Impoundment of a vehicle(s) by a law enforcement agency—Procedures for notice, hearing process and posting of cash or security bonds

(a)

Notice. The registered owner of a vehicle impounded by a law enforcement agency shall receive a notice by telephone or by mail from the towing company, pursuant to the time parameters contained herein, that a vehicle has been towed. The registered owner shall be advised of (i) the location of the vehicle, (ii) methods to redeem the vehicle, (iii) the registered owner's right to request an adversarial hearing before an administrative hearing officer to contest the validity of the tow and the imposition of fees within seven working days of receipt of the notice, and (iv) the procedure for requesting such adversarial hearing.

(1)

By telephone. If the registered owner was not present when the vehicle was towed, the towing company shall, within two business days of a tow, provide telephone notice to the registered owner, provided that the telephone number of the registered owner is readily available.

(2)

By mail. If the telephone number is not readily available or the telephone call is unsuccessful, and to the extent allowable by law, tow companies shall make a good faith effort within three business days to mail the statutory lien notice letter as required by F.S. § 713.78, but in no case shall such notice be mailed any later than seven working days after the vehicle was towed.

(b)

Hearing process. Following the city's receipt of the request for an adversarial hearing by the registered owner, the city shall schedule such hearing to take place before a hearing officer within 30 days. The hearing officer shall conduct a full adversarial hearing, and will render a decision in writing at the conclusion of the hearing. At the hearing, it shall be the city's burden to demonstrate the existence of probable cause as to the legality of recovery and the validity of the charges for the towing and impoundment of the vehicle. If no probable cause is found, the city is liable for the cost of the towing and associated charges. If the hearing officer finds that adequate notice by the tow company was not provided, the storage charges of the tow company cannot be collected and/or will be refunded for any charge caused by the inadequate notice. No vehicle shall be disposed of by the tow company or the city police prior to the conclusion of the hearing. Formal rules of evidence shall not apply at the hearing and hearsay and circumstantial evidence shall be admissible.

(c)

Bond procedure. A registered owner may obtain the immediate release of an impounded vehicle by posting either a cash or security bond in an amount equal to the accrued towing and storage fee with the city police department.

(Ord. No. 12384, § 1, 7-17-03)

Editor's note— Ord. No. 12384, § 1, adopted July 17, 2003, enacted provisions intended for use as subsections (1)—(3). To preserve the style of this Code, and at the discretion of the editor, said provisions have been redesignated as subsections (a)—(c).

Secs. 42-113—42-115. - Reserved.

DIVISION 3. - IMMOBILIZATION/BOOTING OF MOTOR VEHICLES[5]

Footnotes: --- (5) ---

Editor's note— Ord. No. 13766, § 2, adopted May 10, 2018, amended division 3 in its entirety to read as herein set out. Formerly, division 3 pertained to immobilization, and derived from Ord. No. 11858, § 2, adopted November 16, 1999; Ord. No. 12885, § 1, adopted February 8, 2007; Ord. No. 13142, § 11, adopted February 11, 2010.