Committee hears House Bill 40 to extend no-title scrap rule from 10 to 20 years; industry witnesses oppose

Representative Billington, sponsor of House Bill 40, told the Committee on Transportation the bill would change the threshold for when a motor vehicle may be scrapped without a title from 10 years to 20 years. He said the measure responds to cases where older vehicles can be sold to salvage dealers using only a simple bill of sale instead of a title. "I told her I wanna go from 10 to 20," Billington said while describing his intent to require more documentation before a salvage sale.

Industry witnesses uniformly opposed the change at the public hearing. Shannon Cooper, representing Advantage Metals Recycling, told the committee, "Car theft without a doubt happens, but the people that are buying these cars are not following the legal procedures." Cooper said legitimate scrap yards already check for liens and whether a vehicle meets the statute's "inoperable" standard before purchasing and that changing the age threshold would remove safeguards for honest operators. Trent Ford of the Recycled Material Association made the same point, saying the bill's original intent was to "beautify" rural areas by removing derelict cars and that his members rely on the 10-year rule as part of feedstock sourcing. Michael Henderson of Copart, which runs salvage auctions, said changing the rule would force firms to hold low-value inventory longer and could require larger lots. "We oppose this bill in terms of the obstacles it would pose to timely liquidate vehicles that are of low value and can't be used for anything other than parts," Henderson said.

Committee members probed several technical issues. Representative Mayhew read the statute's definition of "inoperable" into the record—"a motor vehicle that is rusted, wrecked, discarded, worn out, excessively damaged, dismantled, and mechanically inoperative, and the vehicle's highest and best use is for scrap purposes"—and questioned how law enforcement could reliably apply that subjective standard. Witnesses and members also discussed Department of Revenue procedures for checking liens. Advantage Metals and others said the Department of Revenue database can be used to check for recorded liens, but committee members pointed out practical limits: older lien paperwork may not be available, and banks may not retain records beyond required retention periods, making verification difficult in some cases.

Several members, including Representative Mayhew and Representative Waller, said they supported the sponsor's narrower change as a first step while acknowledging the definition could use clarification. Representatives from the insurance and salvage-auction sectors said they would seek a carve-out for vehicles that pass through an insurer's salvage process; the sponsor agreed to work with the insurance industry on language that would address their operational concerns. No formal committee vote on House Bill 40 was recorded in the transcript; the hearing concluded after witnesses answered questions and committee staff took the item under advisement.

The hearing reflected a split between lawmakers seeking a simpler bright-line rule (age threshold) and industry witnesses who said enforcement and buyer behavior—rather than the age threshold—are the main drivers of theft and diversion to illicit buyers. Committee members asked staff and witnesses to provide more information about lien-check processes, salvage title flows from insurers, and possible objective definitions for "inoperable."