Unattended Vehicle Checks; Completion and Attachment of Check Card; Determination if Vehicle Stolen

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Motor Vehicles and Traffic
  4. Abandoned, Derelict, and Civil Forfeiture of Motor Vehicles
  5. Abandoned Motor Vehicles
  6. Unattended Vehicle Checks; Completion and Attachment of Check Card; Determination if Vehicle Stolen

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  1. Any peace officer, or any entity authorized by such peace officer or the Department of Public Safety, who discovers a motor vehicle which has been left unattended on a highway or other public property shall immediately perform an unattended vehicle check on such motor vehicle, unless an unattended vehicle check card is displayed on such motor vehicle, indicating that an unattended vehicle check has been previously performed. For purposes of this Code section, an unattended vehicle check shall consist of such actions as are reasonably necessary to determine that the unattended vehicle does not contain an injured or incapacitated person and to determine that the unattended vehicle does not pose a threat to public health or safety or traffic congestion.
  2. A peace officer, or any entity authorized by such peace officer or the Department of Public Safety, who completes an unattended motor vehicle check shall attach the completed check card to the vehicle. Unattended vehicle check cards shall be in such form and shall be attached to vehicles in such manner as may be specified by rule or regulation of the Department of Public Safety. Unattended vehicle check cards shall be serially numbered; shall be of a distinctive color and shape, so as to be readily visible to passing motorists; and shall contain spaces for the investigating individual to set forth the location of the vehicle, the date and time of the completion of the unattended vehicle check, and the name of his or her law enforcement or other authorized agency. Detachable stubs shall be included upon such unattended vehicle check cards and shall bear the same serial number and provide for the same information as the portion of the unattended vehicle check card to be left on the vehicle, shall include a space to identify the investigating individual, and shall include a space for the officer to set forth the license plate number and other pertinent identifying information relating to the unattended vehicle. Completed detachable stubs shall be filed with the investigating individual's law enforcement or other authorized agency. The Department of Public Safety may provide unattended vehicle check cards free of charge if sufficient funds for such purpose are available to the Department of Public Safety.
  3. It shall be unlawful for any person other than a peace officer or any entity authorized by such peace officer or the Department of Public Safety to attach any type of unattended motor vehicle check card to a motor vehicle. Any person convicted of violating this subsection shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
  4. Within 24 hours of completing an unattended vehicle check or discovering an unattended motor vehicle with an unattended vehicle check card attached to such vehicle by an authorized individual who is not a peace officer, a peace officer shall query the criminal justice information system to determine if the unattended motor vehicle has been entered into the criminal justice information system as a stolen vehicle. If an unattended vehicle has been reported as stolen, the peace officer shall place a phone call to the law enforcement agency that filed such report, providing the location of the motor vehicle. The law enforcement agency receiving such phone call shall notify the owner of the vehicle of the location of the motor vehicle.
  5. Failure of a peace officer to comply with any provision of this Code section shall not limit the remedies available to any person pursuant to this article.

(Code 1981, §40-11-14, enacted by Ga. L. 2019, p. 872, § 5/HB 307; Ga. L. 2020, p. 493, § 40/SB 429.)

The 2020 amendment, effective July 29, 2020, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, revised punctuation in the first sentence of subsection (c); and substituted "vehicle check card" for "motor vehicle card" in the first sentence of subsection (d).


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