[Amended 9-20-2016 by Ord. No. 39-2016]
A. 
The purpose and intent of this article is to assist law enforcement officials and victims of crime in recovering stolen precious metals, gems, gemstones and/or other articles by requiring reasonable reporting, maintenance and distribution criteria for secondhand and transient dealers.
B. 
No person shall use, exercise or carry on the business, trade or occupation of buying, receiving, receiving for pawn or selling of any property described in Appendix I of this chapter or operate as a dealer of said property within the City of Millville, without having first obtained a license from the City of Millville Clerk's office as hereinafter provided.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Appendix I is included as an attachment to this chapter.
For the purposes of this article, the following terms, phrases, words and their derivations shall have the meanings ascribed herein. Words used in the present tense shall include the future, words in the plural number shall include the singular number and words in the singular number shall include the plural number. The word "shall" is always mandatory and not merely directory.
ACCEPTABLE IDENTIFICATION
Acceptable forms of identification include a current valid New Jersey driver's license or identification card issued by the N.J. Motor Vehicle Commission, a current valid photo driver's license issued by another U.S. state, other verifiable United States government-issued photo identification with address, or valid United States passport and evidence of current address. All of the above-listed identification procedures require the dealer to capture/record evidence of the person's current address.
ARTICLE
Any article of merchandise, including any portion of such article, whether a distinct part thereof or not, including every part thereof whether separable or not, and also including material for manufacture, and as so defined in N.J.S.A. 51:6-1.
CHIEF OF POLICE
The Chief of Police of the City of Millville or his designee/representative.
DATABASE
A computerized Internet-capable database with hardware and software compliant with standards set by the Chief of Police.
DEALER
Any person, partnership, corporation, or other entity, whether permanent or itinerant, who on one or more occasions (through any means) buys or sells, receives for pawn or otherwise exchanges or trades any property as described in Appendix I of this chapter and includes anyone advertising the purchase, sale or receipt for pawn of any of the aforementioned items.[1]
GIFT CARD
A restricted monetary equivalent or scrip that is issued by retailers or banks to be used as an alternative to a nonmonetary gift.
ITINERANT BUSINESS
Any business conducted intermittently within the City of Millville or at varying locations.
PAWN
A bailment of personal property as security for any debt or engagement redeemable upon certain terms and with the implied power of sale or default.
PERSON
Any individual natural person, partnership, joint venture, business, society, associate, club, trustee, trust, corporation, or unincorporated group, or an officer, agent, employee, servant, factor or any form of personal representative of any thereof, in any capacity, acting for self or on behalf of another.
PRECIOUS METALS
Comprised of gold, silver, sterling, platinum and/or their alloys as defined in N.J.S.A. 51:5-1 et seq., N.J.S.A. 51:6-1 et seq. and/or N.J.S.A. 51:6A-1 et seq.; gems, gemstones, coins and all forms of jewelry herein contained.
PUBLIC
Individuals and other retail sellers, not to include businesses engaged primarily in wholesale transactions.
PURCHASE
The exchange of money or other consideration for the pledge, sale, conveyance or trade of any property described in Appendix I of this chapter.[2]
REPORTABLE TRANSACTION
Every transaction conducted by a dealer in which property described in Appendix I of this chapter is purchased, pawned or exchanged from or with the public, as that term is defined in this section.
SECONDHAND GOODS
Any article previously sold, acquired, exchanged, conveyed, traded or otherwise formerly owned, but limited to scrap gold, old gold, silver, jewelry, platinum, all other precious metals and other items listed in Appendix I.
TRANSIENT BUYER
A dealer who has not been in any retail business continuously for at least six months at that address in the municipality where the dealer is required to register. The term "transient buyer" will also include a dealer who intends to close out or discontinue all retail business in the City of Millville within six months, or as so defined in N.J.S.A. 51:6A-5 and N.J.A.C. 13:47C-1.1. Vendors doing business during a community event sponsored/sanctioned by the City of Millville shall not be considered a transient buyer.
[1]
Editor's Note: Appendix I is included as an attachment to this chapter.
[2]
Editor's Note: Appendix I is included as an attachment to this chapter.
Every dealer conducting business or intending to conduct business within the jurisdiction of the City of Millville shall first register with the Clerk's office. He or she shall provide fingerprints in a manner determined by the Police Chief, who shall institute such an investigation of the applicant's moral character and business responsibility as he deems necessary for the protection of the public welfare. In the event that the dealer is a business entity other than a sole proprietorship, the officers in a corporation or the partners in a partnership (or limited partnership) shall be deemed to be the applicant(s) who shall be fingerprinted and investigated in accordance with this article. Upon completion of the investigation, the Clerk of the City of Millville shall either issue or deny the license based upon the results of his investigation. Upon issuance of the license, the applicant shall be given a copy of this article.
A. 
Prior to final issuance of a license, a fee of $400 shall be paid to the Clerk of the City of Millville.
B. 
A license issued under the provisions of this article shall not be transferable and shall terminate on December 31 of the year in which said license is issued, unless it is renewed pursuant to the provisions of Subsection C below.
C. 
On or about November 1 of each year, the Clerk's Office shall make available a renewal application for each licensed dealer under this article. Upon submission of the renewal application and required annual fee of $400, the license will be renewed unless the dealer has violated provisions of § 33-43. In such case, the Clerk of the City of Millville will notify the dealer, who may request a hearing as described in § 33-43.
A. 
Licenses issued under the provisions of this article may be revoked by the Board of Commissioners of the City of Millville after a hearing, upon notice to the applicant, for any of the following causes:
(1) 
Fraud, misrepresentation, or false statement contained in the application for license;
(2) 
Fraud, misrepresentation, or false statement made in the course of carrying on the business as a dealer in property as described in Appendix I of this chapter;[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Appendix I is included as an attachment to this chapter.
(3) 
Any violation of this article;
(4) 
Conviction of any crime;
(5) 
Conviction of any disorderly persons offense involving moral turpitude;
(6) 
Conviction of an offense under the laws of the United States or any other state which is substantially equivalent to the offenses named in Subsection A(4) or (5) above; or
(7) 
Conducting the business of soliciting or canvassing in an unlawful manner or in such a manner as to constitute a breach of the peace or to constitute a menace to the health, safety, or general welfare of the public.
B. 
Notice of the hearing for revocation of a license shall be given in writing, setting forth specifically the grounds of complaint and the time and place of hearing. Such notice shall be mailed, postage prepaid, to the licensee at his last known address at least 10 business days prior to the date set for the hearing. The hearing shall be conducted by the Board of Commissioners.
Every dealer within the City of Millville shall, upon the purchase, receiving for pawn, or receiving for consignment, of any property described in Appendix I of this chapter[1] from the public, as this term is defined in § 33-40, be required to:
A. 
Record using a unique transaction number the name, address and telephone number of the seller or sellers; the time and date of the transaction; the net weight in terms of pounds Troy, pennyweight (Troy) or kilograms/grams of the precious metals; fineness in terms of karats for gold, and sterling or coin for silver, in accordance with N.J.S.A. 51:5-1 et seq. and N.J.S.A. 51:6-1 et seq. and any property containing a serial number.
B. 
Document, through use of an electronic database software system as designated by the Chief of Police, the information listed in Subsection C(1) through (6) below. These records shall be subject to the inspection of any sworn police officer acting in the performance of his or her duties.
C. 
Through the use of applicably required computer equipment, and using the electronic format approved by the Chief of Police, enter all transactions into the electronic database within 48 hours from the date of purchase, including the following information:
(1) 
The name, address, date of birth, telephone number, and governmental identification number of the seller.
(2) 
A full description of property sold or numbers of gift cards.
(3) 
The price paid for the property.
(4) 
The entry must include the name of the clerk or the dealer who made the transaction so as to readily identify that individual.
(5) 
A color photograph or color image of the seller's presented governmental photo identification scanned into the transaction record.
(6) 
A color photograph or color image of all property sold scanned into the transaction record. When photographing or imaging, all property must be positioned in a manner that makes it readily and easily identifiable.
D. 
All of the above-described property cannot be sold or disposed of and shall be made available for inspection by any sworn police officer in the performance of his or her duties for a period of 15 business days from the date the information required above is received by the Chief of Police in the prescribed electronic format. The property shall remain in the same condition as when purchased and shall not be changed, modified, melted or disposed of by the dealer until the three-day period has expired. If the property is such that it would create a hardship on the dealer by holding the property for such period, the dealer may present the property to the Chief of Police in order that it may be photographed and, if deemed necessary by the Chief of Police, an investigation be implemented. The Chief of Police has the authority to grant the dealer a waiver of the requirement under this section.
E. 
In the event of a database failure or dealer's computer equipment malfunctions, all transaction information is required to be submitted on paper forms approved by the Chief of Police. In the event that paper forms are used, the dealer is responsible to enter all required transaction information described in Subsection C(1) through (6) above into the database as soon as possible upon the dealer's equipment being repaired or replaced or the database coming back into service. Failure by the dealer to properly maintain computer equipment in a reasonable fashion, or failure by the dealer to replace faulty computer equipment may result in the dealer being cited for a violation of the article and may result in the revocation of the dealer's license under § 33-43 of this article.
F. 
It shall be the requisite duty of every dealer, and of every person in the dealer's employ, to admit to the premises during business hours any member of the Millville Police Department or any other sworn police officer acting in the performance of his or her duties to examine any database, book, ledger, or any other record on the premises relating to the purchase of property from the public as defined in § 33-40. City of Millville police officers are empowered to take possession of any property known by a police officer or official to be missing or to have been stolen or where the officer or official has probable cause to believe the article is missing or stolen. A receipt will be provided to the dealer for any property seized by the Millville Police Department.
[1]
Editor's Note: Appendix I is included as an attachment to this chapter.
This article shall not apply to purchases made by dealers from wholesalers or other legitimate suppliers but shall only apply to those purchases made from the public which includes other retail sellers as defined in § 33-9.[1] The dealer shall keep records of all wholesale purchases for a period of six months from the date of such purchase, which records shall be opened to investigation by the Millville Police Department or any sworn police officer in the performance of his or her duties.
[1]
Editor's Note: So in original.
Violation of any provision of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a minimum fine of $100 or a maximum of $2,000 and/or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90 days and/or by a period of community service not exceeding 90 days. Each and every violation shall be considered a separate violation. Each day that a violation continues shall be a separate violation. Each violation shall result in a ten-day suspension of the dealer's license under this article.