Abilene, TX Parking Rules: Overnight Parking (2026)

002 of the Texas Transportation Code defines when a motor vehicle counts as abandoned, and Abilene has adopted this chapter as its own ordinance for junked and abandoned vehicles under Code of Ordinances § 19-2. A vehicle is abandoned if it is inoperable, more than five years old, and left unattended on public property for more than 48 hours; if it has remained illegally on public property for more than 48 hours; if it sits on private property without the owner's or occupant's consent for more than 48 hours; if it is left on a designated highway right-of-way for more than 48 hours; or if it sits on a turnpike or controlled-access highway right-of-way for more than 24 hours.

Abilene's own nuisance code, § 19-15(18), separately lists a violation of Chapter 683 as a prohibited nuisance condition, which is how the City reaches a car left parked on the same street segment for days at a time even though no city ordinance sets a fixed nightly curfew. Enforcement uses the alternative administrative procedure at § 19-34: a person cited is entitled to request a hearing within ten days, the hearing is held within twenty-one days (but not before the eleventh day after the citation) before a Hearing Officer appointed by the municipal court clerk, and failure to appear after a request is treated as an admission of liability.

The Hearing Officer's order can direct removal of the vehicle plus towing and storage costs, and after removal the vehicle may not be reconstructed or made operable again. A person found liable may appeal to municipal court within thirty days of the order, but must post the bond set in the order before filing to stay collection.