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What Happens to Your Vehicle After a DUI Arrest in California?

A DUI arrest can create issues beyond the criminal case itself. What happens to your vehicle can also involve the Fourth Amendment, particularly if police decide to impound it after your arrest.

Some law enforcement agencies have policies requiring them to impound a vehicle when someone is arrested for DUI. Before the vehicle can be towed, police may conduct an inventory search.

An inventory search is different from a search specifically looking for drugs, guns, or other illegal items.

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What Is an Inventory Search?

An inventory search is intended to document property inside the vehicle before it is towed.

Officers can look for items of value and record those items as part of the vehicle's inventory. For example, if you have a laptop inside the vehicle, officers may document that the laptop was present before the vehicle was taken to the tow yard.

This documentation can help establish what property was inside the vehicle when it was impounded.

The purpose of the inventory is not supposed to be searching specifically for illegal items.

However, if officers conducting the inventory search discover something illegal, that discovery can potentially result in additional charges.

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Can You Prevent Your Vehicle From Being Impounded?

After a DUI arrest, officers may ask whether it is okay to leave your vehicle where it is.

If the vehicle can legally remain where it is, the vehicle may not need to be impounded. In that situation, there may also be no need for the inventory search associated with the tow.

The circumstances can vary depending on where the vehicle is located and the policies of the law enforcement agency involved.

If officers decide to impound the vehicle, however, they may conduct the inventory search before the vehicle is towed.

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What If Police Find Something Illegal?

An inventory search is intended to document property of value, not to serve as a search for evidence of criminal activity.

However, if officers find something illegal while conducting the inventory, that discovery can potentially become evidence and may lead to additional charges.

This is one reason the circumstances surrounding the impoundment and inventory search can matter when evaluating a case.

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What Happens If Your Vehicle Is Left Parked?

If police leave your vehicle parked rather than impounding it, you may remain responsible for the vehicle while you are in custody.

If something happens to the vehicle while it is parked, that can create another issue for you.

If police impound the vehicle, on the other hand, you will generally have to deal with towing and impound fees.

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What Do Impound Fees Cost?

Towing and impound fees can add up quickly. Once your vehicle is taken to a tow yard, you may be responsible for the costs associated with recovering it.

For that reason, if your vehicle has been impounded after a DUI arrest, it is important to retrieve it as soon as possible when you are able to do so.

The longer a vehicle remains in an impound lot, the more quickly associated fees can accumulate.

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Why Does the Vehicle Search Matter?

The decision to impound a vehicle can create Fourth Amendment issues because police may search the vehicle as part of the inventory process.

The purpose of an inventory search is to document valuable property, not to look for evidence. However, anything illegal that officers discover during the process may become part of the case.

Understanding why the vehicle was impounded, what type of search was conducted, and what officers discovered can therefore be important when reviewing a California DUI case.

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