Fresno County Municipal Code Ch. 11.29 Transportation of Metal Upon Public Roads

As used in this chapter, the following words shall have the following meaning:

"Metals" means any wire, cable, copper, lead, solder, mercury, iron, aluminum, stainless steel or brass.

(Ord. 07-015, § 4)

Any person who transports metals that are in a finished product, new item of merchandisable quality, or materials in such a state or condition as to show they were neither abandoned nor scrapped, upon any public road in Fresno County shall have in the person's possession a valid bill of sale for the metal or written permission issued by the owner of the metal authorizing the transportation of the metal.

(Ord. 07-015, § 4)

Any such bill of sale or written permission shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following:

A. The name, address, phone number and signature of the person either selling metal or authorizing the transportation of the metal.

B. A description sufficient to identify the property that the person is transporting is the property that was either sold to them or they were given permission to transport.

C. The date of issuance of the bill of sale or the written permission to transport.

(Ord. 07-015, § 4)

Any peace officer, upon probable cause to believe a person is transporting metal without a bill of sale or written permission, may stop such person and require presentation of the bill of sale or written permission. If a person does not have the bill of sale or written permission, such other evidence must be presented to the peace officer to establish ownership to the satisfaction of the peace officer.

(Ord. 07-015, § 4)

Any peace officer, upon reasonable belief that a person is not in lawful possession of the metal, may seize such metal without a warrant. Upon seizure, the peace officer shall take custody of the metal and turn them over to the custody of the sheriff. The sheriff shall receive and provide for the care and safekeeping of the metal, except that such items may be immediately destroyed if they cannot be returned to the lawful owner.

(Ord. 07-015, § 4)

The sheriff shall make a reasonable investigation to ascertain the rightful owner of the metal which has been seized pursuant to this chapter. The sheriff shall release custody of the metal to the rightful owner pursuant to the provisions of Section 1413(b) of the Penal Code.

(Ord. 07-015, § 4)