61-12-401. Taking vehicle into custody. (1) The following law enforcement agencies and department of fish, wildlife, and parks personnel may take into custody any vehicle found abandoned for a period of 48 hours or more on a public highway or for a period of 5 days or more on a city street, public property, or private property:
(a) the Montana highway patrol if the vehicle is on the right-of-way of any public highway other than a county road;
(b) the sheriff of the county if the vehicle is on the right-of-way of any county road;
(c) the city police if the vehicle is on a city street;
(d) a tribal law enforcement agency if the tribal government has entered into a cooperative agreement with the Montana highway patrol, the sheriff of a county, or the city police. When a cooperative agreement for law enforcement has been entered into, the tribal law enforcement agency has the same authority to take a vehicle into custody and is subject to the same requirements under this part as the applicable agency identified in subsections (1)(a) through (1)(c);
(e) a game warden, as defined in 19-8-101, if the vehicle is on state land or land managed by the department of fish, wildlife, and parks.
(2) The Montana highway patrol, sheriff of the county, city police, tribal law enforcement agency, or department of fish, wildlife, and parks may use their personnel, equipment, and facilities for the removal and storage of the vehicle or may hire other personnel, equipment, and facilities for those purposes.
(3) If the Montana highway patrol, the sheriff of the county, the chief of police, the tribal law enforcement agency of the reservation, or the department of fish, wildlife, and parks has hired other personnel, equipment, and facilities to remove and store a vehicle, the Montana highway patrol, sheriff, chief of police,tribal law enforcement agency, or department of fish, wildlife, and parks shall:
(a) pay the person hired to remove the vehicle an amount not to exceed the amount for a removal charge established by rules adopted by the department of environmental quality and may request reimbursement of the hired removal charge from the motor vehicle recycling and disposal program of the department of environmental quality in an amount and manner established by rules adopted by the department of environmental quality for this purpose; or
(b) authorize the person hired to remove the vehicle to submit directly to the department of environmental quality a claim for payment to be made directly to the person hired to remove the vehicle.
(4) (a) At the request of the owner or person in lawful possession or control of the private property, the sheriff of the county in which the vehicle is located, the city police of the city in which the vehicle is located, or the tribal law enforcement agency of the reservation in which the vehicle is located may remove and hold it in the manner and upon the conditions provided in subsections (1) and (2).
(b) A private landowner owning property considered to be part of ways of this state open to the public, as defined in 61-8-101, who can demonstrate meeting the 5-day waiting period in subsection (1) by calling one of the law enforcement agencies listed in subsection (1) at the start of the 5-day period may remove the abandoned vehicle within the conditions provided for in subsections (1) and (2).
History: En. Sec. 2, Ch. 288, L. 1967; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 169, L. 1969; R.C.M. 1947, 53-902; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 445, L. 1979; amd. Sec. 6, Ch. 88, L. 1987; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 513, L. 1999; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 461, L. 2007; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 117, L. 2013; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 102, L. 2019; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 165, L. 2021; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 552, L. 2021.