(a) The city or town council of any city or town is authorized to provide by ordinance
for the issuing and revocation at pleasure of licenses to all persons selling, purchasing,
bartering, and dealing in junk, old metals, and any other second-hand metal articles,
and to all persons establishing, operating, or maintaining automobile junkyards, subject
to any conditions and restrictions and for a term not exceeding one year that may
be in the like manner prescribed; and also for charging and collecting fees for those
licenses. The fees in the like manner prescribed shall not exceed the sum of one hundred
dollars ($100) for the keeper of an establishment or storehouse for the reception
of any junk, old metals, or second-hand metal articles which is not an automobile
junkyard; the sum of five dollars ($5.00) for any foundry person or other person receiving
the same for the purpose of melting or converting the junk, old metals, or second-hand
metal articles into castings; the sum of five dollars ($5.00) for any gatherer of
these items in any bag, wagon, or cart; or the sum of one hundred dollars ($100) for
any person establishing, operating, or maintaining an automobile junkyard; and also
to fix a penalty for carrying on that business without a license, or in violation
of any ordinance or regulation made as authorized in this chapter, not exceeding for
any one offense a fine of five hundred dollars ($500) or imprisonment not exceeding
six (6) months.
(b) The ordinance shall provide that each person purchasing or receiving old or used metals
other than junked automobiles or automobile parts shall maintain a record of each
purchase or receipt. The record shall include the date of the transaction, the name,
address, telephone number, and signature of the person from whom the old or used metals
are purchased or received; a description of the old or used metals; and the price
paid for the old or used metals. The records so kept shall be produced at the request
of law enforcement officials.
(c) Businesses primarily engaged in the retail sale of the following goods, as expressly
defined below in this subsection, are exempt from any licensing requirements imposed
under this section: (1) Second-hand consignment goods; (2) Resale goods; (3) Thrift
goods; and (4) Antiques. “Second-hand consignment goods” means used items, including,
but not limited to, artwork, furniture, clothing, accessories, and books that are
sold by a third party that receives a percentage of the revenue from the sale. “Resale
goods” means goods, including, but not limited to, artwork, furniture, clothing, accessories,
and books, that are purchased from the original owner and resold. “Thrift goods” means
used items, including, but not limited to, artwork, furniture, clothing, accessories,
and books, that are sold by or on behalf of a charity or nonprofit organization. “Antiques”
means items made in an earlier period that are collected and considered to have value
because they are beautiful, rare, old, or of high quality.
Notes of Decisions
Town of Scituate v. O'ROURKE, 239 A.2d 176 (R.I. 1968).
· cites it 6× “The first part in substance provides that any person who operates a junkyard without having first acquired a license shall be subject to a fine of not more than $200 and a term of imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months; the second part provides that any person who…”
Metals Recycling Co., Inc. v. Maccarone, 527 A.2d 1127 (R.I. 1987).
· cites it 10× “1956 (1976 Reenactment) § 5-21-1, which permits the town council to renew or revoke existing auto-salvage licenses at its pleasure, is an unconstitutional delegation of legislative power.”
State v. Krzak, 196 A.2d 417 (R.I. 1964).
· cites it 5× “1956, §5-21-1. The state filed a replication, and on the motion of the attorney general pursuant to G.”
Bourque v. Dettore, 589 A.2d 815 (R.I. 1991).
“1987), where this court held that § 5-21-1, governing renewal and revocation of secondhand dealers’ licenses, was unconstitutional as an improper delegation of legislative authority.”
E. Scrap Servs., Inc. v. Harty, 341 A.2d 718 (R.I. 1975).
“As grounds for his petition, petitioner alleges that §5-21-1 of the General Laws of Rhode Island and chapter 1117 of the Revised Ordinances of Pawtucket are unconstitutional and also that the action of the city council in denying the application for the second-hand shop license…”
Newport Auto Salvage, Inc. v. Town Council of Portsmouth, 502 A.2d 339 (R.I. 1985).
“own council, or city council, respectively, having jurisdiction to grant *342 licenses, their objection to the granting of such license; provided, however, that this sub-paragraph shall not apply to any applicant who is the keeper of such a shop or storehouse, or automobile…”
Novak v. City Council of Pawtucket, 205 A.2d 589 (R.I. 1964).
· cites it 2× “1956, §5-21-1. It empowers municipalities- to enact ordinances for the issuing and revocation at pleasure of licenses for selling, purchasing, and dealing in junk, old metals, and any other secondhand articles.”
Lambert v. Town Council, 256 A.2d 1 (R.I. 1969).
· cites it 4× “Authority to issue licenses for the operation of automobile junkyards is conferred upon the town council by the provisions of §5-21-1, as amended, which grants the town power to issue licenses to all persons establishing and operating automobile junkyards.”
D. O. B. Props., Inc. v. Bureau of Licenses, 153 A.2d 563 (R.I. 1959).
“Thereafter on March 6, 1958 Anthony and Pasco as individuals filed an application for a license to operate a junk business on plat 80, lot 56, in compliance with the provisions of general laws 1956, §5-21-1, and chapter 18, section 1, of the revised ordinances of 1956.”
Mase v. Exeter Town Council, 176 A.2d 389 (R.I. 1962).
“*454 General laws 1956, §5-21-1, authorizes town councils to provide by ordinance for the issuing and revocation at pleasure of junk licenses, subject to such conditions and restrictions as may be prescribed by the councils.”
Moon v. Cole, 227 A.2d 116 (R.I. 1967).
“1956, §§5-21-1, as amended, and 31-5-28, as amended.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.