1. If a person is convicted of a second, third, or subsequent offense of operating while intoxicated, the court shall order that any motor vehicles owned by the person and used to commit the offense and any other motor vehicles used by the person in the commission of the offense be impounded or immobilized. For purposes of this section, "immobilized" means the installation of a device that completely prevents a motor vehicle from being operated, or the installation of an ignition interlock device, of a type approved by the commissioner of public safety, in a motor vehicle.
2. The order shall specify all of the following:
a. The motor vehicles that are subject to the order.
b. The period of impoundment or immobilization.
c. The person or agency responsible for carrying out the order requiring impoundment or immobilization of the motor vehicle. If a vehicle which is to be impounded or immobilized is in the custody of a law enforcement agency, the court shall designate that agency as the responsible agency. If the vehicle is not in the custody of a law enforcement agency, the person or agency responsible for carrying out the order shall be any person deemed appropriate by the court, including but not limited to a law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the area in which the residence of the vehicle owner is located. The person or agency responsible for carrying out the order shall determine whether the motor vehicle shall be impounded or immobilized.
3. The period of impoundment or immobilization of a motor vehicle under this section shall be the period of license revocation imposed upon the person convicted of the offense or one hundred eighty days, whichever period is longer. The impoundment or immobilization period shall commence on the day that the vehicle is actually impounded or immobilized.
4. The clerk of the district court shall send a copy of the order to the department, the person convicted of the offense, the motor vehicle owner if the owner is not the person convicted, and the person or agency responsible for executing the order for impoundment or immobilization.
5. If the vehicle to be impounded or immobilized is in the custody of a law enforcement agency, the agency shall immobilize or impound the vehicle upon receipt of the order, seize the motor vehicle's license plates and registration, and shall send or deliver the vehicle's license plates and registration to the department.
6. If the vehicle to be impounded or immobilized is not in the custody of a law enforcement agency, the person or agency designated in the order as the person or agency responsible for executing the order shall, upon receipt of the order, promptly locate the vehicle specified in the order, seize the motor vehicle and the license plates, and send or deliver the vehicle's license plates to the department.
7. If the vehicle is located at a place other than the place at which the impoundment or immobilization is to be carried out, the person or agency responsible for executing the order shall arrange for the vehicle to be moved to the place of impoundment or immobilization. When the vehicle is found, is impounded or immobilized, and is at the place of impoundment or immobilization, the person or agency responsible for executing the order shall notify the clerk of the date on which the order was executed. The clerk shall notify the department of the date on which the order was executed.
8. Upon receipt of the court order for impoundment or immobilization and seizure of the motor vehicle, if the agency responsible for carrying out the order determines that the motor vehicle is to be impounded, the agency shall review the value of the vehicle in relation to the costs associated with the period of impoundment of the motor vehicle specified in the order. If the agency determines that the costs of impoundment of the motor vehicle exceed the actual wholesale value of the motor vehicle, the agency may treat the vehicle as an abandoned vehicle pursuant to section 321.89. If the agency elects to treat the motor vehicle as abandoned, the agency shall notify the registered owner of the motor vehicle that the vehicle shall be deemed abandoned and shall be sold in the manner provided in section 321.89 if payment of the total cost of impoundment is not received within twenty-one days of the mailing of the notice. The agency shall provide documentation regarding the valuation of the vehicle and the costs of impoundment. This paragraph shall not apply to vehicles that are immobilized pursuant to this section or if subsection 15 or 16 applies.
9. The department shall destroy license plates received under this section and shall not authorize the release of the vehicle or the issuance of new license plates for the vehicle until the period of impoundment or immobilization has expired, and the fee and costs assessed under subsection 10 have been paid. The fee for issuance of new license plates and certificates of registration shall be the same as for the replacement of lost, mutilated, or destroyed license plates and certificates of registration.
10. Except where the person who is convicted of operating while intoxicated and being a second or subsequent offender is not lawfully in possession of the motor vehicle, the owner of any motor vehicle that is impounded or immobilized under this section shall be assessed a fee of one hundred dollars plus the cost of any expenses for towing, storage, and any other costs of impounding or immobilizing the motor vehicle, to be paid to the clerk of the district court. The person or agency responsible for carrying out the order shall inform the court of the costs of towing, storage, and any other costs of impounding or immobilizing the motor vehicle. Upon payment of the fee and costs, the clerk shall forward a copy of the receipt to the department.
11. If a law enforcement agency impounds or immobilizes a motor vehicle, the amount of the fee and expenses deposited with the clerk shall be paid by the clerk to the law enforcement agency responsible for executing the order to reimburse the agency for costs incurred for impoundment or immobilization equipment and, if required, in sending officers to search for and locate the vehicle specified in the impoundment or immobilization order.
12. Operating a motor vehicle on a street or highway in this state in violation of an order of impoundment or immobilization is a serious misdemeanor. A motor vehicle which is subject to an order of impoundment or immobilization that is operated on a street or highway in this state in violation of the order shall be seized and forfeited to the state under chapter 809.
13. Once the period of impoundment or immobilization has expired, the owner of the motor vehicle shall have thirty days to claim the motor vehicle and pay the fees and charges imposed under this section. If the owner or the owner's designee has not claimed the vehicle and paid the fees and charges imposed under this section within seven days from the date of expiration of the period, the clerk shall send written notification to the motor vehicle owner, at the owner's last known address, notifying the owner of the date of expiration of the period of impoundment or immobilization and of the period in which the motor vehicle must be claimed. If the motor vehicle owner fails to claim the motor vehicle and pay the fees and charges imposed within the thirty-day period, the motor vehicle shall be forfeited to the state under chapter 809.
14. a. During the period of impoundment or immobilization, a person convicted of the offense of operating while intoxicated which resulted in the impoundment or immobilization shall not sell or transfer the title of the motor vehicle which is subject to the order of impoundment or immobilization. The person convicted of the offense of operating while intoxicated shall also not purchase another motor vehicle or register any motor vehicle during the period of impoundment or immobilization. Violation of this paragraph is a serious misdemeanor.
b. If, during the period of impoundment or immobilization, the title to the motor vehicle which is the subject of the order is transferred by the foreclosure of a chattel mortgage, a sale upon execution, the cancellation of a conditional sales contract, or an order of a court, the court which enters the order that permits transfer of the title shall notify the department of the transfer of the title. The department shall enter notice of the transfer of the title to the motor vehicle in the previous owner's vehicle registration record.
15. Notwithstanding the requirements of this section, if the owner of the motor vehicle is not the person who is convicted of the offense which resulted in the issuance of the order of impoundment or immobilization or the owner of the motor vehicle is a motor vehicle rental or leasing company, the owner, the owner's designee, or the rental or leasing company shall be permitted to submit a claim for return of the motor vehicle within twenty-four hours from receipt of the order for impoundment or immobilization. Upon learning the address or phone number of a rental or leasing company which owns a motor vehicle, the peace officer, county attorney, or attorney general shall immediately contact the company to inform the company that the vehicle is available for return to the company. The vehicle shall be returned to the owner, owner's designee, or rental or leasing company and the order for impoundment or immobilization shall be rescinded with respect to the particular motor vehicle, if the owner or owner's designee can prove to the satisfaction of the court that the owner did not know or should not have known that the vehicle was to be used in the commission of the offense of operating while intoxicated, or if the rental or leasing company did not know, should not have known, and did not consent to the operation of the motor vehicle used in the commission of the offense of operating while intoxicated. For purposes of this section, unless the person convicted of the offense which results in the imposition of the order for impoundment or immobilization is not in lawful possession of the motor vehicle used in the commission of the offense, an owner of a motor vehicle shall be presumed to know that the vehicle was to be used by the person who is convicted of the offense, in the commission of the offense of operating while intoxicated.
16. Notwithstanding the requirements of this section, the holder of a security interest in a vehicle which is impounded or immobilized pursuant to this section or forfeited in the manner provided in chapter 809 shall be notified of the impoundment, immobilization, or forfeiture within seventy-two hours of the seizure of the vehicle and shall have the right to claim the motor vehicle without payment of any fees or surcharges unless the value of the vehicle exceeds the value of the security interest held by the creditor.
17. Notwithstanding the requirements of this section, any of the following persons may make application to the court for permission to operate a motor vehicle, which is impounded or immobilized pursuant to this section, during the period of im- poundment or immobilization, if the applicant's motor vehicle license or operating privilege has not been suspended, denied, or revoked, and an ignition interlock device of a type approved by the commissioner of public safety is installed in the motor vehicle prior to operation:
a. A person, other than the person who committed the offense which resulted in the impoundment or immobilization, who is not a member of the immediate family of the person who committed the offense but is a joint owner of the motor vehicle.
b. A member of the immediate family of the person who committed the offense which resulted in the impoundment or immobilization, if the member demonstrates that the motor vehicle that is subject to the order for impoundment or immobilization is the only motor vehicle possessed by the family.
For purposes of this section, "a member of the immediate family" means a spouse, child, or parent of the person who committed the offense.
18. The impoundment, immobilization, or forfeiture of a motor vehicle under this chapter does not constitute loss of use of a motor vehicle for purposes of any contract of insurance.
95 Acts, ch 48, §11; 95 Acts, ch 143, §5
Referred to in § 321.89
Iowa General Assembly
Search: Iowa Code 1995SUPPLEMENT
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