Kansas adds catalytic converters to scrap watch list

The attorney general of Kansas has added catalytic converters to a list of scrap materials whose sale to a dealer must be forwarded to a Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) database.

Attorney General Derek Schmidt says that while catalytic converters are not mentioned specifically in the state’s 2015 Scrap Metal Theft Reduction Act, they can be included since some of the metals they contain make them eligible.

According to Topeka, Kansas-based WIBW-TV, Schmidt said a wave of catalytic converter thefts in 2020 and 2021 has increased interest in using the Act to address the issue.

Information in the database is intended to be used “for law enforcement and other purposes necessary to implement and enforce the Act.”

A summary of the 2015 act also states in part that beginning in 2016, “The bill establishes civil penalties of $100 to $5,000 for each violation of the Act by a scrap metal dealer, which can be imposed by the Attorney General and will be subject to appeal under the Kansas Judicial Review Act.”