Danville pawnbroker ordinance delayed until January
Published 4:16 pm Tuesday, December 13, 2016
An ordinance regulating pawnbrokers in Danville will have to wait another month before it could become law.
A second reading that would make the proposed ordinance law was postponed by Danville City Commission Monday night.
City Manager Ron Scott asked for the second reading of the ordinance be held due to a request from a local pawnshop owner.
“We have a request from one of the pawnshop owners to have an additional discussion on two items,” Scott said. “I don’t know if it will result in a change to the draft ordinance or not.”
Scott said the pawnshop owner asked to discuss the required bond under the ordinance and if there are constitutional or any other issues that would prohibit transactions with anyone on the felony offender list.
Scott said they will be meeting with the pawnshop owner next Wednesday to discuss these items.
Before the current draft ordinance was written, Scott and City Attorney Stephen Dexter met with a number of local pawnshop owners to discuss what items should be placed in the ordinance.
The ordinance was originally brought to the city commission in August after concerns were raised by the Danville Police Department and officials had looked into a pawnbroker ordinance already in place in Winchester, Dexter previously said.
If passed into law, the ordinance would place new limitations and requirements on pawnbrokers and precious metal dealers.
They would be required to report all transactions in order to assist the police department in retrieving stolen property before it is resold or destroyed, according to the ordinance.
The ordinance states the purpose is to “protect public health, safety and general welfare and to enforce the laws prohibiting the act of not reporting transactions and to aid in the prevention of engaging in such transaction with convicted persons.”
It would also require local pawnbrokers and precious metal dealers to file an application for a license and pay a $100 license fee within 30 days. They would have to renew their licenses every year for $50. The pawn shops would also be required to be bonded in the amount of $20,000.
Pawn shops would be required to log everything they buy on a daily basis using “Leadsonline,” an online database used by law enforcement to locate stolen items. The Danville Police Department will regularly check the database to keep track of items, Dexter said.
The city commission approved the first reading of the ordinance at the last meeting in November.
The commission originally approved a first reading of the ordinance on Aug. 8 but at a subsequent meeting, City Manager Ron Scott said the ordinance was on hold until Dexter could further review it.
When the ordinance was initially introduced, Police Chief Tony Gray said much of the proposed ordinance is borrowed from a Winchester ordinance that has been in effect successfully since 2011.