Amend the bill, as and if amended, page 7, by striking lines 33-43, and page 8, by striking lines 1-2, and inserting:
/ (F)(1) A pawnbroker may not employ a person to carry on the business of a pawnbroker or in any manner engage in the business of a pawnbroker that has been convicted of:
(a) a violent felony or a felony involving a financial transaction or institution as provided in Section 16-1-90, for eight years following conviction; or
(b) any other non-violent felony for five years following conviction.
(2) A pawnbroker may employ a person convicted as described in subsection (1) if the person:
(a) is an employee of a pawnbroker on the effective date of this section and subsequently has not been convicted of a felony; or
(b) is not an employee of a pawnbroker on the effective date of this section and the felony conviction occurred more than eight years before the person's application for employment.
(3) Subject to the provisions of item (1), a person who is convicted of a felony is not be eligible for employment with a pawnbroker or to engage in the business of a pawnbroker until a period of eight years after the conviction elapses without another felony conviction." /
Amend the bill further, as and if amended, by striking SECTION 14 and SECTION 15 in their entirety and inserting:
/ SECTION 14. Section 40-39-140 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 40-39-140 (A) No pawnbroker shall accept property from a pledgor or seller upon which there is evidence of ownership by a third party without first taking reasonable steps to ascertain its true ownership. Any such item accepted for pawn or purchased by a pawnbroker must be returned on demand without fee to the third party owner.
(B)(1) If property in the possession of a pawnbroker was leased to a pledgor or seller when the pledgor or seller pledged or sold the property to the pawnbroker, the pawnbroker shall return the property to the lessor if the lessor provides the pawnbroker with evidence that the property was the lessor's property and was leased to the pledgor or seller at the time the property was pledged or sold to the pawnbroker. For the purposes of this section, a lease or other written agreement containing a matching item description shall be sufficient evidence of the lessor's ownership of the property.
(2) If property in the possession of a pawnbroker was leased to a pledgor or seller when the pledgor or seller pledged or sold the property to the pawnbroker and the pawnbroker returns the property to the lessor, the pledgor or seller must pay the pawnbroker:
(a) the amount financed, the finance fee for the pawn transaction, and any costs associated with collecting those amounts and fees, if the property was pledged to the pawnbroker; or
(b) the amount that the pawnbroker paid the seller and any costs associated with collecting that amount if the property was sold to the pawnbroker.
(3) A pawnbroker is not liable to the pledgor or seller of property that is recovered by a lessor under item (1) for returning the property to a lessor."
SECTION 15. Section 40-39-150 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 40-39-150. (A) Upon finding that an action of a pawnbroker is in violation of the provisions of this chapter or of a law or regulation of this State or of the federal government or an agency of the state or federal government, the administrator may file a request with the Administrative Law Court for a contested case hearing in which the administrator may seek issue an administrative order requiring the pawnbroker to cease and desist from the action and may suspend, revoke, or refuse to issue a certificate of authority by order.
(B) The administrative law judge administrator also may impose issue an administrative order imposing administrative fines penalties of up to seven hundred fifty dollars for each offense upon persons violating any of the provisions of this chapter up to a maximum of fifteen thousand dollars for the same set of transactions or occurrences. Each violation constitutes a separate offense. In addition, a person violating the provisions of Sections 40-39-20 and 40-39-30 is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding sixty days, or both. The administrative law judge may revoke or suspend a pawnbroker's certificate of authority in addition to the penalties provided in this section." /
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.