COLUMBUS, Ohio — A newly introduced bipartisan bill in the Ohio House of Representatives aims to crack down on the rampant theft of catalytic converters by drastically increasing criminal penalties for thieves and targeted business entities.
House Bill 210, sponsored by Representatives Bill Roemer (R-Richfield) and Phil Plummer (R-Dayton), was introduced for the 136th General Assembly’s 2025–2026 regular session. The legislation explicitly targets the illicit sale and receipt of used catalytic converters, which have become a primary target for thieves due to the valuable precious metals they contain.
Tougher Criminal Penalties for Thieves
Under current Ohio law, standard property theft under $1,000 is classified as a first-degree misdemeanor. H.B. 210 fundamentally changes this by carving out a brand-new theft classification specifically for catalytic converters.
Under the proposed statute:
- First-Time Offense: Stealing a catalytic converter is automatically elevated to a fifth-degree felony, regardless of the monetary value of the stolen part.
- Repeat Offenders: If a person has a prior conviction for any theft or burglary offense under Ohio law, the charge is elevated to a fourth-degree felony.
- Receiving Stolen Property: The same fifth- and fourth-degree felony structures apply to anyone caught receiving, retaining, or disposing of a stolen catalytic converter.
Massive Fines for Involved Businesses
The bill takes aim at the larger supply chain by introducing a new corporate crime category: “enterprise theft of a catalytic converter” and “enterprise receipt of a stolen catalytic converter.”
If a registered business entity—such as a scrap yard, auto repair shop, or recycling facility—is caught knowingly purchasing or trafficking stolen catalytic converters, they will bypass Ohio’s standard organizational penalties. Instead, the business faces a mandatory corporate fine of not less than $10,000 and up to $50,000 per violation.
To directly aid local communities, the bill mandates that court clerks distribute 100% of these massive corporate fines back to the county, township, municipal, or state law enforcement agencies that were primarily responsible for arresting and prosecuting the offenders.
Increased Oversight for Scrap Metal Dealers
In addition to rewriting criminal code penalties, H.B. 210 introduces heightened compliance and definition updates for scrap metal dealers under the Ohio Revised Code.
The bill officially expands state recycling definitions to ensure that a “catalytic converter” explicitly includes the converter unit itself, catalytic converter cores, diesel particulate filters (DPFs), and diesel oxidation catalysts. Furthermore, scrap metal dealers will be legally required to categorize and log any catalytic converter intake as its own distinct item type in their daily electronic transaction reports.
These electronic logs must be uploaded by 12:00 p.m. EST every day to the Ohio Department of Public Safety’s master law enforcement registry, creating a tighter paper trail for police investigating localized theft rings.
H.B. 210 has been formally introduced and will now be assigned to a House committee for initial hearings and testimony.
