16-715.   Report of property pledged or purchased; required holding periodfor precious metal purchased; report not open to public inspection.(a) On or before Tuesday of each week, or at more frequent intervals ifrequired by city ordinance or county resolution, every pawnbroker or preciousmetal dealer shall report the description of all property receivedin pledge or purchased as a pawnbroker or precious metal dealer during thepreceding calendar week, in whatever quantity received. Such report shallinclude all property purchasedas secondhand merchandise atwholesale, secondhand merchandise taken in for sale or possessed onconsignment for sale and secondhand merchandise taken in trade. No suchreport need be made concerning property or merchandise acquired from anotherpawnbroker or precious metal dealerlicensed in this state in a transaction involving the purchase or otheracquisition from the other pawnbroker or precious metal dealer of the otherpawnbroker's or dealer's stock in trade, or a substantial part thereof inbulk, where the other pawnbroker has made the reportsrequired by this section with respect to such property or merchandise.

      (b)   If a transaction required to be reported under this section takesplace within the territorial limits of a city of the first or second class,the report shall besubmitted to the chief of police of the city. If the transactiontakes place outside the territorial limits of any such city, the reportshall be submitted to the sheriff of the county in which the transaction takes place.

      (c)   All reports made pursuant to this section shall comply with and besubmitted in accordance with the terms of any applicable city ordinancesor county resolutions requiring such reporting.

      (d)   Every precious metal dealer shall retain in the dealer's possessionfor a period of 10 days all precious metal purchased as a precious metaldealer, and suchmetal shall remain in the condition in which it was purchased. The ten-dayperiod shall commence on the date that the appropriate police chief or sheriffreceives the report of its acquisition in compliance with this section.If the police chief or sheriff has probable cause to believe that any preciousmetal reported by a dealer has been stolen, the police chief or sheriffmay give written notice to the dealer to retain such metal for an additionalperiod of 15 days. Upon such notice, the dealer shall retain such metalin an unaltered condition for the additional fifteen-day period unless thepolice chief or sheriff notifies the dealer in writing that the waitingperiod is terminated at an earlier time.

      (e)   Reports made pursuant to this section shall be available for inspectiononly by law enforcement officers and county and district attorneys and theiremployees, for law enforcement purposes.

      History:   L. 1972, ch. 51, § 10; L. 1981, ch. 91, § 5; July 1.