SB2635_H_Cmte_Amend

SECTION 1. For the purposes of this act, the following terms shall have the following meanings, unless context clearly provides otherwise:

(a) "Motor vehicle" means a vehicle which self-propels, and is intended primarily for use and operation on public roads and highways.

(b) "Nonconsensual towing" means the moving, transporting or recovery of a commercial vehicle by a towing and recovery service without the prior consent or authorization of the owner or operator of the motor vehicle from private property and/or by police-initiated towing.

(c) "Towing" means the moving, transporting or recovery from public or private property, or from a storage facility of a person's commercial motor vehicle, the moving or removing of an unclaimed commercial vehicle, or the immobilization of or preparation for moving or removing of the commercial motor vehicle, for which a fee is charged either directly or indirectly.

(d) Heavy-duty towing shall be the towing of a vehicle, including trailers and semitrailers, with a gross vehicle rating over twenty-six thousand (26,000) pounds.

(e) Medium-duty towing shall be the towing of a vehicle, including trailers and semitrailers with a gross vehicle rating of over fifteen thousand (15,000) pounds to twenty-six thousand (26,000) pounds.

(f) "Towing and recovery service" means an individual or business entity that provides towing and recovery services at the direction of a law enforcement office or private property owner in exchange for a fee or charge.

(g) "Law enforcement officer" means any law enforcement public servant and/or State Highway Patrol Officer.

(h) "Tow list" means a list of approved towing companies compiled, maintained and utilized by a law enforcement officer or his or her designee, and as authorized by the Department of Public Safety to perform police-initiated towing services of disabled or abandoned commercial motor vehicles.

(i) "Police initiated towing" means towing of a commercial motor vehicle which was authorized, requested or dispatched by a law enforcement officer.

(j) "Vehicle immobilization device" means a mechanical device that is designated or adapted to be attached to a wheel, tire or other part of a parked commercial motor vehicle to prohibit the vehicle's usual manner of movement or operation.

(k) "Per pound billing" means a method of calculating a fee for towing using a formula that considers the weight of the commercial motor vehicle, equipment or cargo that is the subject of the towing and multiplies the weight of the vehicle, equipment or cargo by a monetary amount.

(l) "Drop fee" means a fee that a towing and recovery service charges to unhook a commercial motor vehicle from a tow truck.

(m) "Cargo" means goods and materials transported by a commercial motor vehicle as defined in 49 CFR Section 390.5, including, without limitation:

(i) Pallets;

(ii) Containers;

(iii) Bracing;

(iv) Air pillows;

(v) Tie-down assemblies and other securement systems;

(vi) Cradles;

(vii) Chocks; and

(viii) All other dunnage and packaging.

(n) "Commercial vehicle" means any self-propelled or motored device designed to be used or used primarily for the transportation of passengers or property, or both, and have a gross vehicular weight rating of fifteen thousand (15,000) pounds or more.

SECTION 2. (1) The Department of Public Safety, Public Commercial Transportation Enforcement Division, shall create within the department a "Commercial Vehicle Towing Advisory Committee." The Commercial Vehicle Towing Advisory Committee shall consist of the following members:

(a) The Commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, or his or her designee;

(b) The Director of the Mississippi Highway Patrol (Assistant Commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety), or his or her designee;

(c) Two (2) members, the President of the Mississippi Towing Association, and his or her appointee, to represent the towing and recovery services within the state;

(d) Two (2) members, appointed by the President of the Mississippi Trucking Association, to represent the commercial motor carriers within the state; and

(e) One (1) member, appointed by the Governor, to represent the local police jurisdictions.

(2) Members of the Commercial Vehicle Towing Advisory Committee shall serve for a term of two (2) years. Members may serve consecutive terms. Members shall serve without compensation.

(3) At the first meeting, the Commercial Vehicle Towing Advisory Committee shall elect a chairperson from its membership to serve for a term of two (2) years. A chairperson may serve consecutive terms.

(4) The Commercial Vehicle Towing Advisory Committee shall hold its first meeting no later than September 1, 2024, at a time and location within the state to be determined by the Commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety. Thereafter, meetings shall be held on dates and at times and locations within the state and selected by the chairperson in consultation with the other members or by the Commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety if the most recent chairperson's term has expired.

(5) The Commercial Vehicle Towing Advisory Committee shall keep and maintain a record of all proceedings of the Commercial Vehicle Towing Advisory Committee, and copies of all orders and/or recommendations issued by the Commercial Vehicle Towing Advisory Committee.

SECTION 3. (1) The Commercial Vehicle Towing Advisory Committee shall:

(a) Establish regulations and standards for the inclusion of a towing and recovery service on the tow list, including application procedures and minimum qualification requirements;

(b) Establish statewide maximum towing and storage rates for nonconsensual tows, including those for private property. The established maximum rates shall include maximum rates for administrative fees, provided as follows:

(i) A towing and recovery service may charge less than, but may not charge more than the approved statewide rates;

(ii) The towing and recovery service shall not charge or retain any fees not indicated by the committee for the maximum rates for towing and storage of a commercial motor vehicle after the nonconsensual tow from private property; and

(iii) The statewide maximum towing and storage rates for nonconsensual tows shall be reviewed annually. Market fluctuations within the towing industry may be considered along with current consensual towing market rates and their relationship to nonconsensual towing rates;

(d) Publish a Towing Service Standard Manual, with rules governing the use of towing and recovery services for nonconsensually towing of commercial vehicles no later than January 1, 2025. At a minimum, the rules shall include the following provisions to:

(i) Establish the information required to be included on any invoice associated with the towing of a commercial motor vehicle, including, but not limited to, requiring that the invoice be itemized;

(ii) Establish factors that shall be considered in determining whether a charge levied by a towing and recovery service is fair, equitable and reasonable;

(iii) Establish a process the committee shall use to receive, investigate and adjudicate complaints against a towing and recovery service;

(iv) Establish a service charge dispute resolution process that includes, at minimum, provisions requiring completion of a written complaint form, deadlines for initiating a complaint after receiving an itemized invoice, deadlines for responding to a complaint, cessation of storage fees during the complaint resolution process, a hearing on the complaint and deadlines for issuing a formal decision adjudicating the service charge dispute;

(v) Establish an appeals process for the appeal of any determination of order of the committee under this subsection;

(vi) Establish a disciplinary procedure for violations of the rules by the towing and recovery service, including the suspension or removal of a towing and recovery service from the tow list; and

(vii) Establish a process the Department of Public Safety may use to suspend or remove a towing and recovery service from any tow list.

SECTION 4. (1) Upon nonconsensual towing and recovery of a commercial towing vehicle and movement of the commercial motor vehicle to a storage facility, a towing and recovery service shall allow an owner of a commercial motor vehicle or a designee of the owner of the commercial motor vehicle to access the vehicle in a reasonable manner as established by rules adopted by the Commercial Vehicle Towing Advisory Committee. Any vehicle towed nonconsensually in Mississippi must be stored in the State of Mississippi.

(2) The towing and recovery services shall provide a commercial vehicle owner or operator or owner's designee with reasonable access to the vehicle so that the vehicle owner and operator or the owner's designee may access and collect any personal property contained in the vehicle, regardless of whether any payment has been made for the towing and recovery service charges.

(3) If there is no dispute as to the charges assessed by the towing and recovery service for the nonconsensual towing of the commercial motor vehicle, the vehicle owner or operator or the owner's designee shall pay the towing service invoice and the towing and recovery service shall release the vehicle immediately.

SECTION 5. In authorizing a towing and recovery service to perform towing services, any law enforcement officer may utilize the services of a tow list, provided:

(a) They are under no obligation to include or retain the services of any towing and recovery service in any contract or agreement with respect to any tow list established pursuant to this subsection. A towing and recovery service is subject to removal from a towing list at any time; and

(b) An owner or operator of a commercial motor vehicle may request a specific towing and recovery service and that request shall be honored by the law enforcement officer unless the requested towing and recovery service cannot perform the requested towing and recovery service or does not respond in a reasonable time, as determined by the law enforcement officer.

SECTION 6. (1) It shall be unlawful for:

(a) A law enforcement officer to:

(i) Receive compensation or receive any other incentive, monetary or otherwise, to select a particular towing and recovery service from the list;

(ii) Hold any financial interest in a towing and recovery service; and

(iii) Recommend any towing and recovery service in the performance of his or her duties;

(b) Any member of the Commercial Vehicle Towing Advisory Committee or Department of Transportation to receive compensation from a towing and recovery service for the privilege of being included on the tow list;

(c) A towing and recovery service to pay money or other valuable consideration for the privilege of nonconsensual towing commercial motor vehicles;

(d) A towing and recovery service to employ or otherwise compensate individuals, commonly referred to as "spotters," whose primary task is to report the presence of unauthorized, improperly or illegally parked commercial motor vehicles for the purpose of towing or removal and storage; and

(2) Nonconsensual tows for unauthorized, illegally parked commercial motor vehicles on private property must be performed by Mississippi-based towers. Towed vehicles must be stored within the State of Mississippi.

SECTION 7. (1) (a) Before a towing and recovery service connects a commercial motor vehicle to a tow truck for a nonconsensual tow, the towing and recovery service shall document the vehicle's condition and the reason for the tow by:

(i) Taking at least four (4) photographs of the vehicle, with at least one (1) photograph taken from the front, one (1) photograph taken from the rear, one (1) photograph taken from the driver's side and one (1) taken from the passenger's side. These photographs must:

1. Show the entire vehicle from the required angle; and

2. Have the vehicle fill at least three-fourths (3/4) of the photograph, measured from side to side; and

(ii) Taking a photograph that shows the reason the vehicle is being towed nonconsensually. The photograph must show the portion of the vehicle in relation to the reason, including any sign that the vehicle was towed.

(b) Upon demand of the owner or operator of the commercial motor vehicle or the owner's designee, the Department of Transportation or the Commercial Vehicle Towing Advisory Committee, the towing and recovery service shall provide copies of the photographs.

(c) A towing and recovery service's failure to produce the photographs shall create a rebuttable presumption that the towing and recovery service did not have the authority to tow a vehicle from either a private property owner or operator or a law enforcement officer.

(2) Before a towing and recovery service connects a commercial motor vehicle to a tow truck for a nonconsensual tow, the towing and recovery service shall have authorization to nonconsensually tow a commercial motor vehicle. Authorization shall be found if:

(a) A law enforcement officer requests a police-initiated tow and requests that a towing and recovery service from the tow list provide towing; or

(b) The towing and recovery service has received permission to tow the commercial motor vehicle from the owner of the private property.

A towing service shall not tow a commercial motor vehicle from private property without the owner or operator of the private property giving the tower service written permission.

(c) In order for the towing and recovery service to conduct a nonconsensual tow, the private property owner must have posted signage visible and facing the driver at each entryway into the property stating that vehicles parked on the property without authorization or inappropriately or illegally parked are subject to being towed. The sign must also contain the international towing symbol no smaller than four (4) inches by four (4) inches and be permanently mounted in a position that is no lower than five (5) feet and no higher than eight (8) feet.

(3) The towing and recovery service shall not assess a drop fee to release the commercial motor vehicle after the vehicle is hooked up to the tow truck but before the vehicle is removed from the private property.

SECTION 8. A towing and recovery service shall not use vehicle immobilization devices except under the direction of law enforcement.

SECTION 9. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2024, and shall stand repealed on July 1, 2029.