HBA-SEP H.B. 2569 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2569
By: Hochberg
Financial Institutions
3/23/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Currently, voluntary pawnbroker transaction carbon receipts are collected
by law enforcement and entered into a computer system by a police
department's pawn detail, which may be a less efficient method than
allowing pawnbrokers to electronically report the information.  In
addition, there is no specified time period for holding suspected stolen
property as evidence for a law enforcement investigation, and  if the
property is seized by a law enforcement agency, the pawnbroker loses the
dollar amount paid to the person who illegally sold the property.  House
Bill 2569 provides for electronic reporting of the transactions, specifies
the time period for holding suspected stolen property, and provides
restitution to certain pawnbrokers.    

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 2569 amends the Finance Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure
relating to the requirements of pawnbrokers concerning reporting
information and handling property involved in a law enforcement
investigation.  The bill amends the Finance Code to authorize a pawnbroker
to provide information required by the consumer credit commissioner
(reportable data) to a law enforcement agency by electronic means, in a
manner and form specified by the law enforcement agency.  If a pawnbroker
is unable to provide reportable data in a timely manner for any reason, the
pawnbroker is required to provide paper copies of the reportable data to
the law enforcement agency.  Electronically reported data is confidential
and is authorized to be used by the agency only for official law
enforcement purposes.  If an official or a law enforcement agency has
reasonable suspicion to believe that property in the possession of a
pawnbroker is stolen, the official is authorized to place a hold order on
the property requiring that the pawnbroker not dispose of or release the
property.  The order is authorized to require that the property be held for
any period.  If the order does not specify a hold period, a hold order is
effective until the 91st day after the date a verbal or written hold order
is placed.   A law enforcement officer is authorized to renew a hold order
at any time during the period the hold order is effective.  The provisions
regarding the duration of the original hold are applicable to a renewed
hold.  The bill prohibits a pawnbroker from disposing of or releasing
property subject to a hold order except under a court order, under a
release authorization from the law enforcement agency placing the property
on hold, or on the seizure of the property by a law enforcement official.  

The bill amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to provide that a pawnbroker
is eligible for restitution if the pawnbroker has loaned or paid money to
the defendant in exchange for property that has been seized from the
pawnbroker by a law enforcement agency, if the pawnbroker has positively
identified the defendant as the person who pledged or sold the property,
and if the defendant is convicted of theft of the property.  The court is
required to order the defendant to pay restitution to a pawnbroker in an
amount equal to the money that the pawnbroker paid or loaned the defendant
in exchange for the seized property. The court is also required, after
considering the financial circumstances of the defendant, to specify in a
restitution order the manner in which the defendant must pay the
restitution.  The bill authorizes a restitution  order to be enforced by
the state or the pawnbroker named by the order to receive the restitution
in the same manner as a judgment in a civil action.  The court is
authorized to hold a hearing, make findings of fact, and amend a
restitution order if the defendant fails to pay the pawnbroker named in the
order in the manner specified by the court.   

The bill requires the consumer credit commissioner and the Department of
Information Resources to create and direct a committee consisting of
representatives of the pawnbroker industry, law enforcement, and the
computer software industry to devise one or more standard formats for
pawnbrokers to electronically provide reportable data to law enforcement
agencies.  The committee is required to review and recommend to the
consumer credit commissioner, not later than January 1, 2002, formats to be
designated by the commissioner that law enforcement agencies may adopt as
the required format for pawnbrokers to use for electronically transmitting
reportable data. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.