DATE: June 10, 2025
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Supervisor Garry Bredefeld, District 2
Supervisor Brian Pacheco, District 1
SUBJECT: Adoption of Amendment to the Ordinance Code of Fresno County, Adding Title 10, Chapter 10.48, "UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF DETACHED CATALYTIC CONVERTERS"
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
1. Conduct second hearing and adopt the proposed Ordinance to amend the Fresno County Ordinance Code, Title 10, to add Chapter 10.48, "UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF DETACHED CATALYTIC CONVERTERS"; and waive reading of the Ordinance in its entirety.
REPORT
The recommended action will add Title 10, Chapter 10.48, "UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF DETACHED CATALYTIC CONVERTERS" to the Fresno County Ordinance Code to enable your Board to ensure that a local ordinance is in place imposing fines and potential jail time for those in unlawful possession of a catalytic converter(s). The recommended ordinance will provide law enforcement with additional tools to provide verifiable proof that a catalytic converter is possessed illegally. In unincorporated Fresno County, hundreds of catalytic converters have been stolen from vehicles, resulting in thousands of dollars in repairs for vehicle owners through no fault of their own.
The recommended ordinance will make unlawful possession of a detached catalytic converter either a misdemeanor subject to:
* A fine of up to $1,000 or by imprisonment in the County Jail for up to one year, or both
* Upon a second offense and subsequent conviction of the offense, the offender shall be punished with a fine of $1,000 and one (1) year in County Jail
or a violation subject to an administrative penalty in the amount of:
* Up to $1,000 for a first violation.
* $2,000 for a second violation within 36 months.
* $5,000 for each subsequent violation within 36 months.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
Your Board could determine not to approve the recommended actions; however, the criminal or administrative penalties would not be in place f...
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