Sacramento County, CA Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)

County Code Chapter 6.56 sets out the County's authority to abate abandoned, wrecked, dismantled, or inoperative vehicles. Section 6.56.010 declares that the accumulation and storage of such vehicles reduces property values, promotes blight, attracts crime, creates fire hazards, and harbors rodents and insects, making it a public nuisance. This abatement authority is grounded in California Vehicle Code Section 22660, which allows counties to establish procedures for removing such vehicles and recovering costs. The County Code Enforcement Division's process: a vehicle that appears abandoned, wrecked, dismantled, unregistered, or parked in excess of 72 hours is posted with a 72-hour notice of intent to abate; if the owner does not voluntarily correct the problem, the vehicle is towed and fees may be imposed. Nuisance vehicles include those that are abandoned, wrecked, dismantled, inoperative, unregistered for more than six months, or unmoved for more than 72 hours. On the street, the 72-hour rule in Section 10.24.070 makes a vehicle eligible for abatement. Residents can report suspected abandoned vehicles to the County (via 311 or the Code Enforcement vehicle-abatement program); on-street parking-only violations are referred to the Sheriff's parking enforcement.