HBA-SEP C.S.H.B. 2569 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 2569 By: Hochberg Financial Institutions 4/17/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) 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. C.S.H.B. 2569 provides for electronic reporting of the transactions and specifies the time period for holding suspected stolen property. 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 C.S.H.B. 2569 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 may 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 requires the Finance Commission of Texas (commission) 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 commission, not later than January 1, 2002, formats to be designated by the commission that law enforcement agencies may adopt as the required format for pawnbrokers to use for electronically transmitting reportable data. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 2569 modifies the original by removing provisions providing restitution to a pawnbroker. The substitute requires the Finance Commission of Texas (commission), rather than the consumer credit commissioner and the Department of Information Resources, to create and direct a committee to devise standard formats for pawnbrokers to electronically provide reportable data to law enforcement agencies. The substitute requires the committee to review and recommend to the commission, rather than the consumer credit commissioner, formats to be designated by the commission that law enforcement agencies may adopt as the required format for pawnbrokers to use for electronically transmitting reportable data.