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

§ 36-1-20. Section 3-3-121 requires anyone beginning the pawnshop business to first file an application with the county licenses and permits office and receive a license before opening; an operator already running when the article was adopted in 1992 could keep working through the renewal of a current license, but remained fully subject to the article's regulations in the meantime. Section 3-3-122 defines a pawnshop as any business where a well-defined part of the operation takes goods, wares, merchandise or other personal property by pledge or pawn as security for repaying money lent.

Section 3-3-123 routes the written application through the supervisor of the occupational tax office and requires applicants to be at least twenty-one years old, sworn to the application, and to disclose partners, officers or stockholders if the business is not a sole proprietorship; failing to supply requested records within thirty days automatically dismisses the application with prejudice. Section 3-3-124 adds a mandatory background check: the applicant must be fingerprinted, consents to the county pulling criminal history from the Georgia Crime Information Center and the FBI, and the occupational tax coordinator denies the application if the check turns up a disqualifying criminal history.

An annual permit fee set by the board of commissioners is due at application. citizen or a green-card holder, and for a business entity, the owners holding a majority interest must meet that same requirement. A denied or surrendered applicant has an absolute right of appeal: § 3-3-124(b) gives fourteen days from the mailed denial notice to file a written notice of appeal with the Henry County Board of Commissioners, which must set a hearing within thirty days of receiving that notice.