Kings County, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)
Key Facts
- Licensing agency
- County Sheriff
- Background check
- Photograph and fingerprint required
- Record retention
- 2 years, numerical order
- Reporting
- Daily report to sheriff
- Minor sales
- Cannot buy from under-18s
Summary
Junk and secondhand dealers in unincorporated Kings County must be licensed by the sheriff, submit to fingerprinting, and keep detailed daily transaction records for two years.
For the purpose of this article, the sheriff shall serve as the investigating agency. In addition to the requirements contained in section 15-8 of this chapter, the sheriff shall photograph and fingerprint the applicant.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 13).
Full Breakdown
Article V of Chapter 15 licenses anyone with a fixed place of business who buys, sells or otherwise deals in secondhand goods, plus itinerant junk dealers who collect house to house. The sheriff investigates every applicant and, beyond the standard background check, photographs and fingerprints them. Licensed dealers must keep an English-language written record of every transaction, description of the property, date, and the seller's name, address, driver's license and vehicle number, and report that record to the sheriff daily or by the next working day, retaining copies for two years. Dealers must hold any item the sheriff orders held for five days and may not buy from anyone under 18.
Violations & Fines
Failing to keep required purchase records is a misdemeanor under Sec. 15-81(b); using a false name or address on a report is separately unlawful under Sec. 15-83, and a license may be revoked for cause under Sec. 15-10.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a Kings County junk dealer have to record every purchase?
Can a secondhand dealer buy from a minor in unincorporated Kings County?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Kings County
California rules heatmap·Compare Kings County to another location·View the California business licensing & operations overview
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