Bessemer, AL Business Licensing & Operations: Pawnbrokers (2026)

Article III of chapter 86 layers city recordkeeping and hold requirements onto the state's Alabama Pawnshop Act, Code of Ala. 1975, section 5-19A-1 et seq. Section 86-44 adopts the Act's own definitions of pawnbroker, pledgor, and related terms for use throughout the article. Section 86-45 requires every pawn ticket to record a description of the property, including model and serial number, the pledgor's name, address, and date of birth, the transaction date, the type and number of identification accepted, the pledgor's approximate height, sex, and race, the cash advanced, the maturity date and amount due, and the monthly rate and charges.

Section 86-46 dictates specific statements every pawn ticket must print, including the 30-day sale-after-default notice and the pledgor's attestation that the item is not stolen. Under section 86-47, the pledgor must sign a statement verifying ownership, the pawnbroker must maintain transaction records on the premises for police inspection, and purchased goods, other than automobiles, trucks, and similar vehicles, must sit unsold on the premises for at least 15 business days, or 21 calendar days for vehicles. Section 86-48 bars a pawnbroker or employee from making false entries, destroying records, refusing a police inspection, accepting a pledge from anyone under 19, or setting a maturity date under 30 days, and section 86-49 lets the police chief place goods on a seven-day hold, but not confiscate them, once a police report and warrant are in place.