HOUSE AUTHOR: Solomons et al. |
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EFFECTIVE: Vetoed |
SENATE SPONSOR: Armbrister |
House Bill 1839 amends the Finance Code to set out procedures by which a county sheriff or city police chief may place a hold order on goods held by a pawnbroker and provides that a person who pledges misappropriated property with a pawnbroker or sells a pawnbroker such property commits a Class B misdemeanor. It also sets out procedures for providing data to law enforcement agencies by electronic means and requires pawnbrokers who generate computerized pawn and purchase tickets to transmit all reportable data or transaction data to the law enforcement agency electronically. It allows for the establishment of a repository for transaction data and charges for the use of the repository. It addresses requirements, confidentiality, fraudulent access, commissioner oversight, computer-related malfunctions and errors, and paper copies related to electronic data.
Reason Given for Veto: "House Bill No. 1839 would reduce local control by mandating the use of private third-party providers in gathering pawnbroker’s transaction information. This legislation also diminishes an important criminal investigation tool by limiting the type and extent of pawn transaction information available to local law enforcement.
For example, local law enforcement currently has the ability to receive pawn transaction information upon request. This bill limits their access to paper transaction documents to on-site inspection if the pawnbroker releases the transaction data electronically to a private company. As a result, police officers will no longer receive paper copies, but will be required to use a portable photocopier to generate admissible records.
Also, pawnbrokers are no longer required to share the paper ticket with the police after 180 days, unless it is sought pursuant to a criminal investigation. The unintended consequence of these provisions is that local law enforcement may not be able to access any pawn transaction information during the seven days permitted by the bill for the transfer of electronic information. This limitation places severe restrictions on very time-sensitive information.