Clovis, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)
Key Facts
- Register language
- Must be kept in English
- Required entries
- Purchase date, seller name/age/address
- Inspection access
- Chief of Police, deputies, City officers
- Refusal to produce
- Misdemeanor under § 5.9.02
Summary
Secondhand dealers in Clovis must keep a written register in English of every item bought, recording the purchase date and the seller's name, age, and address, under Municipal Code Section 5.9.01. The register must be produced on demand to the Police Chief or any City officer, and refusing inspection is itself a misdemeanor under Section 5.9.02.
Any person who shall buy, sell, barter, exchange, or otherwise deal in and with secondhand goods or commodities of any kind or description shall immediately enter in the English language in a register to be kept by him the date any secondhand property is purchased and an accurate description of the person from whom it is purchased, including the name, age, and place of residence of such person. Every such register shall be open to inspection by the Chief of Police, or any of his deputies, or by any officer of the City at any reasonable time. Any person who fails or refuses to produce such register for such inspection...shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
Full Breakdown
01 applies to any person who buys, sells, barters, exchanges, or otherwise deals in secondhand goods or commodities of any kind, and it requires them to immediately enter in English, in a kept register, the date any secondhand property is purchased and an accurate description of the seller, including the seller's name, age, and place of residence. There is no separate business license or permit application spelled out in this chapter; the obligation is a mandatory transaction record, functioning much like a pawnshop's police book, aimed at giving law enforcement a paper trail to trace stolen goods sold through secondhand dealers.
02 makes that register open to inspection by the Chief of Police, any police deputy, or any City officer at any reasonable time, and separately requires the dealer to exhibit all articles purchased in the business to those same officers or to anyone holding a search warrant for personal property. The chapter, one of the older, shorter chapters of Title 5, dates to Ordinance 98 and has not been substantially expanded since, so its obligations remain limited to recordkeeping and inspection access rather than a formal licensing scheme.
Violations & Fines
Failing or refusing to produce the register for inspection, or failing or refusing to exhibit purchased articles to the Chief of Police, a police deputy, any City officer, or a warrant holder, is a misdemeanor under Section 5.9.02. The statute does not set a separate fine schedule for the recordkeeping duty itself in Section 5.9.01, but the inspection-refusal misdemeanor gives officers a direct enforcement tool against dealers who will not open their books.
Frequently Asked Questions
What records must a secondhand dealer keep in Clovis?
Can police inspect a secondhand dealer's records in Clovis?
What happens if a secondhand dealer refuses to show their register?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Clovis
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