Middleton, WI Business Licensing & Operations: Pawnbrokers (2026)

05(1)(ee), notwithstanding Wis. 71(8)(c), a pawnbroker must electronically submit required property transaction information to an electronic reporting service specified by the Middleton Police Department by the close of business each day for every purchase, receipt or exchange of a secondhand article or jewelry. Pawnbrokers using point-of-sale software must ensure it is compatible with the specified service and transfer all required information over the internet; those without such software must either acquire it or manually enter reportable transactions into the database. Every pawnbroker subject to electronic reporting must take a color digital photograph of any purchased or exchanged item lacking a unique serial number, including jewelry, retain that photograph correlated with the transaction records for at least one year, and have each customer sign a declaration of ownership form stating they are the rightful owner, which the pawnbroker must also keep for at least one year and make available to law enforcement on request.

On top of the holding periods already set by Wis. 71(8)(d), Middleton imposes its own local retention period before resale specifically for pawnbrokers: thirty days for any article or piece of jewelry taken in pawn.