This story was updated to include clarification from Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp.

After a warning from Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp about the constitutionality of a new ordinance, county supervisors approved a law making it illegal for a person to have more than 10 pounds of stripped copper wire.

In stealing $50 worth of recyclable copper, thieves will often do tens of thousands of dollars of damage to property, especially to ag and construction industries, said Fresno County Sheriff John Zanoni at the board meeting Tuesday.

To offer greater tools to law enforcement, supervisors Garry Bredefeld and Nathan Magsig introduced an ordinance allowing courts to fine and jail people in possession of more than 10 pounds of copper wire.

People could be fined up to $1,000 and sentenced to six months in jail.

“Although these materials are far more valuable when used for their intended purposes, thieves continue to target them for quick profit,” Bredefeld said. “This theft renders critical infrastructure inoperable.”

Bonta Could Overturn Prosecutions: Smittcamp

In a statement to GV Wire, Smittcamp called the ordinance a “bold step” in prosecuting crime. But she said the ordinance could violate existing state law. She warned that any prosecutions initiated before getting the California attorney general’s opinion risk being appealed and overturned.

“To clarify the legality of this local measure, the only path forward is to seek an official opinion from the California Attorney General,” Smittcamp said. “Should cases under this ordinance be referred to our office, we will request that opinion and, once clarified, prosecute violators to the fullest extent allowed by law.”

Fresno County Supervisor Brian Pacheco during the board meeting expressed some hesitation at approving the ordinance.

“If our chief law enforcement officer at the county doesn’t feel that she has the capability to enforce this, is it really helping us?” Pacheco said.

Pacheco, however, joined his fellow supervisors in approving the law. He cited Zanoni’s endorsement of the ordinance as reason to vote for it.

Zanoni said he was confident in the ordinance. Issuing citations and not jail time could protect the county against legal liability. An email request to Bonta’s office by GV Wire for comment was not returned before publication of this story.

But saying Bonta and other state officials favor criminals rather than victims, supervisors agreed unanimously that they would take a risk.

“I certainly don’t think we ought to be clutching our pearls and worrying about what the attorney general is going to do when we have people being impacted every single day,” Bredefeld said at the board meeting. “We must give our law enforcement every tool, whether it doesn’t have the power of a legislative fix — because we’re not going to get that legislative fix, we know that.”

Fresno City Council Working on a Copper Theft Measure: Karbassi

At a news conference following the board meeting, Fresno city councilmembers, and officials from the Fresno County Farm Bureau, Fresno Chamber of Commerce, and AT&T came out in support of the ordinance.

“We have a lot of copper infrastructure throughout the state and throughout the region. We are doing our own effort in combatting it (as) we experience outages both on the copper theft side every day throughout the state and throughout the region,” said Brian Milesi, external affairs director for AT&T.

Councilmembers will present a similar ordinance at the Thursday council meeting, said Fresno City Council President Mike Karbassi.

Karbassi said a lot of thieves focus on doctors offices around Herndon and West avenues. Boswell Dermatology suffered $80,000 worth of damage, Karbassi said.

“We are going to be considering a very similar measure in lockstep with the county,” Karbassi said.

City of Fresno Attorney Andrew Janz told GV Wire in a statement: “We have no concerns regarding the legality of this ordinance.  Once passed, the Fresno City Attorney’s will take lead in prosecuting these crimes which occur in the city.”

‘It Takes a Little Bit of Courage’: Zanoni

Zanoni estimates about 20 people in an area will commit 80% of copper wire thefts. But when detective and deputies contact suspects, the most they can do is photograph the copper wire and walk away.

“They know that they are illegally possessing it, they know that it’s stolen property,” Zanoni said. “The challenge that we have is being able to prove it.”

State law requires recyclers to hold onto stripped copper wire for 72 hours for someone to claim the property.

The ordinance gives deputies the authority to seize copper wire from individuals. It does not target businesses.

Zanoni said even without jailing violators, law enforcement could get the “desired effect” of discouraging further theft. Citations could be kept while they await guidance from the state.

“It takes a little bit of courage,” Zanoni said. “We have to take a little bit of a risk here.”

Correction: This story has been corrected to show that Bredefeld did not petition the California Attorney General’s office.