Clackamas County, OR Business Licensing & Operations: Pawnbrokers (2026)
Key Facts
- State license required
- ORS Chapter 726
- County permit needed only if
- also a Secondhand Dealer
- Pawn loan hold exemption
- exempt from 30-day rule
- Reporting duty
- new transactions only
- Enforcing agency
- Sheriff's Pawn Shop Detail
- Citation appeal window
- 10 days
Summary
Pawnbrokers in unincorporated Clackamas County operate under state law first: Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 726 sets the license itself. The county code layers on its own theft-prevention rules, requiring pawnbrokers to follow the same reporting, hold-period, tagging, and nuisance-abatement sections that apply to Secondhand Dealers, even if the pawnbroker never registers as one.
PAWNBROKER has the meaning set forth in ORS 726.010 (2) and includes any business required by ORS 726.040 to hold an Oregon Pawnbroker's license. ... Any Pawnbroker operating within Clackamas County shall be required to maintain a valid license pursuant to the Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 726. If any Pawnbroker also acts as a Secondhand Dealer, that Pawnbroker shall be required to obtain a Secondhand Dealer permit and meet all requirements of this chapter. Any Pawnbroker that is not a Secondhand Dealer shall nonetheless be subject to the following sections of this chapter:
Full Breakdown
Clackamas County Code 8.03.020(J) defines PAWNBROKER by reference to ORS 726.010(2) and requires the Oregon license under ORS 726.040. Under 8.03.030(C), every pawnbroker doing business in the county must keep that state license current; a pawnbroker who also buys and resells goods outright as a Secondhand Dealer needs the separate county Secondhand Dealer permit too. A pure pawnbroker is not required to get the county permit, but is still bound by six specific sections of Chapter 8.03: the transaction-reporting rules of 8.03.080 (used to satisfy the reporting duties of ORS 726.280-726.285), the sale limitations of 8.03.090, the exceptions in 8.03.095, the tagging and inspection rules of 8.03.100, the prohibited-acts list in 8.03.110, the citation procedure in 8.03.120, and the nuisance provisions of 8.03.150.
Pawn loan transactions get one carve-out other dealers do not: they are exempt from the standard 30-day hold because of 'the redeemable nature of the loans and the holding requirements of ORS 726,' and pawnbrokers only have to report new transactions, not loan renewals or redemptions where the pledged item never leaves the store (8.03.080(A)(3), 8.03.090(A)(1)).
Violations & Fines
A pawnbroker who lets its Oregon Chapter 726 license lapse, fails to report new pawn transactions to the Sheriff's Pawn Shop Detail, or violates the prohibited-acts list in 8.03.110, such as taking property from a minor or ignoring a police hold, is subject to a County Code fine set by Board resolution and can be cited by the Sheriff under 8.03.120, with 10 days to pay or appeal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a pawnbroker need a separate county permit on top of the state license?
Do pawn loans have to sit for 30 days like other secondhand items?
What transactions must a pawnbroker report to the Sheriff?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Clackamas County
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