Catalytic converters, popular target for thieves, added to Kansas scrap metal law

Junk dealers will now have to collect information from catalytic converter sellers, if they weren't already, under an amended Kansas scrap metal law signed Monday by Gov. Laura Kelly.

Kelly signed House Bill 2326 into law after it previously passed the House 119-0 and the Senate 39-1. The bill started as an extension of the scrap metal law, which was set to expire July 1, but lawmakers chose to add language clarifying that catalytic converters are covered by the law. The renewed law is now set to expire in 2028.

"That catalytic converter piece, that is an area of theft that we've seen a remarkable increase in across the state," Kansas Bureau of Investigation executive officer Robert Jacobs told lawmakers last month. "We do believe that by extending the sunset on this provision in this statute that it will continue to give law enforcement the tool to use that repository to reduce theft of scrap metal and specifically catalytic converters in their community."

The law imposes various regulations on junk dealers, including that they register with the attorney general's office and collect certain information when buying regulated scrap metal. The information is then used by the KBI for a law enforcement database.

Catalytic converters have become a popular target for scrap metal thieves because they can be removed from under cars with relative ease and sold for the precious metals inside.

"There's a low risk with a high reward to converters," said Wichita police detective Dustin Fussell. "These things are easy to steal. It's quick, I've seen people on videos remove these things in 60 seconds. It's also a very target rich environment. Anywhere that you look, you're going to see vehicles."

The car part, which converts pollutants from engine exhaust into less harmful gases, contains precious metals platinum, palladium and rhodium. Those metals were already regulated by the law, but the amendment clarifies that catalytic converters are, too.

Thieves will try to sell converters and dust of the crushed metal.

"The precious metals in catalytic converters are always high value which makes them a prime target for these thieves," said retired Topeka Police Chief Ed Klumpp, who is now a lobbyist for a trio of law enforcement organizations. "Some of those metals have a value higher than gold. The loss to the victims is high as new replacement costs far exceed the scrap metal value of a stolen one."

The rise in catalytic converter thefts has been a problem in Topeka. Police reported five such cases in 2019, then 84 in 2020 and 123 in 2021 before dropping to 66 in 2022, with a spike at the end of the year. The case counts do not necessarily reflect the total number of stolen converters.

More: Topeka City Council asked to create ban on unlawfully possessing catalytic converters

Topeka City Council members in January made it a misdemeanor crime to possess a catalytic converter without proof that you have a legitimate reason to do so. The ordinance is modeled after a similar one in Wichita.

The Wichita Police Department asked lawmakers to add the catalytic converter language to the scrap metal law, arguing that clarification was needed to ensure buyers are consistently recording information.

The KBI in 2020 began collecting information in its database, which by this year had recorded more than 9.6 million scrap metal sales. In roughly the past nine months, the database had about 1,600 queries from law enforcement.

Fussell testified that data from scrapyards that do report catalytic converter sale information has been used to identify suspects and file criminal charges.

"It's very lucrative," he said. "Depending on the type of converter and the material content, the seller to a scrapyard can make anywhere from $100 to $1,000 per converter, on average. I actually saw a ticket, an individual sold four converters to a local scrapyard here in Wichita and made $1,600 cash. We know that even certain individuals here in Wichita are making millions of dollars on converters."

Meanwhile, individuals and businesses are harmed by the property crimes, with costs ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars to repair.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas adds catalytic converters to scrap metal law at police request