Muncie, IN Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)

Muncie City Code Chapter 77 governs on-street parking, and Sec. 77.37, "Parking on public property restricted," is the section the Common Council uses against junk and abandoned vehicles. It reaches four separate conditions: a vehicle that is disassembled, one that is inoperable, one that is unlicensed or carries an expired license plate, and any vehicle that is junked, wrecked, or abandoned. All four are barred from any city street, alley, or city-controlled parking lot or garage, not just residential blocks. Enforcement runs through the Muncie Police Department: an officer orders removal of the offending vehicle, and the code sends the cost of that removal to the registered owner, following the abandoned-vehicle procedure the Indiana Code sets out.

Because Sec. 77.37 sits inside the general parking chapter, the standard citation and penalty scheme in Sec. 77.99 applies unless another section is named. Under Sec. 77.99(A)(1), the owner has three business days from the time a citation is placed on the vehicle to pay $30.00 in full satisfaction of the violation before Chapter 79's enforcement proceedings take over. An unpaid $30.00 fine escalates under Sec. 77.99(B)(1): it rises to $60.00 after 30 days and to $120.00 after 60 days, and the city can add collection costs and attorney fees if a case goes to a collection agent or litigation.

Payment is made at the office of the city clerk. Vehicles parked on private property outside city control fall to separate nuisance or property-maintenance provisions rather than Sec. 77.37, which is written to reach only streets, alleys, and city-controlled lots and garages.