Planning and Development Committee
AN ACT CONCERNING SCRAP METAL SOLD ON BEHALF OF MUNICIPALITIES
SUMMARY: This act prohibits scrap metal processors, junk dealers, or junkyard owners or operators (processors, dealers, or owners) from purchasing or receiving property which they suspect, or have reasonable cause to believe, is municipal property, unless the person delivering the property simultaneously presents a letter authorizing the transaction. The authorization letter must be on municipal letterhead and signed by either the municipal (1) chief executive officer or (2) department head responsible for maintaining the property. Under the act, processors, dealers, or owners must send payment for the property to the municipal official designated in the letter.
The act extends the penalties under existing law for violating scrap metal sales laws to processors, dealers, or owners who violate the act's requirements concerning municipal property. It subjects a violator to the penalties for a (1) Class C misdemeanor for a first offense, (2) Class B misdemeanor for a second offense, and (3) Class A misdemeanor for a third or subsequent offense (see Table on Penalties).
Even if a seller presents an authorization letter, existing law, unchanged by the act, requires a processor, dealer, or owner to immediately notify and give the municipal law enforcement authority in his or her jurisdiction the name and license plate number of anyone offering to sell a bronze statue, plaque, historical marker, cannon, cannon ball, lamp, lamp post, lighting fixture, architectural artifact, or similar item (CGS § 21-11a(c)).
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2014
BACKGROUND
Larceny
In addition to penalties under the act, a person is guilty of “larceny by receiving stolen property” if he or she receives, retains, or disposes of stolen property (1) knowing that it has probably been stolen or (2) believing that it has probably been stolen, unless the property is received, retained, or disposed of with the purpose of restoring it to the owner (CGS § 53a-119(8)).
OLR Tracking: JB: KM: JKL: am