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Kitsap County, WA Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)

Significant Restrictions
Compiled from the official code textEditor Martyn O'NeillLast verified September 2026

Key Facts

Governing chapter
KCC Chapter 6.12
Licensing agency
Kitsap County Sheriff's Office
Jurisdiction
Unincorporated Kitsap County only
Registration
Separate per physical location
Exempt
Used books, clothing, tires, recyclables
Transaction report deadline
24 hours after transaction
General penalty
Misdemeanor, up to $1,000/90 days

Summary

Secondhand dealers and junk dealers operating in unincorporated Kitsap County must register with the Kitsap County sheriff's office under Chapter 6.12 before buying or selling used goods, pay the county's registration fee, and file separately for each location. Casual sellers who limit garage sales to three days each, three times a year, are exempt.

These county ordinances apply to unincorporated areas of Kitsap County. Incorporated cities within the county may have their own rules that take precedence over county-level regulations.

“Secondhand dealer” means any person engaged in conducting, managing, or carrying on an ongoing business of buying, selling, trading, exchanging, consigning or otherwise dealing in secondhand property, whether or not these transactions are the principal or sole business conducted or are a part thereof or incidental to it. “Secondhand dealer” also includes persons or entities operating an automated kiosk. ... (1) Every person doing business as a dealer in Kitsap County shall register the business with the Kitsap County sheriff’s office and pay the registration fee, which is set by resolution of the board of county commissioners.

View official code

Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: rev 4864424; v0 updated 2025-12-08; through 12-08-2025).

Full Breakdown

010 defines a "secondhand dealer" as any person engaged in conducting, managing or carrying on an ongoing business of buying, selling, trading, exchanging, consigning or otherwise dealing in secondhand property, whether that trade is the business's principal activity or merely incidental to it, and the definition expressly extends to businesses operating an automated kiosk that buys used electronics, gift cards or phone cards. 020's registration duty applies equally: a secondhand dealer must register the business with the Kitsap County sheriff's office, pay the board-set registration fee, list the owner's and manager's legal names and photographs, and identify the business address and mailing address for notices.

A separate registration is required for every physical location in the county, and any change to that information must reach the sheriff's office within fourteen days. 030, secondhand dealers must keep a permanent electronic transaction record for every item bought, traded or consigned, including the seller's identification, fingerprint and photograph, and report it to the sheriff within twenty-four hours. 040 exempts recyclers of cans, paper and glass, used-book and clothing sellers, and casual garage-sale operators from the whole chapter. 100. The requirement reaches unincorporated Kitsap County only; secondhand shops inside Bremerton, Port Orchard, Poulsbo or Bainbridge Island are licensed under those cities' own codes.

Violations & Fines

Submitting false information on a secondhand dealer's registration or transaction report, structuring purchases to dodge the twenty-four-hour reporting deadline, failing to keep required records, or destroying a report are each unlawful under § 6.12.070. Buying from a person listed on the sheriff's do-not-buy list breaches § 6.12.060(3). Chapter 6.12 sets no unique fine, so violations fall under Kitsap County's general penalty, KCC § 1.12.010: a misdemeanor carrying up to a $1,000 fine, up to ninety days in jail, or both, with each day of a continuing violation punished as a separate offense.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Kitsap County's secondhand dealer registration cover thrift stores in Bremerton?
No. Chapter 6.12 governs unincorporated Kitsap County only. A secondhand store located inside Bremerton, Port Orchard, Poulsbo or Bainbridge Island registers or licenses under that city's own code, not through the county sheriff's office.
Are used bookstores or clothing consignment shops exempt from Kitsap County's dealer rules?
Yes. Section 6.12.040 exempts dealing in used books, tires, clothing, postage stamps, trading cards, comic books, furniture other than appliances, and art consigned by the original artist, along with recyclable cans, paper, cardboard, plastics and glass, from the entire chapter.
What must a secondhand dealer report to the Kitsap County sheriff?
Every transaction, including the seller's name, birth date, address, a photo-ID image, a fingerprint, and a description of the item with its serial number and photographs, filed electronically to the sheriff's office within twenty-four hours under the reportable-transactions rule at § 6.12.030(3).

Sources & Official References

Other rules in Kitsap County

All Kitsap County rules

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