TexasCHLforum.com

The original question was answered pretty well in the posted link. It has some general points covering inventories and vehicle searches. There are some things you may not be aware of that you might want to know, however.

In general, an officer can perform an inventory of a vehicle he is impounding. The purpose of the inventory is to locate any valuable property which the police are assuming responsibility for. This is to prevent the false claims against the police of missing property. As such, the police can inventory anywhere in the car that might contain valuables, including locked containers.

There are lots of rules on these inventories to prevent the exact kind of fishing expedition that was referred to. Among the limits is that the inventory must be an actual inventory, must be performed according to written procedure, and the officer must have a valid reason for impounding the car. For example, if there is another legal driver present who the operator/owner will allow to drive the car, it cannot be impounded. If a relative will come get the car, in a reasonable time, it cannot be impounded. If the owner is willing to assume the responsibility for the car and wants to leave it legally parked at the scene, it cannot be impounded. Note that legally parked means just that in a legal space without the time limit of a meter and not posing any type of traffic hazard.

But, you might not be aware of exactly what can get you arrested in Texas. If an officer stops you for having defective equipment, such as a blown out license plate light, you can be legally arrested. This means you can be booked into the county jail for this offense. For almost any traffic offense, you can be arrested. There are only three times in the state where an officer does not have discretion on an arrest. He MUST arrest for a violation of a protective order committed in his presence, and he CANNOT arrest for speeding or having an open container of alcoholic beverage unless he first offers a chance to sign a ticket. This means he can let you go with filing charges for a shooting or arrest for any other traffic offense, even as minor as the one I posted above.

Then, there are other ways to impound a car without an arrest. An officer can impound a car parked in such a manner as to create a hazard or obstruct traffic. I think we all knew that one, but he can also impound for nay violation that is not correctable on the spot, whether he arrests or not. The officer basically can arrest to stop an illegally operated car, in other words. Since the officer does not sell insurance, tags, or perform inspections, he can impound a car for one of those violations without arresting the driver at the time. Same with a person with no driver's license. All he needs in these cases is a policy allowing it and many cities have passed these ordinances lately. Courts have upheld these impoundments as legal.

As far as consent goes, I always advise people I know to clearly state that they are not consenting to a search but to never argue or fight the cop. As several people have said, that fight is for the courtroom. You will not win on the street. As a matter of fact, the law specifically states you cannot resist the search even if it is illegal.