Cal. VEH § 10502

This is the official text of Cal. VEH § 10502, part of California’s Vehicle Code — governs traffic laws, driver's licenses, and vehicle registration.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

Official statutory text

(a) The owner or legal owner of a vehicle registered under this code which has been stolen or embezzled may notify the Department of the California Highway Patrol of the theft or embezzlement, but in the event of an embezzlement other than an embezzlement as specified in Section 10855, may make the report only after having procured the issuance of a warrant for the arrest of the person charged with the embezzlement.

(b) Every owner or legal owner who has given any notice under subdivision (a) shall notify the Department of the California Highway Patrol of a recovery of the vehicle.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

Need a lawyer in California?

Find a California lawyer

About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.