Update: Minnesota Catalytic Converter Theft Prevention Pilot Program

Catalytic Converter Label

The Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office is proud to continue participating in the Minnesota Commerce Fraud Bureau Catalytic Converter Theft Prevention Pilot Program. The program, launched by the State's Commerce Department in 2021, works by adhering a special label to catalytic converters that transfer etchings of the label's unique number onto the metal once the vehicle is started. The etching makes it possible for law enforcement to trace a recovered convertor back to a specific vehicle if it's stolen. As you may be aware, Minnesota has one of the highest theft rates of catalytic converters in the nation. Minnesota law enforcement agencies, automotive dealerships, and service centers are marking the converters, especially those on the most at-risk vehicles, with an easily applied label that has a number, when registered, is traceable to the VIN. Due to requests from the public and additional recent catalytic converter theft reports, I requested and received an additional fifty (50) marking kits from the state.

The process to obtain a kit is as follows:

  1. Come to the Government Center (101 4th St SE) between 8:00 and 4:00 Monday-Friday to pick up your kit at the 2nd floor Sheriff’s Office Civil Warrants window. Kits must be picked up in person.
  2. You will need your vehicle's VIN number and Minnesota license plate number to register the kit! Have these handy when you start the registration process.
  3. Register your kit online by visiting www.theisr.org and following the registration instructions included in your kit. This can be more easily accomplished if you have a smartphone and bar code scanner, again following the registration instructions included in your kit. It is important to complete registration before applying the kit.
  4. If you’re able, you can mark your catalytic converter yourself through a simple process or contact your local dealer/mechanic/body shop to schedule a time to mark your unique code on your catalytic converter.

It is worth noting, as more converters are marked, criminals may grind the number off a converter if they intend to sell it. Under Minnesota law the removal of a number, even if it is owner applied, is a crime and can be used as evidence to show the criminal knows it to be stolen. Furthermore, it is a crime for scrap metal dealers who receive, possess, transfer, buy, or conceal any stolen property or property knowing or having reason to know the property was stolen. Thus, this program and state statute serves to communicate to scrap metal dealers that converters with fresh grind marks is an indicator they are stolen and that they should be dissuaded from purchasing them.

While we freely acknowledge this pilot program may not stop all thefts from occurring, the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office and the Minnesota Commerce Fraud Bureau are actively working to reduce the number of thefts, as well as taking steps to help prosecute the criminals who commit or are involved in these crimes.