GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1999

S	2 

SENATE BILL 582
State and Local Government Committee Substitute Adopted 4/29/99

Short Title:  Electronic Pawn Records.	(Public)

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Sponsors:

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Referred to:  

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March 29, 1999

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO IMPROVE LAW ENFORCEMENT EFFORTS TO RECOVER STOLEN PROPERTY BY PROVIDING SHERIFFS WITH ACCESS TO PAWN TICKET RECORDS OF PAWNSHOPS LOCATED IN MUNICIPALITIES AND BY AUTHORIZING CERTAIN CHIEFS OF POLICE TO REQUIRE PAWNBROKERS TO MAKE PAWN TICKET RECORDS AVAILABLE IN ELECTRONIC FORMAT.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 91A-7(d) reads as rewritten:
"(d)	The pledgor shall sign the pawn ticket and shall receive an exact copy of the pawn ticket which shall be signed or initialed by the pawnbroker or any employee of the pawnbroker.  These records shall be available for inspection and pickup each regular workday by the sheriff of the county and the chief of police of the municipality in which the pawnshop is located.  These records shall be a correct copy of the entries made of the pawn or purchase transaction and shall be carefully preserved without alteration, and shall be available during regular business hours."
Section 2.  Chapter 91A of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 91A-7.1.  Authority to require electronic records.
(a)	In any municipality that has a population in excess of 140,000 by the most recent decennial census, the chief of police may require a pawnshop located within that municipality to make its correct copy pawn and purchase transaction records available to the chief of police in an electronic format acceptable to the chief of police.  The information included in the electronic records shall match the information provided on the pawn ticket records and shall be made available to the chief of police at the same time as the pawn ticket records are made available.  The chief of police shall make the electronic copies of records available to the sheriff of the county in which the pawn shop is located.
(b)	Before requiring a pawnshop to make pawn records available in an electronic format under subsection (a) of this section, the chief of police of a municipality shall determine the pawn shop's average monthly pawn transaction volume for the most recent 12-month period for which records are available.  No pawn shop with an average of fewer than 200 monthly pawn transactions for that 12-month period shall be required to provide electronic copies of its pawn ticket records.  The chief of police shall annually review each pawn shop's average monthly transaction volume and shall adjust electronic reporting requirements based upon the annual review.
(c)	A pawnbroker operating a pawnshop that will be required to make its pawn transaction records available in an electronic format as provided in this section shall be notified by the chief of police in writing at least 45 days prior to the requirement taking effect."
Section 3.  This act is effective July 1, 1999.