As Introduced

128th General Assembly
Regular Session
2009-2010
S. B. No. 311


Senator Hughes 

Cosponsor: Senator Miller, R. 

A BILL
To amend sections 4727.09, 4728.07, 4737.01, 4737.04, 1
and 4737.99 and to enact section 4727.22 of the 2
Revised Code to require pawn brokers, precious 3
metal dealers, secondhand dealers, and scrap metal 4
dealers to make electronic files of each purchase 5
available on an internet law enforcement database 6
reporting system.7


BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

       Section 1.  That sections 4727.09, 4728.07, 4737.01, 4737.04, 8
and 4737.99 be amended and section 4727.22 of the Revised Code be 9
enacted to read as follows:10

       Sec. 4727.09.  (A) AExcept as provided in division (B) of 11
this section, a person licensed as a pawnbroker shall make the 12
information required under division (B) of section 4727.08 of the 13
Revised Code available to law enforcement officers via a secure 14
internet law enforcement database reporting system approved by the 15
director of commerce under section 4727.22 of the Revised Code.16

       (B) If the licensee cannot obtain the means to record the 17
files electronically and access to the internet without undue 18
hardship, the licensee shall, every day, furnish the following19
information required under division (B) of section 4727.08 of the 20
Revised Code to the chief of police of the municipal corporation 21
or township in which the licensee's place of business is located 22
or, if the place of business is not located within a municipal 23
corporation or a township that has a chief of police, to the 24
sheriff of the county in which the place of business is located:25

       (1) A description of all property pledged with or purchased 26
by the licensee;27

       (2) The number of the pawn or purchase form the licensee used 28
to document the pledge or purchase.29

       (B) AThe licensee shall provide the property description and 30
form number required by division (A) of this sectioninformation31
on the form furnished by the law enforcement officer requesting 32
the information. The completed form may be communicated by 33
electronic transfer or be in a magnetic media format.34

       (C) For the purposes of this section, a licensee need provide 35
only the information required by division (A) of this section36
Records submitted to a law enforcement officer pursuant to this 37
section are not public records for purposes of section 149.43 of 38
the Revised Code and, except as otherwise provided in this 39
division, are confidential. A person who claims to own a stolen 40
article that may be identified in those records, or an agent of 41
that person, who provides proof of having filed a stolen property 42
report with the appropriate law enforcement agency, may request 43
those records. The law enforcement agency shall provide those 44
records upon a request made by such a person or that person's 45
agent, but the law enforcement agency shall redact any personal 46
identifying information including information that reveals the 47
name of the seller of any article or the seller's address. The 48
agency also shall redact the price the licensee paid for any 49
article the licensee purchased or the estimated value of any 50
article the licensee received. The law enforcement agency shall 51
determine which records to provide, based upon the time period 52
that the alleged theft is reported to have taken place. A law 53
enforcement agency may charge or collect a fee for providing 54
records as required by this division.55

       Sec. 4727.22. The director of commerce shall approve a secure 56
law enforcement database reporting system for use by pawn brokers, 57
precious metals dealers, secondhand dealers, and scrap metal 58
dealers to make records available to law enforcement officers as 59
required under sections 4727.09, 4728.07, 4737.01, and 4737.04 of 60
the Revised Code. 61

       The information in the database shall be available only to 62
law enforcement officers. 63

       Sec. 4728.07. Each(A) Except as provided in division (B) of 64
this section, each person licensed under Chapter 4728. of the 65
Revised Code,shall make the information required under section 66
4728.06 of the Revised Code available to law enforcement officers 67
via a secure internet law enforcement database reporting system 68
approved by the director of commerce under section 4727.22 of the 69
Revised Code.70

       (B) If the licensee cannot obtain the means to record the 71
files electronically and access to the internet without undue 72
hardship, the licensee shall, every business day, make available 73
to the chief or the head of the local police department, on forms 74
furnished by the police department, a description ofthe 75
information required under section 4728.06 of the Revised Code 76
regarding all articles received by the licensee on the business 77
day immediately preceding, together with the number of the receipt 78
issued.79

       (C) Records submitted to a law enforcement officer pursuant 80
to this section are not public records for purposes of section 81
149.43 of the Revised Code and, except as otherwise provided in 82
this division, are confidential. A person who claims to own a 83
stolen article that may be identified in those records, or an 84
agent of that person, who provides proof of having filed a stolen 85
property report with the appropriate law enforcement agency, may 86
request those records. The law enforcement agency shall provide 87
those records upon a request made by such a person or that 88
person's agent, but the law enforcement agency shall redact any 89
personal identifying information including information that 90
reveals the name of the seller of any article or the seller's 91
address. The agency also shall redact the price the licensee paid 92
for any article the licensee purchased or the estimated value of 93
any article the licensee received. The law enforcement agency 94
shall determine which records to provide, based upon the time 95
period that the alleged theft is reported to have taken place. A 96
law enforcement agency may charge or collect a fee for providing 97
records as required by this division.98

       Sec. 4737.01.  (A) "Personal identification card" means a 99
current and valid driver's license, military identification card, 100
state identification card issued under sections 4507.50 to 4507.52 101
of the Revised Code, or a state identification card issued by 102
another state on the condition that that card contains information 103
substantially similar to the information contained on a state 104
identification card issued under sections 4507.50 to 4507.52 of 105
the Revised Code and also contains a photograph of the person to 106
whom the card is issued.107

       (B) A person other than a scrap metal dealer, as defined in 108
section 4737.04 of the Revised Code, purchasing, selling, 109
exchanging, or receiving secondhand articles of any kind other 110
than special purchase articles as defined in section 4737.04 of 111
the Revised Code, scrap iron, and scrap metal, shall post in a 112
conspicuous place in or upon the person's shop, store, wagon, 113
boat, or other place of business, a sign having the person's name 114
and occupation legibly inscribed thereon, and shall keep a 115
separate record book oran electronic file in which shall be116
writtenrecorded, in the English language, at the time of the 117
purchase or exchange of such articles, a description thereof, the 118
name, description, and residence of the person from whom purchased 119
and received, and the day and time when such purchase or exchange 120
was made, and shall make and keep aan electronic copy of the 121
person's personal identification card. Every entry shall be 122
numbered consecutively, commencing with number one.123

        The purchaser shall retain the record book or electronic 124
file and electronic copies of personal identification cards for at 125
least one year after the purchase or exchange date and shall make 126
the record or filefiles and copies available for inspection by 127
any law enforcement officer at all reasonable times. The purchaser 128
also shall make the files and copies available to law enforcement 129
officers via a secure internet law enforcement database reporting 130
system approved by the director of commerce under section 4727.22 131
of the Revised Code.132

       If the purchaser cannot obtain the means to record files 133
electronically and access to the internet without undue hardship, 134
the purchaser may collect the files required under this section in 135
written format. The purchaser shall retain those written files and 136
shall make copies available for inspection by any law enforcement 137
officer as required under this section.138

       Records submitted to a law enforcement officer pursuant to 139
this section are not public records for purposes of section 149.43 140
of the Revised Code and, except as otherwise provided in this 141
division, are confidential. A person who claims to own a stolen 142
article that may be identified in those records, or an agent of 143
that person, who provides proof of having filed a stolen property 144
report with the appropriate law enforcement agency, may request 145
those records. The law enforcement agency shall provide those 146
records upon a request made by such a person or that person's 147
agent, but the law enforcement agency shall redact any personal 148
identifying information including information that reveals the 149
name of the seller of any article or the seller's address. The 150
agency also shall redact the price the purchaser paid for any 151
article the purchaser purchased or the estimated value of any 152
article the purchaser received. The law enforcement agency shall 153
determine which records to provide, based upon the time period 154
that the alleged theft is reported to have taken place. A law 155
enforcement agency may charge or collect a fee for providing 156
records as required by this division.157

       Sec. 4737.04. (A) As used in this section and sections 158
4737.041, 4737.042, and 4737.043 of the Revised Code:159

       (1) "Scrap metal dealer" means the owner or operator of a 160
business that purchases or receives scrap metal.161

       (2) "Special purchase article" means all of the following:162

       (a) Beer kegs;163

       (b) Cable, wire, electrical components, and other equipment 164
used in providing cable service or any utility service, including, 165
but not limited to, copper or aluminum coverings, housings, or 166
enclosures related thereto;167

        (c) Grave markers, sculptures, plaques, and vases made out of 168
metal, the appearance of which suggest that the articles have been 169
obtained from a cemetery;170

       (d) Guard rails for bridges, highways, and roads; highway and 171
street signs; street light poles and fixtures; manhole covers, 172
water meter covers, and other similar types of utility access 173
covers; traffic directional and control signs and light signals, 174
metal marked with the name of a political subdivision of the 175
state, and other metal articles that are purchased and installed 176
for use upon authorization of the state or any political 177
subdivision of the state;178

       (e) Historical, commemorative, and memorial markers and 179
plaques made out of metal;180

       (f) Four-wheel metal carts, commonly referred to as "grocery 181
carts," that are generally used by individuals to collect and 182
transport consumer goods while shopping;183

       (g) Four-wheel metal carts, commonly referred to as "metal 184
bossies," that are used to transport or merchandise food products 185
that are stored in crates, shells, or trays.186

       (3) "Common recycled matter" means bottles and other 187
containers made out of steel, tin, or aluminum and other consumer 188
goods that are metal that are recycled by individual consumers and 189
not in the bulk or quantity that could be supplied or recycled by 190
large business establishments. "Common recycled matter" does not 191
include a metal tray used by a product producer, distributor, 192
retailer, or agent of a product producer, distributor, or retailer 193
as a means for the bulk transportation, storage, or carrying of 194
retail containers of milk, baked goods, eggs, or bottled beverage 195
products.196

       (4) "Consumer goods" has the same meaning as in section 197
1309.102 of the Revised Code.198

       (5) "Recyclable materials" means the metal materials 199
described in division (B)(5) of this section, on the condition 200
that those metal materials are not special purchase articles.201

       (6) "Motor vehicle" has the same meaning as in section 202
4501.01 of the Revised Code.203

       (B) Every scrap metal dealer shall maintain a record book or 204
electronic file, in which the dealer shall keep an accurate and 205
complete record of all articles purchased or received by the 206
dealer in the course of the dealer's daily business. On and after 207
the effective date of this amendmentSeptember 11, 2008, every 208
entry in the record book or electronic file shall be numbered 209
consecutively. Every dealer shall maintain the record for each 210
article purchased or received for a minimum period of one year 211
after the date the dealer purchased or received the article. Said 212
records shall contain all of the following:213

       (1) Name and residence of the person from whom said articles 214
were purchased or received and a copy of that person's personal 215
identification card;216

       (2) The date and time the scrap metal dealer purchased or 217
received the articles;218

       (3) If the seller or provider of the articles arrives at the 219
dealer's place of business in a motor vehicle, the license plate 220
number of that motor vehicle along with the state that issued the 221
license plate;222

       (4) For metal articles that are not recyclable materials, a 223
full and accurate description of each article purchased or 224
received by the dealer that includes identifying letters or marks 225
written, inscribed, or otherwise included on the article and the 226
name and maker of the article if known;227

       (5) For recyclable materials that are not special purchase 228
articles, a scrap metal dealer shall use the following category 229
codes to identify the recyclable materials that the dealer 230
receives:231

       (a) "Number one copper," which includes clean copper pipe, 232
clean copper wire, or other number one copper that does not have 233
solder, paint, or coating;234

       (b) "Number two copper," which includes unclean copper pipe, 235
unclean copper wire, or other number two copper;236

       (c) "Sheet copper," which includes copper roofing, copper 237
gutters, copper downspouts, and other sheet copper;238

       (d) "Insulated copper wire";239

       (e) "Aluminum or copper radiators," which includes aluminum 240
radiators, aluminum copper radiators, and copper radiators;241

       (f) "Red brass," which includes red brass values and other 242
red brass;243

       (g) "Yellow brass," which includes yellow brass fixtures, 244
yellow brass valve and fitting, ornamental brass, and other yellow 245
brass;246

       (h) "Aluminum sheet";247

       (i) "Aluminum extrusions," which includes aluminum bleachers, 248
aluminum benches, aluminum frames, aluminum pipe, and other 249
aluminum extrusions;250

       (j) "Cast aluminum," which includes aluminum grills, 251
lawnmower decks made of aluminum, aluminum motor vehicle parts and 252
rims, and other cast aluminum;253

       (k) "Clean aluminum wire";254

       (l) "Unclean aluminum wire";255

       (m) "Aluminum exteriors," which includes aluminum siding, 256
aluminum gutters and downspouts, aluminum shutters, aluminum trim, 257
and other aluminum exterior items;258

       (n) "Contaminated aluminum";259

       (o) "Stainless steel," which includes, sinks, appliance 260
housing, dishes, pots, pans, pipe, and other items made out of 261
stainless steel;262

       (p) "Large appliances," which includes consumer and other 263
appliances;264

       (q) "Miscellaneous steel," which includes steel grates, steel 265
farm machinery, steel industrial machinery, steel motor vehicle 266
frames, and other items made out of steel;267

       (r) "Sheet irons," which includes bicycles, motor vehicle 268
body parts made of iron, and other items made using sheet iron;269

       (s) "Motor vehicle nonbody parts," which includes motor 270
vehicle batteries, radiators, and other nonbody motor vehicle 271
parts;272

       (t) "Catalytic converters";273

       (u) "Lead";274

       (v) "Electric motors."275

       (C) All journal brasses, and other railroad metals, other 276
than purchases and sales under sections 4973.13 to 4973.16 of the 277
Revised Code, shall be held by the dealer for a period of thirty 278
days after being purchased or acquired.279

        (D) The records required under division (B) of this section 280
shall be open for inspection by the representative of any law 281
enforcement agency and the director of public safety or the 282
director's designated representative during all business hours. A 283
scrap metal dealer shall provide a copy of those records to any 284
law enforcement agency that requests the records or to the 285
director or director's representative, upon request. RecordsThe 286
scrap metal dealer also shall make the records available to law 287
enforcement officers via a secure internet law enforcement 288
database reporting system approved by the director of commerce 289
under section 4727.22 of the Revised Code unless the purchaser 290
cannot obtain the means to record files electronically and access 291
to the internet without undue hardship.292

       (E) Records submitted to any law enforcement agency pursuant 293
to this section are not public records for purposes of section 294
149.43 of the Revised Code. A person who claims to own a stolen 295
article that may be identified in those records, or an agent of 296
that person, who provides proof of having filed a stolen property 297
report with the appropriate law enforcement agency, may request 298
those records. The law enforcement agency shall provide those 299
records upon a request made by such a person or that person's 300
agent, but the law enforcement agency shall redact any personal 301
identifying information including information that reveals the 302
name of the seller of any article andor the seller's address. The 303
agency also shall redact the price the dealer paid for any article 304
the dealer purchased or the estimated value of any article the 305
dealer received. The law enforcement agency shall determine which 306
records to provide, based upon the time period that the alleged 307
theft is reported to have taken place. A law enforcement agency 308
may charge or collect a fee for providing records as required by 309
this section.310

       (E)(F)(1) No scrap metal dealer shall purchase or receive any 311
metal articles from a person who refuses to show the dealer the 312
person's personal identification card.313

       (2) The law enforcement agency that serves the jurisdiction 314
in which a scrap metal dealer is located shall provide a list, as 315
that agency determines appropriate, of the names and descriptions 316
of persons known to be or who are suspected to be thieves or 317
receivers of stolen property. No scrap metal dealer shall purchase 318
or receive articles from any person identified on the list the 319
dealer receives from the law enforcement agency.320

       (3) No scrap metal dealer shall purchase or receive any 321
special purchase articles from any person who is under eighteen 322
years of age.323

       (4) No scrap metal dealer shall purchase or receive any 324
special purchase article without complying with division (B) of 325
this section and division (B), (C), or (D) of section 4737.041 of 326
the Revised Code.327

       (5) No scrap metal dealer shall purchase or receive more than 328
one catalytic converter per day from the same person except from a 329
motor vehicle dealer as defined in section 4517.01 of the Revised 330
Code.331

       (6) No scrap metal dealer shall treat a transaction as exempt 332
from section 4737.04 or 4737.041 of the Revised Code unless the 333
seller provides evidence of satisfying division (D)(3) of section 334
4737.043 of the Revised Code.335

       (F)(G) Every scrap metal dealer shall post a notice in a 336
conspicuous place on the dealer's premises notifying persons who 337
may wish to transact business with the dealer of the penalties 338
applicable to any person who does any of the following:339

       (1) Provides a false personal identification card to the 340
dealer;341

       (2) With purpose to defraud, provides any other false 342
information to the dealer in connection with the dealer's duty to 343
maintain the records required under division (B) of this section;344

       (3) Violates section 2913.02 of the Revised Code.345

       (G)(H)(1) Except as otherwise provided in the second 346
paragraph of division (E)(F) of this section, a chief of police, 347
marshal, or other chief law enforcement officer, a sheriff, 348
constable, or chief of police of a township police department or 349
police district police force, and a deputy, officer, or employee 350
of the law enforcement agency served by the marshal or the 351
municipal or township chief, the office of the sheriff, or the 352
constable is immune from liability in a civil action, including an 353
action for defamation, libel, or slander, to recover damages for 354
injury, death, or loss to persons or property or reputation 355
allegedly caused by an act or omission in connection with 356
compiling and providing the list required by division (E)(F) of 357
this section.358

        (2) The immunity described in division (G)(H)(1) of this 359
section does not apply to a person described in that division if, 360
in relation to the act or omission in question, any of the 361
following applies:362

        (a) The act or omission was manifestly outside the scope of 363
the person's employment or official responsibilities.364

        (b) The act or omission was with malicious purpose, in bad 365
faith, or in a wanton or reckless manner.366

        (c) Liability for the act or omission is expressly imposed by 367
a section of the Revised Code.368

       Sec. 4737.99.  (A) Except as specified in divisions (B) and 369
(C) of this section, whoever violates sections 4737.01 to 4737.11 370
of the Revised Code, shall be fined not less than twenty-five nor 371
more than one thousand dollars and the costs of prosecution.372

       (B) Whoever violates division (F)(2) of section 4737.10 of 373
the Revised Code is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree.374

       (C) Whoever fails to comply with or violates section 4737.01 375
or 4737.041 or division (B), (C), (E), or (F), or (G) of section 376
4737.04 of the Revised Code is guilty of a misdemeanor of the 377
third degree. If the offender one time previously has violated or 378
failed to comply with section 4737.01 or 4737.041 or division (B), 379
(C), (D), (E), or (F), or (G) of section 4737.04 of the Revised 380
Code, the violation or failure is a misdemeanor of the second 381
degree. If the offender two or more times previously has violated 382
or failed to comply with section 4737.01 or 4737.041 or division 383
(B), (C), (D), (E), or (F), or (G) of section 4737.04 of the 384
Revised Code, the violation or failure is a misdemeanor of the 385
first degree.386

       Section 2.  That existing sections 4727.09, 4728.07, 4737.01, 387
4737.04, and 4737.99 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.388