LaPorte County, IN Business Licensing & Operations: Pawnbrokers (2026)
Key Facts
- Recordkeeping window
- Uploaded daily by end of business day
- Record retention
- Minimum 2 years on premises
- Hold before resale
- Not less than 15 days
- Minor sales
- Banned from anyone under 18
- Inspection
- At least one Sheriff's Office check per year
- First-offense fine
- $100 after written warning
Summary
LaPorte County does not license pawnshops separately, but Chapter 112 forces every pawnbroker to log each pledge or purchase with a Sheriff-approved third-party vendor, photograph the item and seller, hold goods 15 days before resale, and open records to a Sheriff's Office inspection at least once a year.
PAWNBROKER. Shall have the same meaning as pawnshop. PAWNSHOP. Any person, partnership, association, or corporation lending money on the deposit or pledge of personal property, or who deals in the purchase of personal property on the condition of selling the property back again at a stipulated price, other than choose in action, securities, or printed evidence of indebtedness. ... All item(s) purchased or pledged by person who owns, operates, or otherwise acts as a precious and or valuable metals dealer, pawnshop, and or a secondhand retailer in accordance with such terms as defined above, shall be retained at the place of business of the dealer, by the proprietor, manager, or employee for a period of not less than 15 days after its receipt before any such goods or articles may be disposed of or sold.
Full Breakdown
02 defines PAWNBROKER as having the same meaning as PAWNSHOP, which the code defines as any person, partnership, association or corporation lending money on the deposit or pledge of personal property, or dealing in the purchase of personal property on condition of selling it back at a stipulated price. 03(A), a pawnbroker must record the date and time of each transaction, a detailed description of the item including serial number and distinguishing marks, a color photograph of both the item and the seller, and verify the seller's identity with government-issued photo ID that is itself photographed.
Those records must be uploaded daily, by the end of the business day, to a third-party vendor approved by the LaPorte County Sheriff, and kept on the business premises for a minimum of two years. 04(A) bars a pawnbroker from disposing of or selling any pledged or purchased item for at least 15 days after receiving it, giving owners a window to claim stolen property. 06 flatly bars taking or purchasing any item from a person under 18. 08 requires the Sheriff's Office to run at least one random inspection of a pawnbroker's records each calendar year, comparing the physical records against what was uploaded to the third-party system.
09 exempts federal 501(c) organizations, businesses reselling only donated merchandise, auto resellers, towing/recovery services, and farm implement resellers from the whole chapter, but a pawnshop does not qualify for any of those carve-outs.
Violations & Fines
Section 112.99 penalizes a pawnbroker who violates the chapter after receiving a written warning from law enforcement: $100 for a first offense, $500 for a second offense within the same calendar year, and $1,500 for each additional offense within that year. Each individual transaction where a violation occurs or continues counts as a separate offense, so repeated recordkeeping failures on multiple pledges can stack penalties quickly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does LaPorte County require a separate pawnbroker license?
How long must a LaPorte County pawnshop hold an item before reselling it?
What happens if a pawnbroker skips the required recordkeeping?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in LaPorte County
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