Jefferson Parish, LA Business Licensing & Operations: Pawnbrokers (2026)
Key Facts
- License fee
- $1,000.00 flat annual fee (Sec. 35-179(b))
- Retail sales cap
- $100,000.00/year before separate retail license
- Retail license formula
- Retail receipts plus 1/3 of money loaned
- Rate table
- Section 35-174 sets retail license rates
- Issuing office
- Sheriff, ex officio parish tax collector
- Due date
- Annual, due January 1; delinquent after Feb.
Summary
Every pawnbroker and wage/salary money-lender operating in Jefferson Parish must hold an occupational license carrying a flat $1,000.00 annual fee under Code of Ordinances Sec. 35-179(b). Pawnbrokers may also run retail sales without an extra license as long as those sales stay at or under $100,000.00 a year; cross that line and a separate retail license applies.
Pawnbrokers and persons lending money on wages or salaries. For each and every pawnbroker, or person keeping a loan office and engaged in lending money on articles pawned or pledged, and for each and every money broker, money lender, or person lending money on, or purchasing time, wages, or salaries of laborers, clerks, or other wage earners or other persons, whether the same be earned or unearned, and whether the business is conducted in an office or otherwise, a license based on a flat fee of one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) shall be required. Persons licensed under this category may conduct retail sales, provided that the gross receipts from such sales do not exceed one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00). if the gross receipts from retail sales exceed one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00), a retail license is required. Such retail license shall be based on the sum of the gross receipts of the retail sales and of one-third of the total amount of the money loaned. The license fee shall be based on the rates listed in the table in section 35-174.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 20 Update 2).
Full Breakdown
Section 35-179(b) sets a single flat-fee license category covering pawnbrokers, persons who keep a loan office and lend money on pawned or pledged articles, and money brokers or lenders who advance money against or purchase the wages or salaries, earned or unearned, of laborers, clerks or other wage earners, regardless of the form the business takes. 00 regardless of revenue, unlike most occupational licenses in the article, which scale with gross receipts. 00 in a year. 00, the pawnbroker must obtain a separate retail dealer's license, computed on the sum of the retail gross receipts plus one-third of the total amount of money loaned that year, applied against the rate table in Sec.
35-174. As with every occupational license in this article, the license is issued by the sheriff as ex officio tax collector under Sec. 35-154(4), runs on the calendar year, is due January 1 and becomes delinquent after the last day of February under Sec. 35-155(b), and cannot be transferred to a new owner or location under Sec. 35-157. A pawnbroker who begins business mid-year must still pay a tentative license before opening and settle the balance within forty days under Sec. 35-156.
Violations & Fines
Operating as a pawnbroker or wage lender without first paying the required license leaves the tax immediately delinquent with no separate demand needed, and Sec. 35-163 authorizes the sheriff to seek a court rule compelling payment of the full tax, interest, penalties and costs, tried on an expedited two-to-ten-day docket. Falsifying material facts on the license application, including understating pawnshop retail receipts to avoid the $100,000.00 retail-license trigger, is a misdemeanor under Sec. 35-162(d), punishable by a fine of up to $200.00, up to six months' imprisonment, or both.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a pawnbroker license cost in Jefferson Parish?
Can a Jefferson Parish pawnshop sell merchandise at retail without a second license?
Who issues and collects Jefferson Parish's pawnbroker license?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Jefferson Parish
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