1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to public safety; regulating scrap metal dealers by requiring that they 
1.3 	pay for scrap metal only by checks or electronic transfers, collect specified 
1.4 	information about transactions, and participate in the criminal alert network; 
1.5 	enhancing penalties for theft that creates a risk to the public; expanding the 
1.6 	receiving stolen property crime for precious metal dealers to include scrap 
1.7 	metal dealers, and adjusting the maximum penalty and monetary threshold for 
1.8 	certain of these offenses; requiring educational materials for scrap metal dealers; 
1.9 	providing criminal penalties; amending Minnesota Statutes 2006, sections 13.82, 
1.10 	subdivision 27; 325E.21; 609.526; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota 
1.11 	Statutes, chapter 299C.
1.12 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.13 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 13.82, subdivision 27, is amended to read:
1.14 		Subd. 27.Pawnshop and scrap metal dealer data. Data that would reveal the 
1.15 	identity of persons who are customers of a licensed pawnbroker or secondhand goods 
1.16 	dealer or a scrap metal dealer are private data on individuals. Data describing the property 
1.17 	in a regulated transaction with a licensed pawnbroker or secondhand goods dealer or 
1.18 	a scrap metal dealer are public.

1.19 	Sec. 2. [299C.25] SCRAP METAL DEALERS; EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS.
1.20 	(a) The superintendent shall develop educational materials relating to the laws 
1.21 	governing scrap metal dealers, including, but not limited to, applicable laws addressing 
1.22 	receiving stolen property and the provisions of section 325E.21. In addition, the materials 
1.23 	must address the proper use of the criminal alert network under section 299A.61, and must 
1.24 	include a glossary of the terms used by law enforcement agencies to describe items of 
1.25 	scrap metal that are different from the terms used in the scrap metal industry to describe 
1.26 	those same items.
2.1 	(b) In developing the materials under paragraph (a), the superintendent shall seek 
2.2 	the advice of scrap metal trade associations, Minnesota scrap metal dealers, and law 
2.3 	enforcement agencies.
2.4 	(c) The superintendent shall distribute the materials developed in paragraph (a) to all 
2.5 	scrap metal dealers registered with the criminal alert network.

2.6 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective July 1, 2007.

2.7 	Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 325E.21, is amended to read:
2.8 	325E.21 DEALERS IN WIRE AND CABLE SCRAP METAL; RECORDS 
2.9 	AND, REPORTS, AND REGISTRATION.
2.10 		Subdivision 1.Definitions. (a) For purposes of this section, the terms defined in 
2.11 	this subdivision have the meanings given.
2.12 	(b) "Law enforcement agency" or "agency" means a duly authorized municipal, 
2.13 	county, state, or federal law enforcement agency.
2.14 	(c) "Person" means an individual, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability 
2.15 	company, corporation, or other entity.
2.16 	(d) "Scrap metal" means:
2.17 	(1) wire and cable commonly and customarily used by communication and electric 
2.18 	utilities; and
2.19 	(2) copper, aluminum, or any other metal purchased primarily for its reuse or 
2.20 	recycling value as raw metal, including metal that is combined with other materials 
2.21 	at the time of purchase.
2.22 	(e) "Scrap metal dealer" or "dealer" means a person engaged in the business of 
2.23 	buying or selling scrap metal, or both, but does not include a person engaged exclusively 
2.24 	in the business of buying or selling new or used motor vehicles or motor vehicle parts, 
2.25 	paper or wood products, rags or furniture, or secondhand machinery.
2.26 		Subdivision 1. Subd. 1a.Purchase or acquisition record required. (a) Every 
2.27 	person, firm or corporation scrap metal dealer, including an agent, employee, or 
2.28 	representative thereof of the dealer, engaging in the business of buying and selling wire 
2.29 	and cable commonly and customarily used by communication and electric utilities shall 
2.30 	keep a written record, in the English language, legibly written in ink or typewriting, at the 
2.31 	time of each purchase or acquisition, of scrap metal. The record must include:
2.32 	(1) an accurate account or description, including the weight if customarily purchased 
2.33 	by weight, of such wire and cable commonly and customarily used by communication and 
2.34 	electric utilities the scrap metal purchased or acquired,;
3.1 	(2) the date, time, and place of the receipt of the same, scrap metal purchased or 
3.2 	acquired;
3.3 	(3) the name and address of the person selling or delivering the same and scrap metal;
3.4 	(4) the number of the check or electronic transfer used to purchase the scrap metal;
3.5 	(5) the number of the seller's or deliverer's driver's license of such person, Minnesota 
3.6 	identification card number, or other identification document number of an identification 
3.7 	document issued for identification purposes by any state, federal, or foreign government if 
3.8 	the document includes the person's photograph, full name, birth date, and signature; and
3.9 	(6) the license plate number and description of the vehicle used by the person when 
3.10 	delivering the scrap metal, and any identifying marks on the vehicle, such as a business 
3.11 	name, decals, or markings, if applicable. 
3.12 	Such (b) The record, as well as such wire and cable commonly and customarily used 
3.13 	by communication and electric utilities the scrap metal purchased or received, shall at all 
3.14 	reasonable times be open to the inspection of any sheriff or deputy sheriff of the county, 
3.15 	or of any police officer in any incorporated city or statutory city, in which such business 
3.16 	may be carried on law enforcement agency. 
3.17 	Such person shall not be(c) No record is required to furnish or keep such record 
3.18 	of anyfor property purchased from merchants, manufacturers or wholesale dealers, 
3.19 	having an established place of business, or of any goods purchased at open sale from any 
3.20 	bankrupt stock, but a bill of sale or other evidence of open or legitimate purchase of 
3.21 	such the property shall be obtained and kept by such the person, which must be shown 
3.22 	upon demand to the sheriff or deputy sheriff of the county, or to any police officer in 
3.23 	any incorporated city or statutory city, in which such business may be carried on. The 
3.24 	provisions of this subdivision and of subdivision 2 shall not apply to or include any 
3.25 	person, firm or corporation engaged exclusively in the business of buying or selling motor 
3.26 	vehicles, new or used, paper or wood products, rags or furniture, secondhand machinery
3.27 	any law enforcement agency.
3.28 	(d) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a scrap metal dealer or the dealer's 
3.29 	agent, employee, or representative may not disclose personal information concerning a 
3.30 	customer without the customer's consent unless the disclosure is made in response to a 
3.31 	request from a law enforcement agency. A scrap metal dealer must implement reasonable 
3.32 	safeguards to protect the security of the personal information and prevent unauthorized 
3.33 	access to or disclosure of the information. For purposes of this paragraph, "personal 
3.34 	information" is any individually identifiable information gathered in connection with a 
3.35 	record under paragraph (a).
4.1 		Subd. 2.Sheriff's copy of record required. It shall be the duty of every such 
4.2 	person, firm or corporation defined in subdivision 1 hereof, to make out and to deliver or 
4.3 	mail to the office of the sheriff of the county in which business is conducted, not later than 
4.4 	the second business day of each week, a legible and correct copy of the record required 
4.5 	in subdivision 1 of the entries during the preceding week. In the event such person, firm 
4.6 	or corporation has not made any purchases or acquisitions required to be recorded under 
4.7 	subdivision 1 hereof during the preceding week no report need be submitted to the sheriff 
4.8 	under this subdivision.
4.9 		Subd. 3.Retention required. Records required to be maintained by subdivision 
4.10 	1 hereof 1a shall be retained by the person making themscrap metal dealer for a period 
4.11 	of three years.
4.12 		Subd. 3.Payment by check or electronic transfer required. A scrap metal dealer 
4.13 	or the dealer's agent, employee, or representative shall pay for all scrap metal purchases 
4.14 	only by check or electronic transfer.
4.15 		Subd. 4.Registration required. (a) Every scrap metal dealer shall register with 
4.16 	and participate in the criminal alert network described in section 299A.61. The dealer 
4.17 	shall ensure that the dealer's system for receiving incoming notices from the network is 
4.18 	in proper working order and ready to receive incoming notices. The dealer shall check 
4.19 	the system for incoming notices twice each day the business is open, once upon opening 
4.20 	and then again before closing. The dealer shall inform all employees involved in the 
4.21 	purchasing or receiving of scrap metal of alerts received relating to scrap metal of the type 
4.22 	that might be conceivably sold to the dealer. In addition, the dealer shall post copies of the 
4.23 	alerts in a conspicuous location.
4.24 	(b) The scrap metal dealer shall pay to the commissioner of public safety a $50 
4.25 	annual fee to participate in the criminal alert network and for the educational materials 
4.26 	described in section 299C.25.
4.27 	(c) The commissioner shall notify the scrap metal dealer if a message sent to the 
4.28 	dealer is returned as undeliverable or is otherwise not accepted for delivery by the dealer's 
4.29 	system. The dealer shall take action necessary to ensure that future messages are received.
4.30 		Subd. 5.Training. Each scrap metal dealer shall review the educational materials 
4.31 	provided by the superintendent of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension under section 
4.32 	299C.25 and ensure that all employees do so as well.
4.33 		Subd. 6.Criminal penalty. A scrap metal dealer, or the agent, employee, or 
4.34 	representative of the dealer, who intentionally violates a provision of this section, is guilty 
4.35 	of a misdemeanor. 
5.1 		Subd. 7.Exemption. A scrap metal dealer may purchase aluminum cans without 
5.2 	complying with this section.
5.3 		Subd. 8.Property held by law enforcement. (a) Whenever a law enforcement 
5.4 	official from any agency has probable cause to believe that property in the possession of 
5.5 	a scrap metal dealer is stolen or is evidence of a crime and notifies the dealer not to sell 
5.6 	the item, the item may not be sold or removed from the premises. This investigative hold 
5.7 	remains in effect for 90 days from the date of initial notification, or until it is canceled or a 
5.8 	seizure order is issued, whichever comes first.
5.9 	(b) If an item is identified as stolen or evidence in a criminal case, the law 
5.10 	enforcement official may:
5.11 	(1) physically seize and remove it from the dealer, pursuant to a written order from 
5.12 	the law enforcement official; or
5.13 	(2) place the item on hold or extend the hold as provided in this section and leave 
5.14 	it in the shop.
5.15 	(c) When an item is seized, the person doing so shall provide identification upon 
5.16 	request of the dealer, and shall provide the dealer the name and telephone number of the 
5.17 	seizing agency and investigator, and the case number related to the seizure.
5.18 	(d) A dealer may request seized property be returned in accordance with section 
5.19 	626.04.
5.20 	(e) When an order to hold or seize is no longer necessary, the law enforcement 
5.21 	official shall so notify the dealer.

5.22 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective August 1, 2007, and applies to crimes 
5.23 	committed on or after that date.

5.24 	Sec. 4. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 609.526, is amended to read:
5.25 	609.526 PRECIOUS METAL AND SCRAP METAL DEALERS; RECEIVING 
5.26 	STOLEN PROPERTY.
5.27 		Subdivision 1.Definitions. As used in this section, the following terms have the 
5.28 	meanings given:
5.29 	(1) "precious metal dealer" has the meaning given in section 325F.731, subdivision 
5.30 	2; and
5.31 	(2) "scrap metal dealer" has the meaning given in section 325E.21, subdivision 1.
5.32 		Subd. 2.Crime described. Any precious metal dealer as defined in section 
5.33 	325F.731, subdivision 2, or scrap metal dealer or any person employed by a precious metal
5.34 	dealer as defined in section 325F.731, subdivision 2, who receives, possesses, transfers, 
6.1 	buys, or conceals any stolen property or property obtained by robbery, knowing or having 
6.2 	reason to know the property was stolen or obtained by robbery, may be sentenced as 
6.3 	follows: 
6.4 	(1) if the value of the property received, bought, or concealed is $1,000 or more, 
6.5 	to imprisonment for not more than ten years or to payment of a fine of not more than 
6.6 	$50,000, or both;
6.7 	(2) if the value of the property received, bought, or concealed is less than $1,000 but 
6.8 	more than $300 $500, to imprisonment for not more than fivethree years or to payment of 
6.9 	a fine of not more than $40,000 $25,000, or both;
6.10 	(3) if the value of the property received, bought, or concealed is $300$500 or less, 
6.11 	to imprisonment for not more than 90 days or to payment of a fine of not more than 
6.12 	$1,000, or both.
6.13 	Any person convicted of violating this section a second or subsequent time within a 
6.14 	period of one year may be sentenced as provided in clause (1).

6.15 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective August 1, 2007, and applies to crimes 
6.16 	committed on or after that date.