Abandoned vehicle laws by state

State-by-state summary

• Alabama: Alabama routes unclaimed and abandoned motor vehicle cases through the Alabama Department of Revenue's MyDMV portal rather than a paper-first DMV process.
• Alaska: Alaska's DMV has a dedicated abandoned-vehicles page that separates public-auction cases from private-property title transfers.
• Arizona: Arizona centralizes abandoned-vehicle ownership claims through ADOT's Motor Vehicle Division Abandoned Vehicle Unit.
• Arkansas: Arkansas splits its abandoned-vehicle rules between public-property removals and private-property disposals.
• California: California’s abandoned-vehicle system is split between local enforcement on streets and a DMV-run lien-sale process for vehicles in lawful towing or storage possession.
• Colorado: Colorado has one set of abandonment rules for public property and another for private-property tows, and the state DMV publishes detailed checklists for operators and title applicants.
• Connecticut: Connecticut treats a vehicle as abandoned after more than 24 hours on a highway or on property other than the person’s own without consent.
• Delaware: Delaware’s abandoned-vehicle statute is detailed in Title 21, Chapter 44 and uses different timelines for public roads and some private-property situations.
• District of Columbia: In the District, DPW publishes the operational rules residents use to report abandoned and dangerous vehicles, including separate public- and private-property reporting through 311.
• Florida: Florida splits abandoned-vehicle handling between chapter 705 for property on public land and section 713.78 for towing and storage liens.
• Georgia: Georgia's abandoned-motor-vehicle process is centered in the Department of Revenue's Motor Vehicle Division and the Abandoned Motor Vehicle Act.
• Hawaii: Hawaii does not have a statewide DMV; vehicle registration and titling are handled by the counties, while state law in chapter 290 sets the baseline towing, notice, and sale rules.
• Idaho: Idaho runs abandoned-vehicle processing through the Idaho Transportation Department’s DMV and its online Abandoned Vehicle Portal.
• Illinois: Illinois treats abandonment, towing, notice, and disposal under the Illinois Vehicle Code, while title work runs through the Office of the Secretary of State.
• Indiana: Indiana’s abandoned-vehicle rules are split between statutory definitions in Title 9 and title packets issued by the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
• Iowa: Iowa DOT has a dedicated abandoned-vehicles program page that separates police-initiated impounds, private-property removals, and junk-vehicle disposal.
• Kansas: Kansas handles abandoned vehicles through public-agency impoundment and sale, with the key state title document being the Abandoned Vehicle Affidavit, TR-105.
• Kentucky: Kentucky splits the abandoned-vehicle problem among public-road abandonment, local-government police impounds, and towing/storage liens.
• Louisiana: Louisiana’s abandoned-vehicle rules are split between statewide motor-vehicle statutes and local enforcement by police, sheriffs, or other policing authorities.
• Maine: Maine’s abandoned-vehicle process is centralized through the Secretary of State’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles rather than a simple fixed roadside clock for every situation.
• Maryland: Maryland’s abandoned-vehicle rules are statute-driven and heavily involve local police departments, with the Motor Vehicle Administration handling forms and post-auction titling.
• Massachusetts: Massachusetts treats abandoned-vehicle ownership changes as RMV "involuntary transfers." State law ties street and property enforcement to local officials and police, while title paperwork runs through the Registry of Motor Vehicles.
• Michigan: Michigan’s abandoned-vehicle process is centralized through the Department of State and linked to police, towing agencies, and custodians.
• Minnesota: Minnesota’s abandoned-vehicle rules are in Chapter 168B and are used by local governments, police, and impound lots, while title administration sits with Driver and Vehicle Services.
• Mississippi: Mississippi’s Department of Revenue has a dedicated abandoned-vehicles page and changed some notice procedures effective July 1, 2026.
• Missouri: Missouri splits abandoned-property rules between roadway/public-property tows and private-property removals, and the Department of Revenue has a dedicated abandoned-property titling section with manuals and checklists.
• Montana: Montana’s abandoned-vehicle rules are split among law enforcement, the Motor Vehicle Division, and the Department of Environmental Quality’s junk vehicle program.
• Nebraska: Nebraska separates true "abandoned vehicles" from vehicles left on private property.
• Nevada: Nevada's state-law framework centers on removal, owner notice, and lien-sale paperwork rather than a single statewide hour-count for every abandoned vehicle.
• New Hampshire: New Hampshire's abandoned-vehicle process is unusually form-driven and the DMV's own handbook lays out the tow-company workflow step by step.
• New Jersey: New Jersey’s MVC has a dedicated abandoned-vehicles page that splits the rules by public property, private property, repair facilities, and mobile homes.
• New Mexico: New Mexico’s abandoned-vehicle rules are split between the Motor Vehicle Code and MVD’s special-title instructions.
• New York: New York’s statewide abandonment thresholds are set in Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1224 and vary by where the vehicle is left and whether parking is otherwise legal there.
• North Carolina: North Carolina splits abandoned-vehicle issues between statewide statutes and local enforcement ordinances.
• North Dakota: North Dakota’s abandoned-motor-vehicle chapter is housed in the Century Code chapter now administered through the Department of Environmental Quality, while title paperwork runs through NDDOT Motor Vehicle.
• Ohio: Ohio separates several abandoned-vehicle paths: private residential or agricultural property complaints, private tow-away zones, junk vehicles, and title acquisition for unclaimed vehicles.
• Oklahoma: Oklahoma splits abandoned-vehicle handling between public-property removals under Title 47 and private-property removals under Section 47-954A.
• Oregon: Oregon uses one state-law path for vehicles left on public ways and another for private property.
• Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania’s Vehicle Code treats public-property and private-property abandoned vehicles differently, and PennDOT’s abandoned-vehicle publication is the main official processing guide.
• Rhode Island: Rhode Island defines abandoned vehicles in a statewide towing regulation rather than on a dedicated DMV abandoned-vehicle page.
• South Carolina: South Carolina has a detailed statutory abandoned-vehicle process in Title 56, including tagging, waiting periods, sheriff or police involvement, and disposal routes.
• South Dakota: South Dakota's Department of Revenue has a dedicated abandoned-vehicles page that covers abandoned titles for removal agencies, unpaid repair-bill vehicles, and a separate landowner route for certain older vehicles acquired with property.
• Tennessee: Tennessee’s abandoned-vehicle process is run through the Department of Revenue and is aimed at authorized users such as law enforcement, tow companies, title services, and salvage yards.
• Texas: Texas treats abandoned vehicles differently depending on where the vehicle sits and who has possession.
• Utah: Utah’s abandonment rules split between the roadway/public-property definition in statute and the private-impound procedures administered through the Utah State Tax Commission’s DMV.
• Vermont: Vermont’s DMV has a dedicated Abandoned Vehicle Office and publishes a single statewide abandoned-vehicles page that covers definition, private-property removal, owner notice, and certification.
• Virginia: Virginia DMV runs an online Abandoned Vehicle Process (AVP) for people in possession of an abandoned vehicle, trailer, or manufactured home.
• Washington: Washington handles most abandoned-vehicle title and sale issues through registered tow truck operators under Chapter 46.55 RCW, while landowners with true junk vehicles have a separate affidavit path.
• West Virginia: West Virginia defines an abandoned motor vehicle in state code using a more-than-five-day rule on both public and private property.
• Wisconsin: Wisconsin splits abandoned-vehicle handling between municipal abandoned-title transfers and DMV involuntary-lien processes.
• Wyoming: Wyoming has both police-tagged abandonment rules for highways and a separate 30-day private-property abandonment process that lets the landholder sell the vehicle.