367.055. Inspection of property, search warrant required--hold order, probable cause, contents, expiration--confidentiality.

MISSOURI STATUTES AND CODES

367.055. Inspection of property, search warrant required--hold order, probable cause, contents, expiration--confidentiality.

Inspection of property, search warrant required--hold order, probablecause, contents, expiration--confidentiality.

367.055. 1. Upon request of a law enforcement officer to inspectproperty that is described in information furnished by the pawnbrokerpursuant to subdivisions (1) to (4) of subsection 1 of section 367.031, thelaw enforcement officer shall be entitled to inspect the propertydescribed, without prior notice or the necessity of obtaining a searchwarrant during regular business hours in a manner so as to minimizeinterference with or delay to the pawnbroker's business operation. When alaw enforcement officer has probable cause to believe that goods orproperty in the possession of a pawnbroker are misappropriated, the officermay place a hold order on the property. The hold order shall contain thefollowing:

(1) The name of the pawnbroker;

(2) The name and mailing address of the pawnshop where the propertyis held;

(3) The name, title and identification number of the law enforcementofficer placing the hold order;

(4) The name and address of the agency to which the law enforcementofficer is attached and the claim or case number, if any, assigned by theagency to the claim regarding the property;

(5) A complete description of the property to be held including modeland serial numbers;

(6) The expiration date of the holding period.

The hold order shall be signed and dated by the issuing officer and signedand dated by the pawnbroker or the pawnbroker's designee as evidence of thehold order's issuance by the officer, receipt by the pawnbroker and thebeginning of the initial holding period. The officer issuing the holdorder shall provide an executed copy of the hold order to the pawnbrokerfor the pawnbroker's record-keeping purposes at no cost to the pawnbroker.

2. Upon receiving the hold order, and subject to the provisions ofsection 367.047, the pawnbroker shall retain physical possession of theproperty subject to the order in a secured area. The initial holdingperiod of the hold order shall not exceed two months, except that the holdorder may be extended for up to two successive one-month holding periodsupon written notification prior to the expiration of the immediatelypreceding holding period. A hold order may be released prior to theexpiration of any holding period or extension thereof by written releasefrom the agency placing the initial hold order. The initial hold ordershall be deemed expired upon the expiration date if the holding period isnot extended pursuant to this subsection.

3. Upon the expiration of the initial holding period or any extensionthereof, the pawnbroker shall deliver written notice to the law enforcementofficer issuing the hold order that such order has expired and that titleto the property subject to the hold order will vest in the pawnbroker inten business days. Ownership shall only vest in the pawnbroker upon theexpiration of the ten-day waiting period subject to any restrictioncontained in the pawn contract and subject to the provisions of sections367.044 to 367.053. Vesting of title and ownership shall be subject to anyclaim asserted by a claimant pursuant to section 367.044.

4. In addition to the penalty provisions contained in section367.050, gross negligence or willful noncompliance with the provisions ofthis section by a pawnbroker shall be cause for the licensing authority tosuspend or revoke the pawnbroker's license. Any imposed suspensions orrevocation provided for by this subsection may be appealed by thepawnbroker to the licensing authority or to a court of competentjurisdiction.

5. A county or municipality may enact orders or ordinances to licenseor regulate the operations of pawnbrokers which are consistent with and notmore restrictive than the provisions of sections 367.011 to 367.055, exceptthat municipalities located in any county with a charter form of governmenthaving a population greater than one million inhabitants or any city notwithin a county may regulate the number of pawnshop licensees.

6. All records and information that relate to a pawnbroker's pawn,purchase or trade transactions and that are delivered to or otherwiseobtained by an appropriate law enforcement officer pursuant to sections367.031 and 367.040 are confidential and may be used only by suchappropriate law enforcement officer and only for the following official lawenforcement purposes:

(1) The investigation of a crime specifically involving the item ofproperty delivered to the pawnbroker in a pawn, purchase or tradetransaction;

(2) The investigation of a pawnbroker's possible specific violationof the record-keeping or reporting requirements of sections 367.031 and367.040, but only when the appropriate law enforcement officer, based on areview of the records and the information received, has probable cause tobelieve that such a violation occurred; and

(3) The notification of property crime victims of where property thathas been reported misappropriated can be located.