[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township
of Medford 6-17-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-9.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed former Ch. 83,
Gems and Precious Metals, adopted 11-23-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-33.
A.
The purpose and intent of this chapter 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 Medford Township, without having
first obtained a license from Medford Township.
For the purposes of this chapter, 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 forms of identification include a current valid
New Jersey driver's license or identification card issued by
the NJ 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.
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.
The Chief of Police of Medford Township or his designee or
representative.
A computerized internet-capable database with hardware and
software compliant with standards set by the Chief of Police.
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.
A restricted monetary equivalent or script that is issued
by retailers or banks to be used as an alternative to a nonmonetary
gift.
Any business conducted intermittently within Medford Township
or at varying locations.
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.
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.
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.
Individuals and other retail sellers, not to include businesses
engaged primarily in wholesale transactions or transactions between
other merchants.
The exchange of money or other consideration for the pledge,
sale, conveyance or trade of any property described in Appendix I
of this chapter.
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.
Any article previously sold, acquired, exchanged, conveyed,
traded or otherwise formerly owned, including, but not limited to,
scrap gold, old gold, silver, jewelry, home electronics/audio and
visual equipment, musical instruments, telephones and telephonic equipment,
scales, computers, computer hardware and software, typewriters, word
processors, scanners, sporting goods of all kinds, antiques, platinum,
all other precious metals, tools of all kinds, televisions, DVRs,
GPS, camcorders, car stereos, gift cards, furniture, clothing, other
valuable articles, or as listed in Appendix I.
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 Township of Medford 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 Medford
Township shall not be considered a transient buyer.
A.
Every dealer conducting business or intending to conduct business
within the jurisdiction of Medford Township shall first make application
to the Township Clerk. The application shall be in written form and
shall contain at a minimum the name of the dealer and the address
of the dealer. Additionally, the application shall contain the name,
address, phone number, date of birth, and social security number of
every owner of the establishment.
B.
The Township Clerk will then forward the application to the Chief
of Police who shall ensure that applicant is fingerprinted and 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 chapter. Upon completion of the investigation,
the Chief of Police shall forward his recommendation to the Township
Clerk. If the recommendation is to deny the application, the denial
shall state the reason for such denial. An appeal may be filed in
writing within 30 days to the Township Manager who may affirm or reverse
the denial as appropriate.
A.
Each application for a dealer of secondhand goods shall be accompanied by an annual fee as set forth in Chapter 71 of the Code of the Township of Medford, payable to the Township Clerk.
B.
A license issued under the provisions of this chapter 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 Township Clerk shall make available a renewal application for each licensed dealer under this chapter. Upon submission of the renewal application and required annual fee as set forth in Chapter 71 of the Code of the Township of Medford, the license will be renewed unless the dealer has violated provisions of this chapter. In such case, the Chief of Police will notify the dealer, who may request a hearing as described above.
D.
No license fee shall be prorated.
A.
Licenses issued under the provisions of this chapter may be revoked
by the Township Manager 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;
(3)
Any violation of this chapter;
(4)
Conviction of any crime;
(5)
Conviction of any disorderly person's offense involving moral
turpitude;
(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 Township Manager, based upon such evidence as presented by
the Chief of Police.
Every dealer within Medford Township shall, upon the purchase, receiving for pawn, or receiving for consignment, of any property described in Appendix I of this chapter, from the public, as this term is defined in § 83-2, 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.
C.
Through the use of applicably required computer equipment, and using
the electronic format approved by the Director of Police, enter all
transactions into the electronic database within 24 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)
The receipt number;
(3)
A full description of property sold or pawned by the seller, including,
but not limited to, marks, numbers, dates, sizes, shapes, initials,
monograms and serial numbers, face value and identifying numbers of
gift cards;
(4)
The price paid for the property;
(5)
The entry must include the name of the clerk or the dealer who made
the transaction so as to readily identify that individual;
(6)
A color photograph or color image of the seller's presented
governmental photo identification scanned into the transaction record;
(7)
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 10 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
ten-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 § 83-6C(1) through (7) 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 chapter and may result in the revocation of the dealer's license under § 83-5 of this chapter.
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 Medford Township Police Department or any other sworn police officer acting in the performance of their 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 § 83-2. Medford Township 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 Medford Township Police Department.
This chapter 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 § 83-2. 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 Medford Township Police Department or any sworn police officer in the performance of their duties.
No dealers within Medford Township shall purchase any property
as defined in Appendix I from any person under the age of 18 years.
Violations of any provision of this chapter shall, upon conviction, by punished by a minimum fine of $100 and a maximum fine of $500 for a first offense. Any subsequent offense shall be punishable by a minimum fine of $500 and maximum fine of $2,000 and/or imprisonment for a term not to exceed 90 days and/or by a period of community service not exceeding 90 days. Each day that a violation continues shall be deemed a separate violation. Each violation shall result in a ten-day suspension of the dealers license under this chapter. Additionally, as outlined in § 83-5 of this chapter, the dealers license may be revoked.
The Medford Township Police Department is designated as the
enforcing agency.
A.
Repealer. All ordinances or parts of ordinances inconsistent or in
conflict with this chapter are hereby repealed as to said inconsistencies
and conflicts.
B.
Severability. If any section, paragraph, subdivision, clause or provision
of this chapter shall be adjudged invalid or unconstitutional, such
adjudication shall apply only to the section, paragraph, subdivision,
clause or provision and the remainder of this chapter shall be deemed
valid and effective.
C.
Effective date. This chapter shall take effect immediately upon passage
and publication according to law.
