Chapter 123

PAWNBROKERS AND SECONDHAND DEALERS

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Village Board of the Village of Holmen 1-10-1991. Amendments noted where applicable.]

§ 123-1.  License required.

No person, firm or corporation shall carry on or operate within the Village of Holmen a business for the purchase or exchange of secondhand articles composed, in whole or in part, of gold, silver, precious stones, copper, lead or brass or operate as a pawnbroker and/or secondhand article and jewelry store as defined by Wisconsin Statute 134.71 without complying with this chapter and first obtaining a license therefor. Any person, firm or corporation engaging in such business temporarily shall comply with this chapter and obtain a temporary license as provided in this chapter. 

§ 123-2.  Application.

Written applications for licenses under this section for specific premises shall be filed with the Village Clerk for approval by the Village Board at any regular or special meeting thereof at least 10 days prior to said meeting. The Village Clerk shall furnish a copy of the application to the Chief of Police. Licenses shall not be transferable. The application shall be on forms furnished by the Village Clerk and shall contain the following information: 

A.     The applicant's name, place and date of birth and residence address. 

B.      The names and addresses of the business and of the owner of the business premises. 

C.     A statement as to whether the applicant has been convicted within the preceding 10 years of a felony or within the preceding five years of a misdemeanor, statutory violation punishable by forfeiture or county or municipal ordinance violation in which the circumstances of the felony, misdemeanor or other offense substantially relate to the circumstances of the licensed activity and, if so, the nature and date of the offense and the penalty assessed. 

D.     ^[1]Whether the applicant is a natural person, corporation, limited liability company or partnership, and: 

(1)    If the applicant is a corporation, the state where incorporated and the names and addresses of all officers and directors. 

(2)    If the applicant is a partnership, the names and addresses of all partners. 

(3)    If the applicant is a limited liability company, the names and addresses of all members.   

E.      The name of the manager or proprietor of the business. 

F.      Any other information that the Village Clerk may reasonably require.^[2]   

§ 123-3.  Pawnbroker and dealer requirements. 

A.     Identification. No pawnbroker, secondhand article dealer or secondhand jewelry dealer may engage in a transaction of purchase, receipt or exchange of any secondhand article or secondhand jewelry from a customer without first securing adequate identification from the customer. At the time of the transaction, the pawnbroker, secondhand article dealer or secondhand jewelry dealer shall require the customer to present one of the following types of identification: 

(1)    A county identification card. 

(2)    A state identification card. 

(3)    A valid Wisconsin motor vehicle operator's license. 

(4)    A valid motor vehicle operator's license, containing a picture, issued by another state. 

(5)    A military identification card. 

(6)    A valid passport. 

(7)    An alien registration card. 

(8)    A senior citizen's identification card containing a photograph. 

(9)    Any identification document issued by a state or federal government, whether or not containing a picture, if the pawnbroker, secondhand article dealer or secondhand jewelry dealer obtains a clear imprint of the customer's right index finger.   

B.      Transactions with minors. 

(1)    Except as provided in Subsection B(2), no pawnbroker, secondhand article dealer or secondhand jewelry dealer may engage in a transaction of purchase, receipt or exchange of any secondhand article or secondhand jewelry from any minor.^[3] 

(2)    A pawnbroker, secondhand article dealer or secondhand jewelry dealer may engage in a transaction described under Subsection B(1) if the minor is accompanied by his or her parent or guardian at the time of the transaction or if the minor provides the pawnbroker, secondhand article dealer or secondhand jewelry dealer with the parent's or guardian's written consent to engage in the particular transaction.   

C.     Records. 

(1)    Except as provided in Subsection C(2), for each transaction of purchase, receipt or exchange of any secondhand article or secondhand jewelry from a customer, a pawnbroker, secondhand article dealer or secondhand jewelry dealer shall require the customer to complete and sign, in ink, the appropriate form provided under 134.71(12). No entry on such a form may be erased, mutilated or changed. The pawnbroker, secondhand article dealer or secondhand jewelry dealer shall retain an original and a duplicate of each form for not less than one year after the date of the transaction except as provided in Subsection E and during that period shall make the duplicate available to any law enforcement officer for inspection at any reasonable time. 

(2)    For every secondhand article purchased, received or exchanged by a secondhand article dealer from a customer off the secondhand article dealer's premises or consigned to the secondhand article dealer for sale on the secondhand article dealer's premises, the secondhand article dealer shall keep a written inventory. In this inventory the secondhand article dealer shall record the name and address of each customer, the date, time and place of the transaction and a detailed description of the article which is the subject of the transaction. The customer shall sign his or her name on a declaration of ownership of the secondhand article identified in the inventory and shall state that he or she owns the secondhand article. The secondhand article dealer shall retain an original and a duplicate of each entry and declaration of ownership relating to the purchase, receipt or exchange of any secondhand article for not less than one year after the date of the transaction except as provided in Subsection E and shall make duplicates of the inventory and declarations of ownership available to any law enforcement officer for inspection at any reasonable time.^[4]   

D.     Holding period. 

(1)    Except as provided in Subsection D(5), any secondhand article or secondhand jewelry purchased or received by a pawnbroker shall be kept on the pawnbroker's premises or other place for safekeeping for not less than 30 days after the date of purchase or receipt, unless the person known by the pawnbroker to be the lawful owner of the secondhand article or secondhand jewelry recovers it. 

(2)    Except as provided in Subsection D(5), any secondhand article purchased or received by a secondhand article dealer shall be kept on the secondhand article dealer's premises or other place for safekeeping for not less than 10 days after the date of purchase or receipt. 

(3)    Except as provided in Subsection D(5), any secondhand jewelry purchased or received by a secondhand jewelry dealer shall be kept on the secondhand jewelry dealer's premises or other place for safekeeping for not less than 15 days after the date of purchase or receipt. 

(4)    During the period set forth in Subsection D(1), (2) or (3), the secondhand article or secondhand jewelry shall be held separate and apart and may not be altered in any manner. The pawnbroker, secondhand article dealer or secondhand jewelry dealer shall permit any law enforcement officer to inspect the secondhand article or secondhand jewelry during this period. Within 24 hours after a written request of a law enforcement officer during this period, a pawnbroker, secondhand article dealer or secondhand jewelry dealer shall make available for inspection any secondhand article or secondhand jewelry which is kept off the premises for safekeeping. Any law enforcement officer who has reason to believe any secondhand article or secondhand jewelry was not sold or exchanged by the lawful owner may direct a pawnbroker, secondhand article dealer or secondhand jewelry dealer to hold that secondhand article or secondhand jewelry for a reasonable length of time which the law enforcement officer considers necessary to identify it. 

(5)    Subdivisions D(1) to (4) do not apply to any of the following: 

(a)     A coin of the United States, any gold or silver coin or gold or silver bullion. 

(b)     A secondhand article or secondhand jewelry consigned to a pawnbroker, secondhand article dealer or secondhand jewelry dealer.     

E.      Report to law enforcement agency. Within 24 hours after purchasing or receiving a secondhand article or secondhand jewelry, a pawnbroker, secondhand article dealer or secondhand jewelry dealer shall make available, for inspection by a law enforcement officer, the original form completed under Subsection C(1) or the inventory under Subsection C(2), whichever is appropriate. Notwithstanding s. 19.35(1), a law enforcement agency receiving the original form or inventory or a declaration of ownership may disclose it only to another law enforcement agency. 

F.      Exception for customer return or exchange. Nothing in this subsection applies to the return or exchange, from a customer to a secondhand article dealer or secondhand jewelry dealer, of any secondhand article or secondhand jewelry purchased from the secondhand article dealer or secondhand jewelry dealer. 

G.     Investigation of license applicant. The Village Police Department shall investigate each applicant for a pawnbroker's, secondhand article dealer's or secondhand jewelry dealer's license to determine whether the applicant has been convicted within the preceding 10 years of a felony or within the preceding five years of a misdemeanor, statutory violation punishable by forfeiture or county or municipal ordinance violation described under 134.71(5)(c), and, if so, the nature and date of the offense and the penalty assessed. The Village Police Department shall furnish the information derived from that investigation in writing to the Village Clerk.^[5]   

§ 123-4.  Secondhand article dealer mall or flea market. 

A.     The owner of any premises or land upon which two or more persons operate as secondhand article dealers may obtain a secondhand article dealer mall or flea market license for the premises or land if the following conditions are met: 

(1)    Each secondhand article dealer occupies a separate sales location and identifies himself or herself to the public as a separate secondhand article dealer. 

(2)    The secondhand article dealer mall or flea market is operated under one name and at one address, and is under the control of the secondhand article dealer mall or flea market license holder. 

(3)    Each secondhand article dealer delivers to the secondhand article dealer mall or flea market license holder, at the close of business on each day that the secondhand article dealer conducts business, a record of his or her sales that includes the location at which each sale was made.^[6]   

B.      The secondhand article dealer license holder and each secondhand article dealer operating upon the premises or land shall comply with 134.71(8).   

§ 123-5.  License issuance. 

A.     The Village of Holmen shall grant the license if all of the following apply: 

(1)    The applicant, including an individual, a partner, a member of a limited liability company or an officer, director or agent of any corporate applicant, has not been convicted within the preceding 10 years of a felony or within the preceding five years of a misdemeanor, statutory violation punishable by forfeiture or county or municipal ordinance violation in which the circumstances of the felony, misdemeanor or other offense substantially relate to the circumstances of being a pawnbroker, secondhand jewelry dealer, secondhand article dealer or secondhand article dealer mall or flea market owner.^[7] 

(2)    With respect to an applicant for a pawnbroker's license, the applicant provides to the governing body a bond of $500, with not less than two sureties, for the observation of all municipal ordinances relating to pawnbrokers.   

B.      No license issued under this subsection may be transferred. 

C.     License terms. 

(1)    Each license for a pawnbroker, secondhand article dealer or secondhand jewelry dealer is valid from July 1 until the following June 30.^[8] 

(2)    Each license for a secondhand article dealer mall or flea market is valid for 2 years, from May 1 of an odd-numbered year until April 30 of the next odd-numbered year.     

§ 123-6.  License revocation.

The Village of Holmen Board of Trustees may revoke any license issued by it under this section for fraud, misrepresentation or false statement contained in the application for a license or for any violation of this section or s. 943.34, 948.62 or 948.63. 

§ 123-7.  Fees.

The license fees under this section are: 

A.     For a pawnbroker's license: $210. 

B.      For a secondhand article dealer's license: $27.50. 

C.     For a secondhand jewelry dealer's license: $30. 

D.     For a secondhand article dealer mall or flea market license: $165.   

§ 123-8.  Violations and penalties. 

A.     Upon conviction for a first offense under this section, a person shall forfeit not less than $50 nor more than $1,000. 

B.      Upon conviction for a second or subsequent offense under this section, a person shall forfeit not less than $500 nor more than $2,000.   

§ 123-9.  Employees and shows or one-day events. 

A.     Employees of licensed establishments are not required to obtain a license in addition to the establishment's license. 

B.      Businesses conducting an organized show, event or market on a temporary basis at a temporary location whose coordinator or organizer has obtained a license under this section shall not in addition be required to obtain a license for each business, person or entity; however, they shall be required to comply with §§ 123-6, 123-7, 123-8 and 123-9, provided the same are applicable and provided further that such person, business or entity is engaged in the business of purchase or exchange of secondhand goods containing precious metals or stones.   

§ 123-10.  Transmitting information to Police Department.

A copy of the information required by § 123-3 above shall be furnished to the Village of Holmen Police Department on the form prescribed by the Village of Holmen Police Department within 24 hours after the licensee has received the item. Such information shall be personally delivered to or mailed by United States mail to the Village of Holmen Police Department each regular business day. Such record or book and entries as well as every such secondhand article received by such licensee, shall, at all reasonable times, be open to inspection by the Chief of Police or any policeman designated by the Chief of Police for such purpose. No entry made in such book or record shall be erased, obliterated or defaced. The Chief of Police may cause any article referred to in this chapter which there is reason to believe was stolen and was sold or exchanged to the licensee, to be held for the purpose of identification by its owner for such reasonable length of time as is deemed necessary. 

§ 123-11.  Keeping items four days.

No licensee shall destroy, melt down, dispose of, sell or deliver to any other person, any item received in a transaction covered under this chapter, until four days have passed from the date the item came into the possession of the licensee. 

§ 123-12.  Exemptions.

The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to the following: 

A.     Transactions between one licensed established business in the normal course of business and another licensed established business. 

B.      Any precious metal or gem business, at least 90% of whose gross income is derived from the sale of newly manufactured merchandise and who certifies this to the Village Clerk upon enactment of this chapter and thereafter whenever a retail occupational license shall be obtained or renewed. 

C.     Estates purchased through banks, attorneys, or at auctions or real estate sales. 

D.     Industrial residue or by-products and waste purchased from manufacturing firms. 

E.      Coins which are not currently in circulation, purchased for their numismatic value. 

F.      Monetized bullion including Krugerrands, Canadian Maple Leaf, Mexican 500 Pesos and United States Silver and Gold Coins. 

G.     Transactions between a precious metal and gem business and his customer wherein the previous metal or gem is exchanged for, or the value applied to, the purchase price of other merchandise, provided that no cash, check, money order, cashier's check or other negotiable instrument is paid to the customer by the precious metal and gem business and provided the purchase price of the merchandise sold by the business or dealer to the customer is at least $100 in excess of the credit applied to the customer for the customer's precious metal or gems taken in trade. 

H.     Nonprofit charitable organizations which receive and sell only donated items.   

§ 123-13.  Adoption of statutory provisions.

This chapter specifically adopts and makes applicable by reference the provisions of Wisconsin Statute 134.71.