Editor’s note: The above video is from previous coverage that first appeared on KXAN on Sept. 25, 2025.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Last week, the Austin City Council approved an item that will ultimately expand the city’s ability to reduce the number of abandoned vehicles.
Council members approved an ordinance amending the city code on abandoned property and vehicles. The amended code will allow the city manager to authorize designated employees to request that the Austin Police Department remove and impound abandoned vehicles in accordance with state law.
Under the original code, a police officer or a civilian employee designated by the APD chief could request the tow of an abandoned vehicle. APD said there are currently only two police officers who deal with vehicle abatement.
“The initial ordinance was just created to allow for civilians to be able to assist the Austin Police Department with… tagging and towing the abandoned vehicles,” Lieutenant William White with APD explained to KXAN on Tuesday.
White said now that the ordinance has passed, APD will start communicating with the Austin Transportation and Public Works Division to “see about potentially implementing a program down the road whereby they have employees that can assist,” White said.
What makes a vehicle ‘abandoned’?
White said there are a lot of criteria that make a vehicle abandoned, and those are found under the state’s transportation code:
“Sec. 683.002. ABANDONED MOTOR VEHICLE. (a) For the purposes of this chapter, a motor vehicle is abandoned if the motor vehicle:
- is inoperable, is more than five years old, and has been left unattended on public property for more than 48 hours;
- has remained illegally on public property for more than 48 hours;
- has remained on private property without the consent of the owner or person in charge of the property for more than 48 hours;
- has been left unattended on the right-of-way of a designated county, state, or federal highway for more than 48 hours;
- has been left unattended for more than 24 hours on the right-of-way of a turnpike project constructed and maintained by the Texas Turnpike Authority division of the Texas Department of Transportation or a controlled access highway; or
- is considered an abandoned motor vehicle under Section 644.153(r).”
“We would ask that citizens, when they’re reporting a vehicle, we’re trying to establish that it is inoperable,” White said, noting that it’s important to only report vehicles that don’t operate. “So if they’ve got something obvious that they can tell the vehicle’s inoperable, be it a flat tire, they can see the hood is open and engine is missing… those are what we would consider reasonable grounds to begin the process of vehicle abatement.”
He added that officers do not do proactive enforcement of vehicle abatement; it’s completely responsive to 311.
According to 311 data KXAN found last week, there have been over 6,700 calls related to abandoned vehicles from January to September.
How APD handles abandoned vehicle reports
White said APD is alerted to abandoned vehicles through 311 reports. He said the two officers respond in the order that those reports come, but there is also a backlog because of the limited resources available for vehicle abatement.
White said that annually, APD receives approximately 11,000 requests to respond to abandoned vehicles in the city, but he wasn’t sure how big the backlog was.
“As you can imagine, you know, between two officers, they’re going to be slightly behind with that level of complaints coming in about the abandoned vehicles,” White said. “What they do is they divide the city into two sections: one officer works north of the river and one works south of the river, and they essentially work the complaints as they come in.”
Because of the backlog, it could take weeks for the officers to respond to the complaints as they come in, White explained. He also said there hasn’t been an indication of a growing issue when it comes to abandoned vehicles, but that the backlog is mostly to blame for the hold-up.
Sam Stark contributed to this report.
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