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Texas Code of Criminal Procedure - Article 18.23. Expenses For Motor Vehicle Towed And Stored For Certain Purposes

Legal Research Home > Texas Lawyer > Code of Criminal Procedure > Texas Code of Criminal Procedure - Article 18.23. Expenses For Motor Vehicle Towed And Stored For Certain Purposes

Art. 18.23. EXPENSES FOR MOTOR VEHICLE TOWED AND STORED FOR 
CERTAIN PURPOSES.  (a) A law enforcement agency that directs the 
towing and storage of a motor vehicle for an evidentiary or 
examination purpose shall pay the cost of the towing and storage.
	(b)  Subsection (a) applies whether the motor vehicle is 
taken to or stored on property that is:
	(1)  owned or operated by the law enforcement agency;  or                      
	(2)  owned or operated by another person who provides storage 
services to the law enforcement agency, including:
	(A)  a governmental entity;  and                                               
	(B)  a vehicle storage facility, as defined by Section 
2303.002, Occupations Code.
	(c)  Subsection (a) does not require a law enforcement agency 
to pay the cost of:
	(1)  towing or storing a motor vehicle for a purpose that is 
not an evidentiary or examination purpose, including towing or 
storing a vehicle that has been abandoned, illegally parked, in an 
accident, or recovered after being stolen;  or
	(2)  storing a motor vehicle after the date the law 
enforcement agency authorizes the owner or operator of the property 
to which the vehicle was taken or on which the vehicle is stored to 
release the vehicle to the vehicle's owner.
	(d)  This subsection applies only to a motor vehicle taken to 
or stored on property described by Subsection (b)(2).  After a law 
enforcement agency authorizes the release of a motor vehicle held 
for an evidentiary or examination purpose, the owner or operator of 
the storage property may not refuse to release the vehicle to the 
vehicle's owner because the law enforcement agency has not paid the 
cost of the towing and storage.
	(e)  Chapter 685, Transportation Code, does not apply to a 
motor vehicle directed by a law enforcement agency to be towed and 
stored for an evidentiary or examination purpose.

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 1197, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2005.          

Last modified: August 11, 2007