Montgomery, AL Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)
Key Facts
- Daily report deadline
- 10:00 a.m., except Sunday
- Report recipient
- Chief of police
- Tracking system
- Electronic, police-accessible
- Recordkeeping penalty
- Up to $50/day, misdemeanor
- Governing section
- City Code § 22-1
Summary
Every pawnbroker or secondhand dealer in Montgomery must report all pawned or purchased personal property to the police chief by 10:00 a.m. the next day, naming the seller, and must run an electronic inventory-tracking system the police department can access by computer.
Every pawnbroker or secondhand dealer in the city shall deliver to the chief of police or his duly authorized representative, by 10:00 a.m. each day, except Sunday, a description of all tangible personal property, other than household furniture or automobiles, taken in pawn or bought by him on the previous day, together with the names and addresses of the persons who put such property in pawn or sold it, and any other information required by such officer. Such reports shall be made upon forms furnished by the chief of police. For the purpose of this section, any person operating a business in the city that requires the owner of tangible personal property, other than household furniture and automobiles, to leave or pledge such property with such operator as security for any loan made to such owner shall be deemed a pawnbroker. Additionally, such pawnbroker or second hand dealer in the city shall, within 60 days from the effective date of the ordinance from which this section derives, maintain an electronic inventory-tracking system which is capable of delivery and transmission of all information required by this section via computer to the entity designated by the chief of police.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 27).
Full Breakdown
each day except Sunday, a description of all tangible personal property other than household furniture or automobiles taken in pawn or bought the previous day, together with the names and addresses of the people who pawned or sold it, on forms the chief of police supplies. The section defines a pawnbroker broadly: anyone operating a business that requires an owner of tangible personal property to leave or pledge that property as security for a loan is deemed a pawnbroker for this reporting duty, regardless of what the business calls itself.
Ordinance No. 45-2006 added a further mandate that every pawnbroker or secondhand dealer maintain an electronic inventory-tracking system capable of transmitting all required information by computer to the entity the police chief designates, giving Montgomery police a searchable, near-real-time record of secondhand and pawned goods moving through the city. This chapter sits alongside a state-law reference to the Alabama Pawnshop Act, Code of Ala. , which governs pawnbroker licensing itself; § 22-1 is Montgomery's own daily-report and tracking-system add-on for both pawnbrokers and general secondhand dealers.
Violations & Fines
A note to Ordinance No. 45-2006 makes failing to keep the required electronic recordkeeping system a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not more than $50.00 per offense, with every day of noncompliance charged as a separate offense. Failing to file the daily 10:00 a.m. report itself falls under the Chapter 1 general penalty, § 1-6: a fine of $1.00 to $500.00, up to six months in jail or hard labor, or both.
Frequently Asked Questions
What must a Montgomery secondhand dealer report to police each day?
Does a business have to call itself a 'pawnshop' to be covered by § 22-1?
What happens if a Montgomery secondhand dealer skips the electronic tracking system?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Montgomery
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