When They Tow Your Car
South Dakota v. Opperman — the inventory search, and why it finds things
An inventory is not a search for evidence, at least not in the eyes of the rule that allows it. It is a listing of what was in a vehicle taken into custody, done to protect the owner's property, to protect the agency from claims about it, and to protect anyone handling the car. That is why it needs no warrant and no suspicion at all.
Who handles this in Ohio: Ohio State Bar Association lawyer referral; and legal aid programs and the state offices, listed in the Ohio directory.
Anything found during a lawful inventory still gets used. The purpose that makes the inventory lawful is not evidence gathering, and evidence found during one is admissible anyway. That is the part people find hardest to accept, and it is why what is in a car at the moment it is impounded matters more than most people expect.
- The impound itself has to be lawful first. An inventory of a car that had no business being towed is a different argument.
- It has to follow the agency's standard procedure rather than an officer's own judgment about where to look.
- A procedure that leaves the scope entirely to the officer is the weak point, and it is where these get challenged.
- Consent is not required and is not asked for, because the rule does not run on consent.
- Arranging for a licensed driver to take the car, where that is allowed, avoids the whole question.
Getting the car back is a separate process from the criminal case, it runs on its own clock, and storage accrues daily while nothing is happening. Where the car went and what the release requires are both easier to learn at the scene than afterwards.
Towing, storage rates, and release requirements are set locally and by the towing operator rather than by the Revised Code, so they vary considerably between jurisdictions.
Sources for this section (3)
- South Dakota v. Opperman, 428 U.S. 364 (1976) — A routine inventory of a lawfully impounded vehicle, done to standard procedure, is reasonable
- U.S. Const. amend. IV — Searches and seizures
- ORC 4507.35 — Display of license on demand
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Ohio attorney.