Jefferson County, MO Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)

080, RSMo. 030 fixes the geographic reach of the whole chapter: its provisions, including the abandonment ban, are in effect only in the unincorporated parts of Jefferson County, so a car left on a road inside Arnold, Festus, De Soto, or any other incorporated city falls under that city's own code rather than the county's. The Traffic Code's definitions section separately defines a 'junked motor vehicle' as one without current valid registration plates and a safety inspection certificate, or one that is wrecked, dismantled, inoperative, abandoned, or discarded, a term the chapter uses interchangeably with 'abandoned property' when describing what the Sheriff's Department or Public Works Department can remove.

060 gives a Law Enforcement Officer, or a county official where county real property is involved, authority to have a towing company remove abandoned property from ten separate categories of locations, from interstate rights-of-way left unattended ten hours in an urbanized area to any abandoned property reported stolen, without needing the owner's consent.