Spalding County, GA Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)

Chapter 5 of the Code defines a scrap metal processor as anyone who buys scrap vehicles, automotive parts, or other metallic waste to resell as scrap or in bulk (Sec. 6-5001), and states the purpose is to impede the sale of stolen property by making transaction information available to law enforcement (Sec. 6-5002). No license or registration is required to operate, but Sec. 6-5003 requires the processor to obtain a government-issued photo ID, name, address, phone number, race, sex, height, weight, date of birth and Social Security or driver's license number, a dated digital photo of the seller's face, a right-hand index fingerprint, and a written, photographed description of the item for every purchase or pledge of used property.

Those records, photos and fingerprints must be kept three years and produced to law enforcement on request (Sec. 6-5003(b)). Every operator must also file a computer-generated daily report to the Sheriff's Department covering all transactions in the 24-hour period ending at midnight, posted electronically to a sheriff-designated site, or delivered in printed or handwritten form the next business day if the system is down (Sec. 6-5004). Enforcement runs through the county's general penalty provision rather than a chapter-specific fine schedule (Sec. 6-5005, incorporating Sec. 1-1007).