What must be lawful for an inventory of a vehicle to be considered lawful?

For an inventory of a vehicle to be considered lawful, the underlying impoundment of the vehicle must be lawful. This means that the officer must have a legal basis for impounding the vehicle in the first place. When an officer impounds a vehicle, they are expected to conduct an inventory search of its contents to protect the owner’s property, secure evidence, and protect the agency against claims of lost or stolen items.

If the impoundment is not lawful—for example, if the vehicle was not parked in violation of the law or if the police had no reasonable grounds to impound it—the subsequent inventory search would also be deemed unlawful. Therefore, establishing that the impoundment is proper is critical for the inventory process to be valid and to uphold the constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.

The other options represent factors that may not necessarily ensure the legality of an inventory search. Consent from the driver is not needed for an inventory search if the vehicle is lawfully impounded, and the legality of parking is not the sole basis for an inventory. While a warrant may be required for some searches, inventory searches have distinct legal justifications that do not depend on warrants when conducted following a lawful impoundment.