Jackson, TN Business Licensing & Operations: Pawnbrokers (2026)

Jackson Municipal Code § 9-201 bars anyone from engaging in the business of pawnbroker within the city without the pawnbroker's license required under Tennessee Code Annotated § 45-6-208. Beyond that state-issued license, § 9-202 requires every pawnbroker to keep a consecutively numbered record of each pawn and buy-sell transaction, matching a detachable pawn ticket, that records the property description, loan amount, maturity date (never less than thirty days out), and the pledgor's name, race, sex, height, weight, date of birth, and one of several accepted photo identification numbers.

Those records must be delivered to the appropriate law enforcement agency, in practice the Jackson Police Department, within forty-eight hours of the transaction and kept open for inspection by the chief of police every business day but Sunday. Section 9-204 lists prohibited acts: no pledge may be taken from anyone under eighteen, from someone who appears intoxicated, or from a known thief without first notifying a police officer; the pawnbroker cannot resell pledged property for personal use, must hold every pledge for thirty days past maturity before disposing of it, and may not keep the shop open before 8:00 a.m. or after 6:00 p.m. except during the thirty days before Christmas (November 25 through December 24), when closing may extend to 9:00 p.m.

Section 9-205 requires a safe place for storing pledges and sufficient insurance on the pledged property, with the policy naming the city clerk as loss payee for the pledgor's benefit and a copy deposited with the city clerk's office. A pawnbroker may keep only one licensed location under Tennessee Code Annotated § 45-6-208, and pledged goods may not be sold or returned to a customer until forty-eight hours after the § 9-202 report is filed with police.