Bessemer, AL Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)
Key Facts
- Minor purchase rule
- Written parent or guardian permission required
- Covered materials
- Brass, iron, lead, scrap, tools
- Record required
- Purchase book with seller ID number
- Retention period
- Six months after each purchase
- Inspection
- Open to any requester during business hours
Summary
Junk dealers in Bessemer cannot buy scrap metal, brass, iron, lead, or tools from a minor without written parental or guardian permission under Code of Ordinances section 86-19. Every junk dealer must also keep a purchase record book under section 86-20, open to inspection during business hours.
No junk dealer or other person shall purchase or procure from any minor within the city limits any brass or iron of any quality, lead or any kind of scrap or tools of any substance without first obtaining permission in writing from the parent or guardian of such minor. ... Every person carrying on the junk business or dealing in junk shall provide and keep a book and enter therein each purchase or acquisition of junk of each kind or character acquired or purchased, together with the name, age, address and description of the person from whom the respective purchases were made. Such record shall show the driver's license number or the social security number of the seller. The record shall also note the time and date of the respective purchase. Such books shall be kept for six months subsequent to any purchase, open to inspection during business hours by any person who may make a request to examine the records.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Republication).
Full Breakdown
Article II of chapter 86 regulates dealers who buy and sell junk and scrap within the city. Section 86-19 bars any junk dealer or other person from purchasing or procuring brass, iron of any quality, lead, or any kind of scrap or tools from a minor inside the city limits unless the dealer first obtains written permission from the minor's parent or guardian. Section 86-20 requires every person carrying on the junk business, or dealing in junk, to keep a book recording each purchase or acquisition of junk, noting the kind and character of the item and the name, age, address, and description of the seller.
The record must also show the seller's driver's license number or social security number, and the date and time of the purchase. Dealers must retain these books for six months after any purchase, and the books must be open to inspection during business hours to any person who requests to examine them, which lets police investigating stolen scrap or metal theft trace a purchase back to the seller. 00, imprisonment or hard labor up to six months, or both, with continuing violations counted separately for each day they persist.
Violations & Fines
Buying scrap metal, brass, iron, lead, or tools from a minor without written parental consent violates section 86-19; failing to keep the required six-month purchase record, or refusing to let it be inspected during business hours, violates section 86-20. Both default to the Code's general penalty in section 1-8: up to $500.00, up to six months imprisonment or hard labor, or both.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a Bessemer junk dealer buy scrap metal from a teenager?
What records must a Bessemer junk dealer keep?
What happens if a junk dealer does not keep purchase records?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Bessemer
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Secondhand Dealers in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Jefferson County handle secondhand dealers.