The Attorney General of Texas 

November 2, 1983 

JIM MATTOX 

Attorney General 

supreme Court Bullding 

P.O.BOX 12546 

Aust,n, TX. 78711. 2546 

5121475~2501 

Telex 9101874-1367 

Telecopier 5121475-0266 

714 Jackson.suite 700 

Dallas. TX. 75202.4506 

2141742-6944 

4624 Alberta Ave..Suite 160 

El Paso. TX. 79905.2793 

9151533.3464 

P 

1001 Texas. Suite 700 

HOUS,O". TX. 77002-3111 

7131223-5666 

606 Broadway, Stlite 312 

Lubbock, TX. 79401.3479 

6061747-5236 

4309 N. Tenth. Suite B 

McAllen. TX. 76501-1665 

5121662-4547 

200 Main Plaza. Suite 400 

San Antonio. TX. 76205.2797 

5121225-4191 

Mr. Sam Kelley 

COUl6LiSSiOl-lS~ 

Consumer Credit Commission 

1011 San Jacinto Boulevard 

Austin, Texas 78768 

Opinion No. m-85 

lb: Are provisions of Corpus 

Christi city code regulating 

pawnshops incousistent with 

section 10(b) of article 5069, 

V.T.C.S. 

Dear Mr. Kelley: 

You have requested our opinion as to whether the Corpus Christi 

Code of Ordinances [hereinafter “the code”] is in conflict with or is 

inconsistent with the Texas Pawnshop Act, article 5069-51.01 et seq., 

V.T.C.S., [hereinafter “the act”]. You inquire with respect to two 

provisions of the code as it regulates the pawnbroker business in 

Corpus Christi. 

You first direct our attention to two provisions of the act. 

Article 5069-51.10(b) lists the information that a pledgor must give 

to the pawnbroker and which must appear on a pawn ticket: 

The pawnbroker, at the time the pawn transaction is entered, shall deliver to the pledgor a 

memorandum or ticket on which shall be clearly set 

forth the following: 

. . . . 

(b) The name and address of the pledger 

and the pledgor’s description or the 

distinctive number from pledgor’s driver’s 

license or military identification . . . . 

V.T.C.S. art. 5069, §5l.lO(b). 

Article 5069-51.16(e) specifies when and how a pledgor may redeem 

property from a pawnbroker: 

A pawnbroker shall not: 

p. 358 
Mr. Sam Kelley - Page 2 (JM-85) 

. . . . 

(e) Fail to return pledged goods to a pledgor 

upon payment of the full amount due the pawnbroker 

on the pawn transaction. In the event such 

pledged goods are lost or damaged while in the 

possession of the pawnbroker it shall be the 

responsibility of the pawnbroker to replace the 

lost or damaged goods with like kind(s) of 

merchandise. All such replacements are subject to 

the approval or rejection of the Commissioner. 

You then direct our attention to two provisions of the code. As 

does article 5069-51.10(b) of the act, section 37-2 of the code lists 

information that a pledgor must give to the pawnbroker; this 

information, however, is for the pawnbroker's own records and not for 

printing on the pawn ticket. 

It shall be the duty of every pawnbroker or 

secondhand dealer in the city, whether such 

pawnbroker or secondhand dealer is a resident or 

itinerant business, to keep a book, in a form 

approved by the chief of police, in which shall be 

legibly written in ink at the time of each loan or 

purchase an accurate account and description in 

the English language of all secondhand items 

pawned, pledged or purchased, the amount of money 

loaned thereon, or paid therefor, the date of 

pledging or purchasing of the same, the rate of 

interest to be paid on such loan, the name, 

residence address and telephone number of the 

person pawning, pledging or selling the items and 

an accurate description, including proof of 

identity, of the person pawning, pledging, or 

selling the items. A numbered identification 

shall be required for proof of identity and such 

numbered identification shall have a photograph 

for verification except where the pawnbroker or 

secondhand dealer has personal knowledge of the 

identity of the person pawning, pledging or 

selling the items. No entry made in such book 

shall be erased, obliterated or defaced. All such 

records shall be kept on file by the pawnbroker or 

secondhand dealer for a period of two (2) years. 

(Ord.No. 16140%. 61, 4-1-81). 

As does article 5069-51.16(e) of the act, section 37-4 of the code 

deals with the pledger's redemption of personal property from the 

pawnbroker. 

p. 359 
Mr. Sam Kelley - Page 3 (J&85) 

No personal property received by a pawnbroker 

or secondhand dealer on deposit or pledge or by 

purchase shall be permitted to be redeemed or 

removed from the place of business of such 

pawnbroker or secondhand dealer or from the City 

of Corpus Christi for a period of seventy-two (72) 

hours after the close of business on the date such 

item shall have been received by such pawnbroker 

or secondhand dealer, nor shall any such property 

be altered in any way or have any identifying 

markings, names or numbers altered or obliterated 

during such time. Where any pawnbroker or 

secondhand dealer finds that such period will work 

a hardship or constitute an undue burden, he may 

so notify the chief of police or his designated 

representative in writing of his need to act and 

that the item or items are available for 

inspection. Upon inspection and release of the 

item or items by an officer of the police division 

or the lapse of twelve (12) hours from the receipt 

by the chief of police or his designated 

representative of the required notification, the 

seventy-two-hour waiting period shall be deemed to 

have been satisfied. (Ord. No. 16140%. 51, 

4-1-81; Ord. No. 17355, 51, 11-10-82). 

Your inquiry concerns the relative authority of the code and the 

act with respect to the pawnbroker's business in the city of Corpus 

Christi. In answering your question, we note that a home rule city 

such as Corpus Christi derives its powers not from the legislature but 

from the Texas Constitution. Article XI, section 5, of the 

constitution permits a city to enact ordinances which are neither 

inconsistent with nor in conflict with the constitution or the general 

statutes of the state of Texas. Tex . Const. art. XI, 05. Article 

1165, V.T.C.S., contains a similar limitation on a home rule city's 

powers; see also City of Beaumont v. Jones, 560 S.W.2d 710 (Tex. Civ. 

APP. - Beaumont 1977, writ ref'd n.r.e.). However, we also note that 

[tlhe entry of the state into a field of 

legislation . . . does not automatically preempt 

that field from city regulation; local regulation, 

ancillary to and in harmony with the general scope 

and purpose of the state enactment, is acceptable. 

City of Brookside Village v. Comeau, 633 S.W.2d 790, 796 (Tex. 1982). 

Our scrutiny of the questioned code provisions should be made in 

light of the expressed purposes of the Texas Pawnshop Act as stated in 

article 5069-51.018 below: 

p. 360 
Mr. Sam Kelley - Page 4 (JM-85) 

The making of pawn loans and the acquisition and 

disposition of tangible personal property by and 

through pawnshops vitally affects the general 

economy of this state and the public interest and 

welfare of its citizens. To prevent frauds, 

unfair practices, discriminations, impositions, 

and abuses of the citizens of the state, it is the 

policy of this state and the purpose of the Texas 

Pawnshop Act to: 

(1) exercise the state's police power to 

ensure a sound system of making pawn loans and 

acquiring and disposing of tangible personal 

property by and through pawnshops and to prevent 

unlawful property transactions, particularly in 

stolen property, through licensing and regulating 

pawnbrokers and certain persons employed by or in 

pawnshops; 

(2) provide for licensing fees, investigation 

fees, and minimum capital requirements of 

licensees; 

(3) ensure financial responsibility to the 

state and the public; 

(4) ensure compliance with federal, state, and 

local laws, rules, regulations, and ordinances; 

and 

(5) assist local governments in the exercise 

of their police power. 

It is clear by subsections 4 and 5 of article 5069-51.01A that 

the legislature did not intend to preempt the field of 

pawnshop/pawnbroker regulation. Accordingly, following the ruling in 

City of Brookside Village, Ed, if the questioned provisions of the 

Corpus Christ1 Code of Ordinances are ancillary to and in harmony with 

the general scope and stated purposes of the Texas Pawnshop Act, those 

provisions of the code are permissible. 

In our opinion, section 37-2 of the Corpus Christ1 Code of 

Ordinances is permissible. Section 37-2 is strictly a recordkeeping 

requirement which applies to both pawnbrokers and secondhand dealers 

in the city of Corpus Christi. It is our opinion that this section of 

the code does not conflict with but merely elaborates on the rather 

vague recordkeeping requirements provided in article 5060-51.09 of the 

Texas Pawnshop Act. This section of the act requires only that 

p. 361 
c . 

Mr. Sam Kelley - Page 5 (~~-85) 

each licensee shall~ keep, consistent with accepted 

accounting practices, adequate books and records 

relating to the licensee's P=n transactions . . . . 

V.T.C.S. art. 5069-51.09. Section 37-2 of the code goes further and 

specifies the particular information which must appear in the records 

of pawnbrokers and secondhand dealers in the city of Corpus Christi. 

It is important to note that there is more than one purpose in 

requiring identification in a pawn transaction in keeping with the 

express purposes of the Pawnshop Act. Identification may be required 

to ensure that the proper person receives the pawned goods upon 

redemption -- "to ensure a sound system of making pawn loans and 

acquiring and disposing of tangible personal property." Further, 

identification may be required to assist law enforcement authorities 

in locating a person who has pawned stolen property or to hamper 

thieves in the disposition of stolen goods -- "to prevent unlawful 

property transaction, particularly in stolen property." Article 

5069-51.10(b) of the act effectuates the first purpose, and section 

37-2 of the code the second. They are neither inconsistent nor 

conflicting, and the code provision is in harmony with and promotes 

the purposes of the act. 

Your question to us specifically addresses the possibility of a 

conflict between section 37-2 of the code and article 5069-51.10(b) of 

the act. Although both sections require that a pledgor give certain 

information about himself to the pawnbroker, the code is concerned 

with the information that must appear in the pawnbroker's own records, 

while the act is concerned with the information that must appear on 

the pawn ticket. Since the two sections regulate two different areas 

-- pawnbroker records and pawn tickets -- there is no direct conflict; 

further, since the two sections require very similar information -- 

identity of the pledgor and various proofs of this identity -- there 

is no inconsistency. 

In our opinion, section 37-4 of the Corpus Christ1 Code of 

Ordinances conflicts with article 5069-51.16(e) of the Texas Pawnshop 

Act, and the code provision is thereby unenforceable. Section 37-4 of 

the code states that 

[n]o personal property received by a pawnbroker or 

secondhand dealer on deposit or pledge or by 

purchase shall be permitted to be redeemed or 

removed from the place of business of such 

pawnbroker or secondhand dealer or from the city 

of Corpus Christ1 for a period of seventy-two (72) 

hours after the close of business on the date such 

p. 362 
. . 

Mr. Sam Kelley - Page 6 (JM-85) 

item shall have been received by such pawnbroker 

or secondhand dealer . . . . 

Article 5069-51.16(c) of the act clearly prohibits the pawnbroker from 

failing "to return pledged goods to the pledgor upon payment of the 

full amount due the pawnbroker . . . ." Section 37-4 of the code, 

insofar as it applies to pawnbrokers and pawn traqactions, clearly 

conflicts with article 5069-51.16(e) of the act since the former 

disallows redemption by the pledgor for 72 hours even if the pledgor 

is willing to repay the full amount of his pawn loan. 

SUMMARY 

Section 37-2 of the Corpus Christ1 Code of 

Ordinances does not conflict the Texas Pawnshop 

Act. Section 37-4 of the Corpus Christ1 Code of 

Ordinances does conflict with the Texas Pawnshop 

Act. 

Very truly your LILA% 

JIM MATTOX 

Attorney General of Texas 

TOM GREEN 

First Assistant Attorney General 

DAVID R. RICHARDS 

Executive Assistant Attorney General 

Prepared by Rick Gilpin 

Assistant Attorney General 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

Rick Gilpin, Chairman 

Jon Bible 

David Brooks 

Colin Carl 

Susan Garrison 

Jim Moellinger 

Nancy Sutton 

p: 363