Sutter County Municipal Code Ch. 235 Junk Dealers and Scrap Metal Recyclers

This chapter is adopted in supplementation of Business and Professions Code sections 21600 through 21609. This chapter is not intended to supersede the provisions of these statutes. Any conflict that may exist between this chapter and state laws shall be resolved in favor of the latter. Nothing contained herein shall relieve any person or legal entity of obligations contained in the Business and Professions Code or other provisions of state or local law.

(a) As used in this chapter, "junk" means any and all secondhand and used machinery and all ferrous and nonferrous scrap metals and alloys, including any and all secondhand and used furniture, pallets, or other personal property, other than livestock, or parts or portions thereof; or as defined in California Business and Professions Code Section 21600 as amended from time to time.

(b) As used in this chapter, "scrap metals and alloys" includes, but is not limited to, materials and equipment commonly used in construction, agricultural operations and electrical power generation, railroad equipment, oil well rigs, nonferrous materials, stainless steel, and nickel which are offered for sale to any junk dealer or recycler, but does not include scrap iron, household generated waste, or aluminum beverage containers, as defined in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 14502) of Division 12.1 of the Public Resources Code; or as defined in California Business and Professions Code Section 21600 as amended from time to time.

(c) As used in this chapter, "junk dealer" includes any person engaged in the business of buying, selling and dealing in junk, any person purchasing, gathering, collecting, soliciting or traveling about from place to place procuring junk, and any person operating, carrying on, conducting or maintaining a junk yard or place where junk is gathered together and stored or kept for shipment, sale or transfer; or as defined in California Business and Professions Code Section 21601 as amended from time to time.

(d) As used in this chapter, "junk yard" includes any yard, plot, space, enclosure, building or any other place where junk is collected, stored, gathered together and kept; or as defined in California Business and Professions Code Section 21602 as amended from time to time.

(e) As used in this chapter, "recycler" means any processor, recycling center, or non-certified recycler, as those terms are defined in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 14502) of Division 12.1 of the Public Resources Code, who buys or sells scrap metal that constitutes junk, as defined in Business and Professions Code section 21600; or as defined in California Business and Professions Code Section 21605 as amended from time to time.

(f) As used in this chapter, "nonferrous material" means copper, copper alloys, stainless steel, or aluminum but does not include beverage containers, as defined in Section 14505 of the Public Resources Code; or as defined in California Business and Professions Code Section 21600 et. seq. as amended from time to time

This chapter shall not apply to those exempted in California Business and Professions Code Sections 21603 and 21604 as amended from time to time.

(a) No person shall operate as a junk dealer or recycler unless a license has been obtained from the Sutter County Sheriff's Department. The annual fee for said license shall be ten dollars ($10.00).

(b) Persons applying for the license required under Section 235-040(A) shall file with the Sutter County Sheriff's Department, an application in writing, giving in said application, the name and age of applicant; his or her present address or addresses; the name under which, and the place where, such business will be conducted; and the name under which, and the place where, the applicant has conducted a similar business within 12 months immediately preceding the date of the application. The application shall contain an acknowledgement that the applicant has read Penal Code section 496a and is familiar with the provisions contained therein.

(c) The Sutter County Sheriff's Department shall issue a license under Section 235-040(a) of this Chapter upon payment of the required license fee unless the application required in Section 230-040(b) reveals that the issuance of such license would violate the regulations prescribed in this Chapter or the provisions of some other Section of the Sutter County Code.

(d) The licensee shall keep such license at the location where business will be conducted. The license shall be promptly displayed and shown to any law enforcement officer of the County of Sutter or State of California upon request.

(e) No person shall operate as a junk dealer or recycler in violation of the regulations set forth in this Chapter.

(a) Every junk dealer and every recycler in Sutter County is hereby required to keep a written record, in the English language, of all sales and purchases made in the course of his or her business in accordance with the provisions of California Business and Professions Code Section 21606 as amended from time to time.

(b) Every junk dealer and every recycler shall set out in the written record required by this chapter all of the following:

(1) The place and date of each sale or purchase of junk made in the conduct of his or her business as a junk dealer or recycler.

(2) The name, valid driver's license number and state of issue or California-issued identification card number, and vehicle license number including the state of issue of any motor vehicle used in transporting the junk to the junk dealer's or recycler's place of business.

(3) The name and address of each person to whom junk is sold or disposed of, and the license number of any motor vehicle used in transporting the junk from the junk dealer's or recycler's place of business.

(4) A description of the item or items of junk purchased or sold, including the item type and quantity, and identification number, if visible.

(5) A statement indicating either that the seller of the junk is the owner of it, or the name of the person he or she obtained it from, as shown on a signed transfer document.

(c) Any person who makes, or causes to be made, any false or fictitious statement regarding any information required by this section, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

(d) Every junk dealer or recycler shall comply with the provisions of California Business and Professions Code Section 21606.5 as amended from time to time, and, during normal business hours, allow periodic inspection of any premises maintained and any junk thereon for the purpose of determining compliance with the recordkeeping requirements of this article, and shall during those hours produce his or her records of sales and purchases and all property purchased incident to those transactions which is in the possession of the junk dealer or recycler for inspection by any of the following persons:

(1) Any officer holding a warrant authorizing him or her to search for personal property.

(2) Any person appointed by the sheriff of any county or appointed by the head of the police department of any city.

(3) Any officer holding a court order directing him or her to examine the records or property.

(e) Every junk dealer and recycler shall comply with the provisions of California Business and Professions Code Section 21607 as amended from time to time, and preserve the written record required by this chapter for at least two years after making the final entry of any purchase or sale of junk or scrap metals and alloys as defined in Section 21600 of the California Business and Professions Code.

A junk dealer or recycler shall not provide payment for nonferrous material unless, in addition to meeting the written record requirements of section 235-040, all of the following requirements are met:

(1) The payment for the material is made by check for any transaction in which the payment exceeds the sum of five dollars ($5.00).

(2) The junk dealer or recycler obtains a photograph and an address of the seller, or a copy of the valid driver's license of the seller containing a photograph and an address of the seller, or a copy of a state or federal government-issued identification card containing a photograph and an address of the seller. The junk dealer or recycler shall preserve the photograph and the address or the copies obtained pursuant to this paragraph for a period of two years after the date of sale.

The provisions of this section shall be in supplementation of Business and Professions Code Section 21600 et. seq. as amended from time to time. This section is not intended to supersede the provisions of these statutes. Any conflict that may exist between this section and state laws shall be resolved in favor of the latter.

(a) Every junk dealer or recycler shall immediately notify the Sheriff's Department by telephone, or other means likely to reach the Sheriff's Department without delay, of the following transactions:

The sale or purchase of any junk which reasonably appear to be used only by governments, utilities, railroads, or for specific purposes, such as guardrails, manhole covers, aluminum irrigation pipe, high voltage transmission lines, historical markers, cemetery plaques, light poles, and bleachers.

(b) Every junk dealer or recycler shall hold all scrap metals described in this section in its custody in the same condition in which they were received for a minimum of five days before the scrap metals and alloys may be released or disposed of.

(a) Whenever any peace officer has probable cause to believe that property in the possession of a junk dealer or recycler is stolen, in lieu of seizing the property, the peace officer as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 21606.5 of the California Business and Professions Code, at his or her option, may place a hold on the property for a period not to exceed 90 days. When a peace officer places a hold on the property, the peace officer shall give the junk dealer or recycler a written notice at the time the hold is placed, describing the item or items to be held plus the case number. During that period the junk dealer or recycler shall not release or dispose of the property, except pursuant to a court order or upon receipt of a written authorization signed by any peace officer who is a member of the law enforcement agency of which the peace officer placing the hold on the property is a member. Except as specifically set forth in this chapter, a junk dealer or recycler shall not be subject to civil liability for compliance with this chapter.

(b) Whenever property that is in the possession of a junk dealer or recycler is subject to a hold and the property is required by a peace officer in a criminal investigation, the junk dealer or recycler, upon reasonable notice, shall produce the property at reasonable times and places or may deliver the property to any peace officer upon the request of any peace officer who is a member of the law enforcement agency of which the peace officer placing the hold on the property is a member.

(c) Whenever property that is in the possession of a junk dealer or recycler is subject to a hold and the property is no longer required for the purpose of criminal investigation, the law enforcement agency that placed the hold on the property shall undertake the following:

(1) With respect to the property being held, if the law enforcement agency has no knowledge of the property on hold being reported as stolen, the property shall be released upon written notice to the scrap metal dealer or recycler. The notice shall be provided in a timely fashion.

(2) If the law enforcement agency has knowledge that the property has been reported stolen, the law enforcement agency shall notify the person who reported the stolen property of the name and address of the junk dealer or recycler holding the property and authorize the release of the property to that person.

The law enforcement agency that placed the property on hold shall release the hold after 60 days has elapsed following the delivery of the notice to the person who reported the property stolen.

(3) If a victim seeks to recover property that is subject to a hold, the junk dealer or recycler shall advise the victim of the name and badge number of the peace officer who placed the hold on the property and the name of the law enforcement agency of which the officer is a member. If the property is not required to be held pursuant to a criminal prosecution the hold shall be released.

(d) Upon conviction of any person for the theft of property placed on hold pursuant to this section, the court shall order the defendant to pay the junk dealer or recycler reasonable costs for storage of the property.

Any person, firm, corporation, partnership or other legal entity which willfully violates any of the provisions or fails to comply with any of the mandatory requirements of this Chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor or infraction, except that nothing herein shall be deemed to bar any legal, equitable, or summary remedy to which the County of Sutter may have.

(Ord. 1465, Sec. 2, Jan. 8, 2008)