Opinion ID: 1991559
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Inventory Procedures.

Text: Once the officers took custody of the car, department regulations required them to inventory its contents. Such an inventory must be conducted according to standardized criteria. Bertine, 479 U.S. at 375-76, 107 S.Ct. at 743, 93 L.Ed.2d at 747-49; Jackson, 542 N.W.2d at 845. Adherence to a standardized policy is critical for a valid inventory search because compliance tends to indicate that the inventorying was limited to that necessary to carry out the caretaking function. Fair, 627 N.E.2d at 432. Huisman argues the inventory of her car was not conducted in this manner because the vehicle was not impounded, towed to the station and then inventoried. Instead the officers inventoried Huisman's car at the motel and then drove it to the station. Huisman's argument is not convincing because the department policy does not require that the vehicle be towed nor does it require that the inventory be done at the police station. The relevant portion of the policy merely demands the completion of an inventory form: All vehicles impounded at the direction of a member of the Department will be fully inventoried, and the proper Impound Form will be prepared. This includes all containers which may hold valuables or other personal property, even if closed. Here, the officers complied with the policy by preparing the impoundment form while they searched the car at the motel lot. Moreover, Huisman's argument is contrary to the caretaking policy underlying vehicle inventories: If police must first tow a vehicle to the station and then conduct an inventory, the police run the risk that the vehicle's contents may disappearthe very risk inventories are intended to avoid. See State v. Roth, 305 N.W.2d 501, 504-05 (Iowa), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 870, 102 S.Ct. 338, 70 L.Ed.2d 174 (1981). We conclude the evidence Huisman seeks to suppress was discovered during a legally valid inventory search of her vehicle.