Request By:
Mr. James Fletcher
WLBJ
Bowling Green, Kentucky 42101
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; Carl Miller, Assistant Attorney General
You have requested an opinion of the Attorney General concerning the authority of a police officer to impound a car which is found parked on a public street with the keys in the ignition switch. You state that in the City of Franklin policemen search for cars having the keys left in them in violation of KRS 189.430 and when one is found it is driven to the police station and the owner is notified of the whereabouts of his car. You further state that the police say there is no local ordinance which specifically permits this action.
There is no Kentucky statute which authorizes police officers to impound illegally parked cars. OAG 61.843. A policeman may remove a car which is found unattended upon any bridge, causeway or in a tunnel where the vehicle constitutes an obstruction to traffic. KRS 189.450(3).
In the absence of a city ordinance we believe that a police officer is not authorized to remove a car found with the keys in the ignition switch. In 7 Am.Jur.2d, Automobiles and Highway Traffic, § 241, it is stated:
"A municipality may by ordinance validly authorize its officers summarily, and without judicial process, to impound automobiles left unattended in the streets in violation of parking regulations, and may subject the owners to a reasonable fee commensurate with the cost of enforcement and removal, or authorize the appropriate enforcement officer to fix such a fee."
In City of Danville v. Dawson, Ky., 528 S.W.2d 687 (1975) it was said that when a policeman arrests a person for driving while intoxicated it is not necessarily legal or proper to impound the vehicle since the police may take adequate measures to safeguard the property of the defendant by rolling up the windows and locking the doors. The Court also said, on page 691, "The practice of impounding vehicles following arrest for mere traffic violations is utterly unnecessary and, indeed is of questionable legality."
We believe that when an officer finds a vehicle with the keys in the ignition switch in violation of KRS 189.430 it would be sufficient for the officer to leave a citation on the car for the violation and to take the keys from the car to the police station. We would also point out that an officer is not authorized to search a vehicle without a warrant, but if the keys in the ignition switch are in plain view from outside the vehicle, the officer would be justified in removing them and leaving a note or a citation for the operator. This would be a reasonable measure inasmuch as the purpose of the statute is to prevent theft or unauthorized use of the vehicle and for the protection of the safety of the public.