Texas City, TX Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)

The chapter defines JUNK broadly: clothing, household items, scrap metals, secondhand watches, knives, guns, cameras, jewelry and fishing equipment, plus plumbing and electric fixtures, automobile accessories, tools, rags, bottles and utensils. A JUNK DEALER is anyone primarily engaged in collecting, handling, buying or selling those articles, or otherwise in the business of buying or selling secondhand articles or operating as a trading post (§ 114.01). Under § 114.20 no one can do business as a junk dealer inside the city limits until the Police Department issues an annual license.

The applicant writes to the Chief of Police, swears to the application before an officer authorized to administer oaths, and lists the individual members of a firm or the officers of a corporation (§ 114.21). The Chief must weigh the facts and treats a materially false or fraudulent statement, or a felony or moral turpitude misdemeanor conviction of the applicant, an officer, a partner or an employee within the preceding five years, as grounds for denial. A denied applicant can ask the Chief to refer the application to the City Commission, which must give written notice of a hearing at least five days ahead and can disapprove after finding the applicant an unsafe and improper person for the business (§ 114.22).

The fee is $200 a year (§ 114.23). Licenses are numbered consecutively, displayed conspicuously at the business location, and expire on December 31 after issuance (§§ 114.24 to 114.26). Beyond the license, dealers post a copy of the chapter's regulations, keep an ink record of each purchase with seller details and serial numbers, obtain evidence of how the seller came to own the item, and open both records and stock to police (§§ 114.02 to 114.08). No dealer can buy from an intoxicated person, and buying from anyone under 18 requires written consent of a parent or guardian, kept at least six months. Junkyards with open storage need an eight foot screening wall (§ 114.09).