St. Peters, MO Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)

Section 217.020(A) makes it an offense to knowingly abandon a motor vehicle, vessel or trailer on the right-of-way of a public road or state highway, in state waters, on land owned or leased by the state or federal government, or on private property without the owner's consent. Section 217.020(B) creates a rebuttable presumption that the last registered owner of record is the person who abandoned the vehicle, though the owner can escape liability by submitting an affidavit showing another person had care, custody or control at the time, or proof a police report was filed showing the vehicle was stolen.

Section 217.020(C) classifies abandoning a vehicle as an ordinance violation, and Section 217.020(D) makes a convicted person civilly liable for reasonable towing, storage and administrative costs. Separately, Section 217.030 prohibits the open storage of inoperable or unlicensed vehicles, recreational vehicles, recreational equipment or trailers that the City deems a public safety hazard, with exceptions for vehicles fully enclosed in a locked building or fenced area on a hard surface and not visible from adjacent property, or vehicles on a licensed salvage, junk, towing or storage business's property.

Section 215.010(M) reaches the same problem from the nuisance side, declaring a derelict, junk, scrapped or disassembled vehicle a public nuisance unless the same enclosure or licensed-business exceptions apply. Section 217.040(A) lets a City Police Officer authorize a towing company to remove abandoned property from private property after it has sat unattended more than forty-eight hours, or immediately if it is a safety hazard or unreasonably interferes with the property's use; Section 217.040(B) lets the City tow derelict vehicles declared a nuisance under Section 215.010(M) as well.