49-1805. POST-STORAGE HEARING. (1) Whenever an authorized officer directs the towing or storage of a vehicle, except vehicles impounded for investigation pursuant to section 49-1803, Idaho Code, the agency directing or authorizing towing or storage shall provide the vehicle’s registered and legal owners of record, or their agents, with the opportunity for a post-storage hearing to determine the validity of the storage.

(2) A notice of the storage shall be sent by certified mail to the registered and legal owners within forty-eight (48) hours, excluding the weekends and holidays, and shall include the following information:

(a) The name, address, and telephone number of the agency providing the notice;

(b) The location of the place of storage and description of the vehicle which shall include, if available, the name or make, identification number, the license plate number, and the mileage;

(c) The authority and purpose for the removal of the vehicle; and

(d) In order to receive a post-storage hearing, the owners, or their agents, must request the hearing in writing within ten (10) days of the date of the notice. Any such hearing shall be conducted within forty-eight (48) hours of the request, excluding weekends and holidays. The public agency may authorize its own officer or employee to conduct the hearing, so long as the hearing officer is not the same person who directed the storage of the vehicle.

(3) Failure of either the registered or legal owner, or his agent, to request or to attend a scheduled hearing shall satisfy the post-storage hearing requirement as to that person.

(4) The provisions of this section shall not apply to vehicles removed from private property pursuant to section 49-1806(1), Idaho Code.

(5) The agency employing the person who directed the storage shall be responsible for the costs incurred for towing and storage if it is determined in the hearing that probable cause for the storage cannot be established.

History:

[49-1805, added 1988, ch. 265, sec. 423, p. 795.]