Mason County, WA Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)

Chapter 10.72, adopted by Ordinance 829 in 1977, defines two categories of abandoned property. Section 10.72.010 covers a full abandoned vehicle, left on a highway or on someone else's property without consent for twenty-four hours or longer, with an exception for a vehicle whose owner cannot move it and has already notified law enforcement and requested help. The same section separately defines an abandoned automobile hulk as an inoperative remnant of a vehicle that cannot be made mechanically operative again without vital parts and substantial labor.

Section 10.72.020 declares any abandoned, wrecked, dismantled, or inoperative vehicle, hulk, or parts on public or private property a public nuisance subject to abatement. Section 10.72.030 creates a rebuttable presumption that the last registered owner is responsible for the abandonment and liable for removal, storage, and disposal costs, unless that owner has already filed the ownership-transfer notice required by RCW 46.52.104. The sheriff can appoint a bonded tow operator under Section 10.72.040 to take custody of abandoned vehicles, and under Section 10.72.110 the sheriff, a qualified tow operator, or another county agent may remove an abandoned vehicle from private property, though the property owner and the last registered owner are entitled to written notice and, if requested, a hearing before the board of Mason County commissioners under Section 10.72.120 before removal on private land proceeds.