Z-0192.1  _______________________________________________

                          HOUSE BILL 1565

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      57th Legislature     2001 Regular Session

By Representatives Lovick, Haigh, Hankins and Morell; by request of Department of Licensing

Read first time 01/30/2001.  Referred to Committee on Transportation.

Updating procedures for abandoned vehicle information.

    AN ACT Relating to abandoned vehicle information; and amending RCW 46.55.100.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

    Sec. 1.  RCW 46.55.100 and 1999 c 398 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:

    (1) At the time of impoundment the registered tow truck operator providing the towing service shall give immediate notification, by telephone or radio, to a law enforcement agency having jurisdiction who shall maintain a log of such reports.  A law enforcement agency, or a private communication center acting on behalf of a law enforcement agency, shall within six to twelve hours of the impoundment, provide to a requesting operator the name and address of the legal and registered owners of the vehicle, and the legal and registered owners of any personal property registered or titled with the department that is attached to or contained in or on the impounded vehicle, the vehicle identification number, and any other necessary, pertinent information.  The initial notice of impoundment shall be followed by a written or electronic facsimile notice within twenty-four hours.  In the case of a vehicle from another state, time requirements of this subsection do not apply until the requesting law enforcement agency in this state receives the information.

    (2) When a vehicle record or a record of items of personal property registered or titled with the department that are in the operator's possession after the one hundred twenty-hour abandonment period is marked as reported sold and the information was not available at the time of original request for registered and legal owners information, the operator shall immediately ((send an abandoned vehicle report to)) request the report of sale data filed with the department ((for any vehicle, and for any items of personal property registered or titled with the department, that are in the operator's possession after the one hundred twenty hour abandonment period.  Such report)).  The department shall provide the registered tow truck operator with the report of sale data and any other necessary, pertinent information within seventy-two hours of receipt of the request.  The request need not be sent when the impoundment is pursuant to a writ, court order, or police hold that is not a suspended license impound.  The owner notification and abandonment process shall be initiated by the registered tow truck operator immediately following notification by a court or law enforcement officer that the writ, court order, or police hold that is not a suspended license impound is no longer in effect.

    (3) ((Following the submittal of an abandoned vehicle report, the department shall provide the registered tow truck operator with owner information within seventy-two hours.

    (4))) Within fourteen days of the sale of an abandoned vehicle at public auction, the towing operator shall send a copy of the abandoned vehicle report showing the disposition of the abandoned vehicle and any other items of personal property registered or titled with the department to the crime information center of the Washington state patrol.

    (((5) If the operator sends an abandoned vehicle report to the department and the department finds)) (4) If no owner information is found in the department's records, an operator may proceed with an inspection of the vehicle and any other items of personal property registered or titled with the department to determine whether owner identification is within the vehicle.

    (((6))) (5) If the operator finds no owner identification, the operator shall immediately notify the appropriate law enforcement agency, which shall search the vehicle and any other items of personal property registered or titled with the department for the vehicle identification number or other appropriate identification numbers and check the necessary records to determine the vehicle's or other property's owners.

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