Scrap metal dealers now required to register with state

Four years ago, Kansas state legislators passed a law requiring individuals and businesses that deal in scrap metal to be registered, and Holton and Jackson County gov­ernment officials followed suit by approving resolutions requiring such individuals and businesses to register with their local governing bodies.

On Monday, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said that scrap metal dealers may now begin registering instead with the state as required by law.

The Kansas Legislature in June approved the new state law that re­quires every “scrap metal dealer” to obtain a registration certificate from the Kansas Attorney Gen­eral’s office, rather than city or county governments, to legally purchase scrap metal in the state. It was reported that the purpose of the new law, as well as the previously-approved law, is to reduce the theft of scrap metals in the state.

The new law also poses other changes to the law approved by state legislators in 2011, including reducing the length of the registra­tion from 10 years to one and in­creasing the amount of the regis­tration fee. A spokesperson for the attorney general’s office said that registrations granted after the 2011 law was enacted are “null and void” as of July 1 of this year, when the new law went into effect.

Locally, the Jackson County Commission acted on the passage of the 2011 law by approving a January 2012 resolution requiring scrap metal dealers within the county to register for “regulated” scrap metal purposes. The Holton City Commission followed suit in February of that year, it was re­ported.

Regulated scrap metal as defined in the Holton city ordinance in­cluded “copper, titanium, tungsten, stainless steel and nickel in any form,” as well as “non-ferrous” metals, such as alu­minum and tin, apart from “food or beverage con­tainers.” It was reported that one such registered scrap metal busi­ness was located in Holton, in ad­dition to five in Jackson County’s unincorporated areas.

Scrap metal dealership registra­tions were set at $200 in the ordi­nance, with an annual renewal fee of $50 for each year of the 10-year registration period. On the Jackson County side, the registration fee was $200 plus $25 per year for re­newal.

The new law, which preempts the responsibility of municipalities from regulating scrap metal deal­ers, sets an annual registration fee of at least $500 but no more than $1,500, “as prescribed by the attor­ney general for each particular place of business for which a reg­istration is desired.”

The attorney general’s office also determines whether individu­als or businesses can have their registrations renewed, at a fee of no more than $1,500 per year, ac­cording to state law.

The application form for scrap metal dealers is now available on the attorney general’s Web site — www.ag.ks.gov — under the “Li­censing Programs” tab. A public directory of dealers is expected to be available at that same Web site by July of next year, it was re­ported.

Scrap metal dealers are encour­aged to register soon, according to the attorney general’s office. A grace period established by the new law expires at the end of 2015, and in January, dealers who have failed to register may be subject to fines.

Scrap metal dealers or consum­ers who have additional questions about the program may call the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division at (800) 432-2310, it was reported.