Article Source:  CA State Senator Cortese

SENATE COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
 
SB 753
Cortese

SPECIAL BUSINESS REGULATIONS:  SHOPPING CARTS
Expands the authority for cities and counties to recover costs for retrieving shopping carts and
returning them to their owners.

Background 

Shopping carts taken from business establishments and grocery stores cost California retailers
millions of dollars per year.  Depending on the type of shopping cart, costs range from $50 to
$300, and stealing one is a crime.  They end up abandoned far away from the location of the
retailer who owns the cart, and end up in waterways and other spaces that can cause public safety
issues.  Current law considers a shopping cart abandoned if it is found outside of the premises or
parking area of the shopping center.  

Prior to 1996, many local governments charged retailers and grocers for cart retrieval, even
though retailers and grocers often contract with private cart retrieval companies to perform this
service.  Retailers and grocers complained that local governments were charging excessive rates
and uneven retrieval fees in different jurisdictions.  This prompted the Legislature to declare the
retrieval of abandoned shopping carts by local agencies an issue of statewide importance and
subject to new state laws (AB 317, Granlund, 1996).

The 1996 law prevents local officials from retrieving wayward shopping carts until they notify
the cart’s owner.  If the owner does not retrieve the cart within three days, then local officials
may retrieve and impound it.  When a cart owner collects an impounded cart, the local agency
may charge them for the actual retrieval and impounding costs.  If no one has collected an
impounded cart after 30 days, the local agency may sell or dispose of it.  After a local agency
impounds more than three carts from a single owner in a six-month period, it may also charge a
$50 fine for each cart it impounds.  Local governments can immediately retrieve a shopping cart
from public or private property if the shopping cart will impede emergency services.

AB 1427 (Pringle, 1998) updated this law to allow cities and counties to immediately impound
misplaced shopping or laundry carts.  Local officials must notify the owner within 24 hours of
the location where the cart owner can collect the previously wayward cart.  AB 1427 requires
cities and counties to give the owner of the cart three business days to collect the cart at no cost. 
After three days, local officials can charge the owner of the cart a fine or fee, if applicable, for
the actual cost of the retrieval and impounding.  AB 1427 also protects local regulation of
shopping cart removal from the shopping premises or parking area of a shopping center as long
as those local ordinances do not conflict with state law.

The City of San Jose wants to make it easier for them to retrieve shopping carts and recover their
costs for doing so. 

Proposed Law

Senate Bill 753 changes the statewide regulations for shopping cart retrieval.  

Under SB 753, for shopping carts that are located outside the premises or parking area of a retail
establishment, cities and counties can either:

 Retrieve and return the shopping cart to the parking area of premises of the owner or
retailer identified on the sign; or

 Impound the shopping cart if the retailer does not retrieve the cart within three business
days from the date the owner or retailer receives notice from the city or county.

In addition to their existing authority to immediately retrieve a shopping cart from public or
private property if the shopping cart will impede emergency services, SB 753 allows cities and
counties to immediately impound the shopping cart. 

SB 753 removes the $50 limit that a city or county can charge an owner of a shopping cart for
each occurrence in excess of three during a six-month period for failing to retrieve shopping
carts.  Instead, SB 753 allows a city or county that retrieves and returns a shopping cart to
recover its actual costs for the retrieval and return from the owner of the shopping cart for each
occurrence.  The measure defines an “occurrence” to mean a failure of retrieving a cart within
three business days from when the owner received notice from the city or county.
Notice from a city or county must retain proof that it delivered the notice to the owner of the cart,
which can include mail, phone, or electronic transmission with delivery confirmation.  The city
or county must maintain a record of that proof of delivery.  

The measure defines its terms.
Comments

1. Purpose of the bill.  According to the author, “SB 753 addresses a growing public safety and
environmental concern across California: the widespread abandonment of shopping carts in our
communities. Current state law is outdated and inefficient, requiring cities to store abandoned
carts at impound lots and wait for retailers to retrieve them—a burdensome and costly process,
especially for larger cities.

“The bill modernizes California law by allowing cities to immediately collect abandoned
shopping carts, return them directly to retailers without a three-day waiting period, and recover
the actual costs associated with managing cart recovery programs. SB 753 ensures a more
efficient process that reduces street and sidewalk obstructions, protects waterways from pollution
and flooding hazards, and strengthens collaboration and support for both local governments and
retailers.

2. Same old song and dance.  Shopping cart theft has been a problem in California for decades. 
To bring some consistency to the fees local agencies charged retailers for cart recovery, efforts in
the 1990s created some statewide regulation, which benefitted retailers facing inconsistent
regulations.  It also gave retailers a three-day grace period to retriever their carts from the local
agency.  However, these statewide regulations only allowed local agencies to impound carts and
take them to an impound lot if the local agency wanted to charge the retailer for their efforts.  If a
local agency returns the cart to the retailer instead, they cannot recover their costs.  SB 753 tilts
the balance back in the favor of local governments by removing the $50 limit on cost recovery,
and creating a new process for recovering costs when the local agency returns the cart directly to
its owner.  In some ways, this takes the matter back to before the 1990s when costs could vary
across jurisdictions, leading to higher costs for retailers.  In other ways this helps local agencies
manage abandoned shopping carts in a less costly way then taking them to an impound lot,
which could make the problem easier to manage.  However, many local agencies already have
processes in place to collect shopping carts.  Some have contracts with private entities to collect
carts.  SB 753 may allow them to charge more for something they are already doing by removing
the $50 cap and allowing local agencies to recover their actual costs.  To balance the flexibility
for local agencies with cost pressures on retailers, the Committee may wish to consider
amending the bill to implement the bill’s provisions only if the local agency has not adopted a
local program for shopping cart retrieval, and impose reasonable limits on fines and cost
recovery.

Support and Opposition (5/2/2025)

Support:  City of San Jose (Sponsor)
Mayor Matt Mahan, City of San Jose 
Mayor Todd Gloria, City of San Diego 
California Contract Cities Association
California State Association of Counties
City of Concord
City of Norwalk
League of California Cities
Santa Clara Valley Water District
Opposition:  California Grocers Association -- END --