Milton Works on Pawnshop Regulations Before Any Open in City

Milton doesn't have any pawnshops, so Monday night's discussion by City Council and their city attorney of regulations were a preemptive strike against perceived problems those businesses bring to a community.

Speaking in council chambers at , City Attorney Ken Jarrard proposed that Milton set regulations that not only include most Georgia requirements, but also add some unique to Milton.

• Milton should follow state regulations that require pawn shops to get fingerprints and photos of the people who pawn items.
• Items should be kept for 45 days after being pawned.
• Employees of the shop must apply for a certificate and submit to a background check.

Jarrard said these steps should being taken to prevent criminals from frequenting any Milton pawnshops.

However, some of the council members believe these requirements are not very business friendly.

Council member Joe Longoria said, “By [setting these regulations] we are assuming that pawnshops only exist to facilitate criminal activity. If we want to ban pawn shops, let's just do that.”

Council member Julie Zahner Bailey had different feelings about the regulations.

“The reality of the situation is that pawnshops do bring in criminals,” Zahner said. “And the retention period will really help our police as well as the victims retrieve those stolen items.”

In the end, the council opted to have Jarrard come back to the next work session with a proposal that includes state regulations as well as ordinances from neighboring cities.