Caldwell, ID Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)

Under Caldwell City Code § 09-01-11, the Police Department is authorized to remove any unidentified, stolen, wrecked or abandoned motor vehicle, recreational vehicle or trailer found on a public thoroughfare or other municipal property and to hold it until the owner redeems it, subject to the actual cost of the tow and per-day storage. The code separately makes it unlawful for any owner or person in charge of such property to leave or abandon it on the streets, other public property, business property open to the public, or private property, and declares an accumulation of wrecked, dismantled or inoperative vehicles a public nuisance that promotes blight, invites plundering, creates fire hazards and harbors rodents.

A junk motor vehicle under the section is any unsightly vehicle lacking current registration and plates, unable to run under its own power, kept outside a garage, missing basic safety equipment such as brakes, lights, a horn, muffler, mirror, wipers or fenders, or riding on one or more flat tires; maintaining one on residential, public or business property for more than five days is unlawful. Two exemptions apply: a vehicle completely enclosed in a building and out of view, and a vehicle stored on private property as part of a licensed dismantler's, dealer's or junk dealer's lawful business.

Once a warning notice is posted, police may remove the vehicle after five days on private property or 48 hours on the street, and a notice of storage goes by certified mail to the registered and legal owners within 48 hours of the tow. If the owner does not redeem the vehicle within 10 days of that notice, the city sells it according to law, and under Idaho Code section 49-1802 the last registered owner is guilty of a traffic infraction if it is never claimed. This section traces to Ordinance 2713, adopted December 17, 2007.