Junk car in Clinton? What the city code says

Clinton's one-line junk test

Section 46-151 boils it down. A junked or abandoned vehicle is one "in a state of disrepair and incapable of being moved under its own power." Antiques are carved out.

The ordinance also lets an officer ask for proof. When an officer "has cause to believe" a car is junked, the burden can fall on the owner, or on whoever is in charge of the car or the land under it, to show it isn't. If you mean to keep a car that rarely moves, keep it able to start.

Apartment and rental lots

Clinton's rental housing chapter, Section 18-156, casts a wider net. It covers a vehicle "physically incapable of operation, stripped, substantially damaged, lacking of a current license plate and/or inspection sticker, discarded or unable to be safely and legally operated." Mississippi scrapped annual inspection stickers in 2015, according to a news report from then. For a Clinton tenant, the expired plate is the real risk.

After day ten

Past the deadline, the officer can stick the ticket on the car, much like a parking ticket. Section 46-159 then says a wrecker that hauls off a junked or abandoned vehicle may proceed under MCA 63-23-5. State rules take over from there. A police-towed car that nobody claims for 40 days is abandoned. The holder writes the owner and lienholder within a week, and after 30 unclaimed days the car may be sold or destroyed. Towed or impounded covers getting it back.

Hinds County plates and toll bills

Plates in Mississippi go home with the seller. Pull yours at the sale and drop it at the Hinds County Tax Collector, which gives credit for whatever tag fee is left. That credit starts counting on surrender day, and other counties accept it. Pulling the plate also helps with tolls. When a bill shows up for a car you no longer own, DOR will reach out to the toll company on your behalf, provided the plate came off before the car left.

Signing the Clinton title

The seller fills out the whole assignment apart from the buyer's printed name and signature. The buyer's name line may not sit empty to be completed afterward. No title in hand? It has to be replaced first. Mail Form 78-006 with $9.00 to the DOR's Motor Vehicle Services in Jackson, P.O. Box 1383, ZIP 39215-1383. For a car headed to the scrapper, the state swaps the surrendered title for a Junked Certificate of Title.

Near Clinton

Straight-line distances from Clinton: Jackson 8.0 miles, Ridgeland 11.5, Madison 14.8. Statewide rules sit on the Mississippi page.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or fill out the online form. The form asks what we need about your Clinton car. Already holding a notice from Clinton police? Say so. Pickup is free anywhere in the US, and the truck can pull up to your driveway, an apartment lot or the curb where the car stopped.