HB2442 Summary

• Changes county authority to remove abandoned vehicles from permissive ("may") to mandatory ("shall") requirement within ten business days of abandonment.

• Requires counties to send written notice by registered or certified mail to vehicle owners within the ten-day timeframe, with owners having ten days (or twenty business days for out-of-state addresses) to reclaim vehicles.

• Allows counties to adopt administrative rules regarding notification of vehicle owners and designates mayors to designate specific county agencies to carry out removal and disposal functions.

• Modifies derelict vehicle definition to include vehicles with any part removed or material damage (rather than "major parts"), and expands conditions including vehicles with pending transfers not registered within thirty days and vehicles unregistered for the previous twelve-month period.

• Changes public auction requirement from mandatory ("shall") to discretionary ("may"), allowing counties to sell by negotiation, dispose as junk, or donate to government agencies if no bids are received.