Twin Falls, ID Business Licensing & Operations: Pawnbrokers (2026)

Chapter 3-4 of the Twin Falls City Code, adopted by the Twin Falls City Council, governs pawnshops, brokers and secondhand dealers. Section 3-4-2 makes it unlawful to engage in, conduct, keep, manage or operate a pawnshop or secondhand store without a license in full force and effect. The application goes in writing to the city clerk. When a partnership, corporation or association applies, the manager, officer, agent or other person with direct charge of the pawnshop makes the application.

The Twin Falls Police Department investigates every applicant. Applicants must provide the information needed for a local Twin Falls city background check, a warrant check and a check of the Idaho Courts online records system. The clerk issues the license only after the department finds the applicant meets the chapter's qualifications. No license issues for a location that does not comply with the planning and zoning regulations and fire codes of the city, county and state.

The annual fee is $500, collected before issuance or renewal. An application filed after June 30 pays $250 for the balance of that year. Every licensee must pay the clerk $500 for each license held on or before each January 31 for the succeeding calendar year. A denied applicant gets the fee refunded, but nothing is refunded after a suspension, a revocation or a voluntary surrender.

Section 3-4-3 adds qualifications for every applicant and every employee of an applicant: over eighteen, no pawnbroker license or similar permit revoked or suspended by the city or any other state or local agency within three years before the application, and no conviction in the preceding five years for a felony, theft in any degree, or obscene or lewd conduct.

The definition in § 3-4-1 excludes firearms from the pawnbroker business and states that the section applies only to Type 02 Federal Firearms License holders. Once licensed, a pawnbroker keeps a record of every article pledged or received, reports a description to LeadsOnline.com within twenty-four hours, keeps one copy of each record for twelve months, and cannot sell a pledged article for at least thirty days (§§ 3-4-4 and 3-4-5).