ENGROSSED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 233
(By Senators Snyder, Ball, Hunter and Edgell)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported February 16, 1999.]
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A BILL to amend article three, chapter sixty-one of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
fifty-five, relating to requiring pawnbrokers to obtain a
finger or thumbprint; setting period of retention; directing
superintendent to create form; and creating misdemeanor
offense for willful violations.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article three, chapter sixty-one of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
fifty-five, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY.
§61-3-55. Requirements on pawnbrokers.
(a) Any person who is engaged in the business of pawnbroker shall, in addition to any requirements placed upon persons
engaged in such business by other provisions of this code or any
municipal or county ordinance, obtain and keep a single legible
thumbprint of each person pledging, mortgaging or selling any
goods or articles. The thumbprint shall be taken of the right
thumb or, if the right thumb is missing, from the left thumb.
Each pawnbroker shall display a notice to customers, in a
prominent location, stating that such pawnbroker is required by
law to obtain a thumbprint from every person pawning or selling
an item.
(b)For purposes of this section "pawnbroker" means any
person who lends or advances money or other thing of value on the
pledge and possession of personal property or other valuable
thing other than securities or written or printed evidence of
indebtedness, or who deals in the purchasing of personal property
or other valuable things on condition of selling the same back to
the seller at a stipulated price.
(c) The thumbprint shall be taken in a manner and on a form
prescribed by the superintendent of the state police and the form shall be kept, maintained and available for inspection for a
period of twenty-four months.
(d) Any person who knowingly and willfully violates the
provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and,
upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in the county or
regional jail for not more than thirty days or fined not more
than five hundred dollars, or both.
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(NOTE: This bill creates a law regulating pawnbrokers in
this state. It contains criminal penalties.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.)