Walton County, GA Business Licensing & Operations: Pawnbrokers (2026)

Chapter 18, Article IV of the Code of Walton County, Georgia regulates pawnbrokers doing business in unincorporated Walton County. § 44-12-136 to define pawnbroker powers and privileges by ordinance; the board of commissioners adopts the state pawnbroker statute by reference and layers county-specific requirements on top of it. Section 18-122 assigns enforcement to the sheriff or the sheriff's designee for centralized recordkeeping. Section 18-123 requires every pawnbroker to admit law enforcement officers to the premises at any reasonable time to look for missing or stolen articles, and to make all pledged or sold articles, books and records available for inspection.

Section 18-124 is the core recordkeeping rule: each pawnbroker keeps a permanent record book, pawn tickets and a daily activity report, made available to a sheriff's department designee weekly, and retained on file for a minimum of four years. § 44-12-132, the pawnbroker must photograph each customer with 35 millimeter color film showing the pawnbroker's ticket or transaction number, keeping the photo and negative on file for four years, and record the name, address and telephone number of every seller and purchaser. Section 18-125 requires entries at the time of each transaction.

Section 18-126 requires a pawnbroker to surrender any item determined to be stolen to the sheriff's department upon demand. Applications and day-to-day licensing run through the county's general occupation tax process in Chapter 18, Article II.