(a) The annual fee for each license to practice the business of a pawnbroker shall be one hundred dollars ($100.00).
(b) The word “pawnbroker” as used in this section shall include any person engaged in the business of lending money on deposit or pledge of personal property or other valuable thing, other than securities or printed evidence of indebtedness, or in the business of purchasing personal property such as articles made of or containing gold, silver, platinum, or other precious metals or jewels of any description for the purpose of reducing or smelting them into any form different from their condition or construction when purchased, and/or reselling or marketing the product.
(c) All pawnbrokers licensed pursuant to this section and West Virginia Code Section 61-3-51 shall keep a separate record book, open to inspection by the Chief of Police or his designee, in which shall be written in the English Language at the time of such pledge, purchase or exchange of any such article, a description thereof, including any model number, serial number and other identification numbers, if applicable, and the name, description, telephone number, and residence of the pledgor or person from whom such property was purchased and received which shall be ascertained by requiring an identifier issued by a governmental agency with a photograph of the subject and one other corroborating means of identification, which shall be photocopied by the pawnbroker at the time the transaction is made, with a copy delivered to the Chief of Police or his designee. Each entry shall be numbered consecutively commencing with the number one (1).
(d) When a pawnbroker purchases personal property such as articles made of or containing gold, silver, platinum, or other precious metals or jewels of any description for the purpose of reducing or smelting them in any form different from their condition or construction when purchased, and reselling or marketing the product, shall keep the personal property in its original form for a period of ten (10) days before it may be altered in any way.
(e) A tag shall be attached to such article in some visible and convenient place with the number thereupon corresponding to the entry number of such record book.
(f) All pawnbrokers shall provide the Chief of Police or his designee with a copy of or summary of the records required to be kept as hereinabove described at such times and in such form as shall be designated by the Chief of Police
(g) Whoever violates any provision of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars ($500.00).
(Ord. 1540. Passed 11-22-11.)