COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 502
(By Senators Tomblin, Mr. President, Bowman, Helmick, Edgell,
Plymale, Jenkins, Fanning, Bailey, Kessler, Prezioso, Chafin,
Stollings, Facemyer, McKenzie, Minard, Foster, Hunter and Caruth)
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[Originating in the Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure; reported February 19, 2007.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §61-3-49 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to the receipt and transfer of
scrap metal; imposing additional reporting and record-
retention requirements for certain purchasers of nonferrous
metal or steel railroad track and track material; permitting
law-enforcement officers to confiscate such metals upon
reasonable belief that a crime had been committed; providing
for the return of such metals under certain conditions; and
increasing criminal penalties for violations.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §61-3-49 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY.
§61-3-49. Purchase of nonferrous metals or steel railroad track and track materials by scrap metal purchasing businesses,
salvage yards, or recycling facilities; certificates, records
and reports of such purchases; criminal penalties.
(a) Any person in the business of purchasing scrap metal, any
salvage yard owner or operator, or any public or commercial
recycling facility owner or operator, or any agent or employee
thereof, who purchases any form of copper, aluminum, brass, lead or
other nonferrous metal of any kind, or steel railroad track and
track material, shall
make a record of such purchase comply with
the provisions of this section.
Such record shall accurately list
the name, permanent and business addresses and telephone number of
the seller, the motor vehicle license number of any vehicle used to
transport the nonferrous metal or steel to the place of purchase,
the time and date of the transaction and a complete description of
the kind and character of the nonferrous metal or steel railroad
track and track material purchased. The person purchasing the
nonferrous metal or steel railroad track and track material shall
also require from the seller, and retain in the record, a signed
certificate of ownership of the nonferrous metal or steel railroad
track and track material being sold or authorization from the owner
to sell.
(b) Should the transaction involve one hundred or more pounds
of copper, steel railroad track, track material or aluminum in any
form, the purchaser of the copper, steel railroad track, track
material or aluminum, or his or her agent, shall report in writing to the chief of police of the municipality or the sheriff of the
county wherein he or she is transacting business and to the local
detachment of the Division of Public Safety all the information
obtained. The report must be filed within seventy-two hours after
the transaction. The provisions of this subsection do not apply to
purchases made at wholesale under contract or as a result of a
bidding process.
(b) The purchaser of the metals shall make and maintain a
record of each transaction and the record shall contain the
following information:
(1) Full name, permanent and business addresses and telephone
number, if available, of the seller;
(2) A description and the motor vehicle license number of any
vehicle used to transport the nonferrous metal or steel to the
place of purchase;
(3) The time and date of the transaction;
(4) A complete description of the kind, character and weight
of the nonferrous metal or steel railroad track and track material
purchased; and
(5) A statement whether the nonferrous metal or steel
railroad track and track material was purchased, taken as
collateral for a loan, or taken on consignment.
(c) The person purchasing the nonferrous metal or steel
railroad track and track material shall also require and retain
from the seller the following information:
(1) A signed certificate of ownership of the nonferrous metal
or steel railroad track and track material being sold or signed
authorization from the owner to sell; and
(2) A photocopy of a valid driver's license or identification
card issued by the West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles of the
person delivering the nonferrous metal or steel railroad track and
track material, or in lieu thereof, any other identification card
containing a photograph of the seller as issued by any state or
federal agency of the United States: Provided, That if the buyer
has a copy of the seller's photo identification on file, the buyer
may reference the identification that is on file, without making a
separate photocopy for each transaction.
(d) A law-enforcement officer may at any time during an
investigation require the purchaser of nonferrous metal or steel
railroad track and track material to present the items for
inspection, upon demand. If the law-enforcement officer has a
reasonable belief that the items had been misappropriated, stolen
or taken under false pretenses, the officer may take into custody
a representative sample of the items, as deemed appropriate, after
securing a proper warrant. Upon the entry of a final determination
and order by a court of competent jurisdiction, any items found to
have been misappropriated, stolen or taken under false pretenses
may be returned to the proper owner of the nonferrous metal or
steel railroad track and track material.
(e) On request, any person employed by a public utility or
railroad to investigate the theft of utility or railroad property shall be permitted to inspect the purchased nonferrous metal or
steel railroad track and track material that is in the possession
of the buyer, for the purpose of detecting and identifying stolen
utility or railroad property.
(f) It shall be unlawful for any of the aforementioned
persons to purchase any nonferrous metal or steel railroad track
and track material without obtaining the
certificate of ownership,
or authorization from the owner to sell, on the part of the seller
information set forth in subsections (b) and (c) of this section.
Such record and certificate The information shall be available for
inspection by any law-enforcement officer
or any investigator
employed by a public utility or railroad to investigate the theft
of public utility or railroad property, and must be maintained by
the purchaser for not less than one year after the date of the
purchase.
(c) (g) Nothing in this section applies to scrap purchases by
manufacturing facilities that melt, or otherwise alter the form of
scrap metal and transform it into a new product or to the purchase
or transportation of food and beverage containers or other
nonindustrial materials having a marginal value per individual
unit.
(d)(h) Any person who knowingly or with fraudulent intent
violates any provision of this section, including the knowing
failure to make a report or the knowing falsification of any
required information, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction, shall be fined not less than
five hundred one thousand nor more than
two three thousand dollars:
Provided, That upon a
conviction for a second offense, the fine shall be not less than
two thousand and not more than four thousand dollars and that any
business license they hold shall be suspended for six months:
Provided, however, That any person, upon any subsequent conviction
hereof, may be incarcerated in the penitentiary for not more than
two years, fined not less than three thousand dollars and not more
than five thousand dollars, and that any business licenses they
hold shall be revoked, and both they and any member of their
immediate family shall be prohibited from applying for, holding or
obtaining any business license which would permit them to own,
conduct or operate any business which would involve the purchase of
scrap metal or the operation of any salvage yard or recycling
facility for a period of two years.
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