Coweta County, GA Business Licensing & Operations: Pawnbrokers (2026)

Sec. 18-58 governs the county's business certificate process for regulated trades, and subsection (c) puts pawnbrokers on the list of businesses that need an extra sign-off: pawnbrokers require approval of the sheriff's department before the business tax director may issue the license under Sec. 18-41. That approval sits on top of the state-license check every applicant must clear: Sec. title 43 to show proof of current state licensure before the county will issue its own registration, and Sec. 18-58(b) requires that state license be posted where customers can see it at all times it remains valid.

Sec. 18-59 backs this up more broadly, requiring any business needing a health permit, bond, certificate of qualification, or other regulatory approval to show it has met those requirements before the county registration issues. Once granted, a pawnbroker's certificate is not transferable to a new owner (Sec. 18-55) and automatically expires 30 days after the anniversary of initial registration (Sec. 18-56). Because pawnshops routinely buy items containing precious metals, Sec. 18-152(b) separately keeps them bound to the record-book, daily-report, and ten-day holding-period rules of Sec. 18-149 through Sec. 18-151, even though they are excused from the precious-metals-dealer license itself.