Wayne County, IN Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)

Under Wayne County Code § 72.09, members of the Sheriff's Department are authorized to remove an abandoned vehicle to a garage designated or maintained by the Sheriff's Department, with that authority itself grounded in Indiana Code § 9-9-1.5. This impoundment power sits within Chapter 72's parking framework, which the Board of Commissioners administers alongside the definitions in § 72.01: ROAD means any road designated as part of the county road system within the county's boundaries, ROADWAY means the portion of a road improved or ordinarily used for vehicular travel, and SHERIFF means any officer of the County Sheriff's Department or any officer authorized to direct or regulate traffic.

Chapter 72's other provisions reinforce why a vehicle left in the roadway is subject to removal: § 72.02 bars parking that leaves less than ten feet of clear roadway width, § 72.03 bars parking a vehicle for the purpose of displaying it for sale or performing repairs on it, and § 72.08 confirms these parking prohibitions apply at all times except when a vehicle must stop to avoid a traffic conflict or comply with a Sheriff's officer's directions. Because § 72.09 sets no separate fine, an abandoned-vehicle violation of the chapter's parking prohibitions falls back to the general penalty in § 10.99, a fine not exceeding $2,500 for a first violation, while impoundment itself is a remedial action taken by the Sheriff's Department rather than a fine.