Barrow County, GA Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)

Barrow County Code § 78-43 bars keeping any inoperative motor vehicle, trailer or semitrailer on property in unincorporated Barrow County unless it sits inside a fully enclosed building or is otherwise shielded or screened from public view, or the property is properly zoned or permitted for vehicle storage (such as a licensed dealer, salvage yard or scrap processor, which the section exempts outright). The code defines an 'inoperative motor vehicle' two ways: one that simply is not in operating condition, or one that has sat partially or totally disassembled for 90 days or longer because tires, wheels, the engine or other essential running parts were removed.

If an owner does not voluntarily remove a violating vehicle after the county gives reasonable notice, county agents or employees may remove and dispose of it themselves, following additional notice to the vehicle's owner. The cost of that removal and disposal becomes chargeable to the vehicle owner or the property owner and is collected the same way the county collects unpaid taxes and levies, meaning it can attach as a lien rather than stay a simple civil debt. No specific fine is written into § 78-43 itself, so a violation falls under the county's general penalty provision, Code § 1-7, which caps fines at the maximum a county may impose under state law and allows up to 60 days imprisonment, with each day a violation continues counted as a separate offense. Code enforcement and sheriff's deputies both have authority to act on complaints under this chapter.