North Dakota Code 39-10-48 – Officer authorized to remove illegally stopped vehicle
1. If a police officer finds a vehicle standing upon a highway in violation of section 39-10-47, the officer may remove the vehicle or require the driver or other person in charge of the vehicle to move the vehicle to a position off the paved or main-traveled part of the highway to a place where the vehicle does not block the highway or otherwise endanger public safety.
Terms Used In North Dakota Code 39-10-48
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Individual: means a human being. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- Legislative session: That part of a chamber's daily session in which it considers legislative business (bills, resolutions, and actions related thereto).
- Official: means a municipal judge or a magistrate or other qualified individual appointed by the presiding judge of the judicial district to serve for all or part of the judicial district. See North Dakota Code 39-06.1-01
- Person: means an individual, organization, government, political subdivision, or government agency or instrumentality. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- Personal property: All property that is not real property.
- Personal property: includes money, goods, chattels, things in action, and evidences of debt. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- Process: means a writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- Property: includes property, real and personal. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- written: include "typewriting" and "typewritten" and "printing" and "printed" except in the case of signatures and when the words are used by way of contrast to typewriting and printing. See North Dakota Code 1-01-37
2. If a police officer finds a vehicle unattended upon any highway and the vehicle may obstruct traffic or otherwise endanger public safety, the officer may have the vehicle moved to a location where it may be securely held.
3. A police officer may remove or cause to be removed any vehicle found upon a highway and move the vehicle to any location where the vehicle may be securely held if:
a. A report has been made the vehicle has been stolen or taken without the consent of its owner; b. The owner or driver of the vehicle is unable to provide for its custody or removal; or c. The individual driving or in control of the vehicle is arrested for an offense and taken into custody and another individual is not available to lawfully operate the vehicle.
4. If a police officer finds a vehicle standing, stopped, or parked in a dangerous location or in violation of any official traffic-control device prohibiting or restricting the stopping, standing, or parking of any vehicle on state property, the officer shall place a written warning on the vehicle for the first offense and issue a traffic citation for a subsequent violation. However, a traffic citation may not be issued for a violation of this subsection occurring on the state capitol grounds during a legislative session.
5. A police officer and the police officer’s employing agency, the department of transportation or an employee of the department of transportation, or a political subdivision or employee of a political subdivision authorized by a police officer is not liable in civil damages for loss or damage to any vehicle removed from a highway or state property under this section, so long as reasonable care is used in the removal process.
6. The decision and method used to remove a vehicle or any personal property, or cause a vehicle or any personal property to be removed, is a discretionary decision under this section. In the event of a public necessity, a police officer, an employee of the department of transportation, or an employee of a political subdivision authorized by a police officer may take an action that may damage a vehicle or property removed under this section.