Carrying a catalytic converter that isn't bolted to a car could soon land Sacramento County residents in legal trouble, even if nobody can prove it was stolen. The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors will decide whether to adopt an ordinance that would make it illegal to possess a detached catalytic converter without documentation showing the holder legitimately owns it.
What the Proposed Rule Would Actually Ban
According to the Sacramento Bee, the measure was submitted by the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office and would let prosecutors pursue charges without having to prove the converter in question was stolen at all — the absence of ownership proof alone would be enough. The ordinance would also make it illegal to knowingly falsify information meant to establish that proof of ownership, closing a door that might otherwise let suspects fabricate paperwork after the fact. Deputies would also be allowed to weigh the number of detached converters someone is carrying and how they appear to have been removed as evidence of unlawful possession, per the same report.
The Sheriff's Office would enforce the ordinance if county supervisors adopt it, and notably, the agency says it isn't asking for extra funding or personnel to do so. Violations could be prosecuted as a misdemeanor carrying up to six months in jail, a $1,000 fine, or both, with each unlawfully possessed converter potentially counted as a separate charge. The proposal also authorizes straightforward administrative fines of up to $1,000 per violation, according to the Bee's reporting.
How Someone Could Prove a Converter Is Legitimately Theirs
The Bee's account lays out several ways a person could document lawful ownership under the proposed rule: a bill of sale from the original owner paired with photographs, a verifiable document from an auto-body shop showing the previous owner relinquished the part, verifiable electronic communication relinquishing ownership, photographs of the vehicle the converter came from, or vehicle registration tied to a converter etched with the registered owner's license plate, vehicle identification, or driver's license number. The ordinance was listed among 40 consent agenda items headed to supervisors, the Bee reported.
Sheriff's officials said catalytic converter theft is increasing in Sacramento County and inflicting significant financial damage on victims, per a staff report cited by the Bee. That damage adds up fast: a replacement catalytic converter can cost more than $3,000, and the part itself is valuable mainly because it contains platinum, rhodium, and palladium — precious metals that, according to the FBI, can fetch high profits when sold to metal scrappers or refineries. The FBI has also noted that thieves can remove a converter in less than a minute, making the crime quick, low-risk, and lucrative all at once.
A Local Trend With a Statewide Backdrop
The scale of the problem locally has been documented before: a KCRA investigation found that catalytic converter thefts in Sacramento County alone rose 1,500% over the past few years. That same reporting from KCRA noted that a statewide bill, AB 2398, which would have penalized possession of detached converters, was voted down and kept in committee so lawmakers could try tweaking it further.
Sacramento isn't alone in considering this approach at the county level. San Joaquin County's Board of Supervisors already approved a similar ordinance, making it unlawful to possess a detached catalytic converter unless the holder can document lawful ownership, according to San Joaquin County. That county's version is also a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, up to six months in county jail, or both.
Santa Barbara County went further in September, when supervisors voted unanimously to enact an ordinance allowing criminal prosecution for possessing even a single catalytic converter without proof of ownership, according to the Santa Barbara Independent. Reporting on the penalties for repeat offenses there has varied: the Independent reported that a second offense carries a $4,000 fine and a third costs $5,000, while the Santa Maria Times reported that subsequent offenses within a 36-month period carry penalties of $3,000 and then $5,000.
Cases That Illustrate the Stakes
Sacramento County has already seen what organized converter theft can look like. In April 2023, sheriff's investigators arrested a man suspected of catalytic converter thefts at Sacramento International Airport, per the Bee's reporting. And in May 2025, Tou Sue Vang was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for transporting thousands of stolen catalytic converters across state lines, along with money laundering and related crimes. Prosecutors said Vang, along with his brother and mother, purchased and sold stolen converters from local thieves to a New Jersey buyer for more than $38 million.
Beyond the financial toll on individual car owners, catalytic converters serve a basic environmental function that makes their theft doubly damaging — they transform toxic vehicle exhaust emissions into harmless gases. Whether Sacramento County's supervisors ultimately adopt the ordinance, and when, remains for the board to decide.
