(a) (1) If the owner of an impounded motor vehicle or his or her agent timely requests the release of the motor vehicle from impoundment and a hearing on the impoundment and charges, as provided in § 14-506, a date shall be set, not more than five days after the date of request, for the hearing. The City Attorney shall provide a hearing examiner to conduct the hearings required by this section.
(2) At the hearing, the owner, his or her agent, or his or her attorney shall be afforded an opportunity to present, by oral testimony or documentary evidence, his or her objections to:
(A) The impoundment of the motor vehicle; and
(B) 1. The amount of the towing and storage charges; and
2. His or her liability for the payment thereof.
(3) If the owner or his or her agent requested the hearing more than five days but not more than 40 days after the owner received a copy of the notice of impoundment, the owner, his or her agent or his or her attorney shall be required at the hearing, as a condition precedent to the presentation of any objections by the owner, to show good cause for the delay in making the request more than five days after the owner received a copy of the notice of impoundment; if good cause cannot be shown, the hearing officer shall dismiss the hearing and make the finding stated in division (b)(2) below; otherwise, the hearing examiner shall proceed to hear the owner’s objections.
(b) At the conclusion of the hearing on the owner’s objections, the hearing examiner shall render his or her decision if the hearing examiner:
(1) Finds that the impoundment was improper, he or she shall:
(A) Find that the owner is not liable for any towing or storage charges occasioned by the impoundment; and
(B) Determine whether and to what extent the city shall be the expense of the towing and storage charges.
(2) Finds that the impoundment was proper, he or she shall establish:
(A) The amount of the towing and storage charges to be assessed against the impounded motor vehicle; and
(B) The extent of the liability of the owner for payment of the towing and storage charges so established. The decision of the hearing examiner shall be final, and a copy of the decision shall be furnished to the owner of the impounded motor vehicle, to the custodian of the place where the motor vehicle is stored and to the city attorney.
(3) In the event that the impoundment was pursuant to K.S.A. 8-1102(6), the owner or occupant of the real property upon which the abandoned vehicle was located shall not be assessed the costs of towing and storage of the vehicle. Further, nothing within this article shall be construed to modify or effect the validity of the possessory lien of the person removing such vehicle from the real property established by K.S.A. 8-1102(b).