Fauquier County, VA Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)

Section 13-45 makes it unlawful to park or leave a motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer or part of one if it is left unattended on public property and is a traffic hazard, is illegally parked, sits unattended more than ten days on public or private property without the owner's or occupant's permission, or is immobilized on a public roadway by weather or an emergency. Removal is carried out by or under the direction of the Fauquier County Sheriff's Office. On private property, removal requires the written request of the property owner, lessee or occupant, and that requester must indemnify the county for any loss from the removal, storage or sale.

A vehicle is presumed abandoned once it lacks either a current license plate or a valid Virginia safety inspection sticker and has sat in one spot for four days without moving; the county must report the removal to the Fauquier County Administrator's Office and to the owner. Separately, Sec. 13-49 lets a private property owner have a vehicle left more than seventy-two hours without consent removed by the Sheriff's Office. Before an owner can reclaim a towed vehicle, they must pay the costs of removal, storage and the search for them; if the owner cannot be found after a diligent search and notice to any lienholder on record with the Virginia DMV, the vehicle is treated as abandoned under Va.

Code § 46.2-1200 et seq., held at least sixty days, and then disposed of as the Board of Supervisors directs, with the DMV notified of the final disposition.