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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[Introduced February 8, 2007; referred to the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure; and then to the Committee on
the Judiciary.]
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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 imposition of 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 the metals upon reasonable belief that a crime had
been committed; providing for the return of the 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 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. 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. comply with
the provisions of this section.
(b) The purchaser of such 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 of the seller;
(2) A description of any vehicle used to transport the
nonferrous metal or steel to the place of purchase, including the
make, model, color, year, and motor vehicle license number;
(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 Division of Motor Vehicles of the person
delivering the nonferrous metal or steel railroad track and track
material, or a photocopy of a valid identification card containing a photograph of the seller as issued by any agency of the United
States government.
(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 such items for
inspection, upon demand, and if the officer has a reasonable belief
that the items had been misappropriated, stolen or taken under
false pretenses may confiscate the items. If the officer
confiscates the items, the officer must within thirty days, show to
a court of competent jurisdiction that there exists a reasonable
nexus to the item as evidence of a crime even though the
perpetrator may not be ascertained. The items may be returned to
the owner upon a final determination and order of a court of
competent jurisdiction establishing the identity of the owner of
the nonferrous metal or steel railroad track and track material.
(e) It
shall be is 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 information shall be available for
inspection by any law-enforcement officer and
must shall be
maintained by the purchaser for not less than one year after the
date of the purchase.
(b) (f) Should the transaction involve
one hundred twenty-five
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 State
Police all the information obtained
pursuant to the provisions of
this section. The report
must shall 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.
(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)(1) 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:
(A) For the first offense, fined not less than
five hundred one thousand nor more than
two three thousand dollars;
and
(B) For a second offense, fined not less than two thousand nor
more than four thousand dollars and have all business licenses
suspended for six months.
(2) For a third and all subsequent offenses of subdivision (1)
of this subsection a person is guilty of a felony and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than three thousand nor
more than five thousand dollars and have all business licenses
revoked; and may be imprisoned in a state correctional facility for
a definite term of imprisonment of not less than one year nor more
than two years.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require purchasers of
nonferrous metal or steel railroad track and track material to
require additional information from the sellers. The bill also
increases the penalties for knowing failures to collect and provide
information relating to the sale of certain metals.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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