§ 4-7-22. GOVERNMENT OR UTILITY PROPERTY.

(A)

A metal recycler, its agents, or employees shall not purchase or otherwise receive an item of property, including, but not limited to, street signs, traffic signals, manhole covers, road and bridge guard rails, street light poles and fixtures, on which are written or affixed the words "Property of the City of Austin" or other words or markings demonstrating ownership by the city. It is an affirmative defense to this section if:

(1)

the person offering the item for sale is an employee of the city authorized by the city to make such a sale and that person provides the metal recycler with a written authorization from the city manager or designee for the sale of such property; or

(2)

the person offering the item for sale provides at the time a valid receipt from the city evidencing the purchase of such property by the person offering such property.

(B)

A metal recycler, its agents, or employees shall not purchase or otherwise receive an item of property that is marked with any form of the name or initials of a governmental agency, including but not limited to the State of Texas and the United States of America and their agencies and political subdivisions, or that the metal recycler entity know or should reasonably be expected to know belongs to a governmental agency, including but not limited to street signs, traffic signals, manhole covers, road and bridge guard rails, street light poles and fixtures. It is an affirmative defense to this section if:

(1)

the person offering the item for sale is an employee of the governmental agency and that person provides the metal recycler entity with written authorization from the agency documenting that the employee has authority to sell the property; or

(2)

the person offering the item for sale provides at the time a valid receipt from the governmental agency evidencing the purchase of the property by the person offering the property.

(C)

A metal recycler, its agents, or employees shall not purchase or otherwise receive an item of property that is marked with any form of the name or initials of an electrical, telephone, cable, or other public utility company that the metal recycler knows, or should reasonably be expected to know, belongs to the company unless the person offering the item for sale presents at the time of the offer a valid receipt from the company evidencing the purchase of the property by the person offering the item.

Source: 20100826-028.