St. Clair County, IL Business Licensing & Operations: Pawnbrokers (2026)

St. Clair County requires anyone conducting a pawnbroker business in the unincorporated county to hold a license under Sec. 8-7-1 of the County Code; the County Board Chairman can revoke the license for any violation of the Pawnbrokers Article. Applications go to the County Clerk and must state the applicant's name, business location and number of employees (Sec. 8-7-2). The Sheriff or another officer designated by the County Board Chairman investigates every applicant's character, and the Clerk may not issue a license to anyone convicted of receiving stolen goods, burglary or robbery.

The annual license fee is $500, payable in advance before the Clerk issues the license (Sec. 8-7-3). Licensed pawnbrokers must keep a record of every article pledged or sold to them, open to inspection by any police officer during business hours (Sec. 8-7-4). Pawnbrokers may not accept as a pledge or purchase, or display for sale, any revolver, pistol, blackjack or sawed-off shotgun (Sec. 8-7-5). No pawnbroker may deal with anyone under eighteen without the written consent of a parent or guardian for that specific transaction, no license issues to anyone under eighteen, and no pawnbroker may employ a worker under eighteen (Sec.

8-7-6). Any pawnbroker who has reason to believe a pledged or offered article was stolen or lost must report it to the police (Sec. 8-7-7). A pawnbroker who also runs a secondhand-dealer business must separately obtain the secondhand dealer's license required for that trade in addition to the pawnbroker's license (Sec. 8-7-8). Violating any provision of the Article, including operating without a license, exposes the pawnbroker to the County's general penalty under Sec. 1-1-20 and to license revocation by the County Board Chairman.