Is California Vehicle Code Authority Enough to Impound a Vehicle?

This post is only offered as a discussion topic only and does not represent legal advice. Officers must refer to the laws in their own State as well as their agency's policies, which can be more restrictive on officers that the law requires.

Scenario: While working uniformed patrol you pull over a vehicle for having a partially obscured license plate. You discover the driver is unlicensed. Can you tow the vehicle and conduct an inventory search?

Is California Vehicle Code Authority Enough to Impound a Vehicle?

Answer: This was one of the issues discussed by the Ninth Circuit in United States v. Anderson from 2022. In this case, the court said, "Although California law authorizes impoundment of a vehicle where the driver does not have a valid driver's license (CVC 14607.6), this alone does not establish a valid community caretaking purpose that satisfies the Fourth Amendment. The deputies must have had an objectively reasonable belief that (the arrestee's) truck was parked illegally, posed a safety hazard, or was vulnerable to vandalism or theft."

In fact, back in 2019, the California Legislature amended California Vehicle Code Section 22650 to be in line with several prior case laws that also discussed this same issue. That code now requires that any removal of a vehicle must be intended to achieve a community caretaking need, regardless of the provisions set forth in California Vehicle Code 22651 for impounding vehicles.

So, in our opening scenario, the California Vehicle Code authorizes towing the vehicle but only if officers can show that it was done for a community caretaking purpose.