Abilene, TX Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)

Section 20-8 sits in Chapter 20's general offenses article and applies to anyone buying secondhand property for resale, whether personally or on someone else's behalf, covering secondhand goods, furniture, clothing, automobile parts or accessories, and any other personal property bought to resell. The dealer must keep a permanent register, not a disposable receipt book, recording four things for every transaction: an accurate description of the article purchased; from whom it was received, along with a description of that person; the seller's address; and the item's final disposition, meaning if it is later sold, to whom, a description of that buyer, the buyer's address, and the price it sold for.

The register has to stay current and complete for as long as the business operates, since the ordinance does not set an expiration or purge date for entries. Any police officer, whether from the City of Abilene or the State of Texas, can inspect the register at any time, with no warrant or advance notice requirement written into the section, which makes it a standing investigative tool for tracing stolen property that moves through pawn-style resale channels. The section does not require a license or permit fee to operate as a secondhand dealer; the register itself, and the obligation to make it available on demand, is the entire compliance duty. 00 per day the violation continues.