Fond du Lac County, WI Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)

Fond du Lac County Code § 30-106(a)(7), part of the Junk article, bars any person from leaving unattended any motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, mobile home or other motor vehicle on a public highway or private or public property for more than three days under circumstances making it reasonably appear abandoned, anywhere in the unincorporated areas of the county. A tighter clock applies when the owner's permission is missing: if the vehicle sits unattended on the property without the property owner's permission for more than 48 hours, any deputy sheriff may declare it abandoned, and that declaration by itself makes the vehicle a public nuisance under county law.

Once the sheriff's department declares a vehicle abandoned, it can be junked, sold by the county, or impounded, with the owner or any lienholder notified by certified mail under the process in Wis. 40(3). If the owner or lienholder does not claim the vehicle, the county auctions it to the highest bidder no sooner than ten days after that notice, and the county may reject a bid it considers inadequate. Enforcement runs through the code enforcement officer or designee and the sheriff's office (§ 30-107), and town officials are directed to cooperate by investigating violations within their own jurisdiction first and referring findings to the county.

The article's separate storage rule, § 30-106(a)(2), also reaches inoperative or unlicensed vehicles kept outside a building for more than three days, even if they are not on a public right-of-way.