as to the vehicle in issue either there was probable cause to impound the vehicle or there was no such probable cause, and in the event that the Municipal Judge determines that there was no probable cause, the Municipal Judge shall prepare and date a certificate of no probable cause, copies of which shall be given to the possessor of the vehicle and the Police Department. Upon receipt of the possessor's copy of such certificate, the garage having custody of the vehicle shall release the vehicle to its possessor. Upon a finding of no probable cause, towing and storage fees shall be paid by the City in accordance with arrangements made between the City and the garage. If the possessor fails to present such certificate to the garage having custody of the vehicle within twenty-four hours of its receipt, excluding such days when the garage is not open for business, the possessor shall assume liability for all subsequent storage charges. Such certificate shall advise the possessor of such requirement.
(Ord. 7-19-94)