HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	194
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2014
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

requesting the Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs to convene a working group to examine the feasibility of establishing a statewide electronic reporting system for pawn shops.

     WHEREAS, transactions with pawnbrokers frequently allow thieves to convert stolen property into cash; and

     WHEREAS, while existing law empowers the chief of police in each county to require that pawn transaction information be electronically submitted to the police department, no unified statewide system for the electronic filing of this information currently exists; and

     WHEREAS, generally, records of pawn transactions are manually prepared and submitted to the police, which results in thousands of paper reports per month on Oahu alone; and

     WHEREAS, the manual reporting system hampers law enforcement investigations by creating waiting periods to gain access to needed information; and

     WHEREAS, the introduction of an electronic reporting system for pawn shops would reduce recovery time for stolen items, increase the speed by which information is transferred to law enforcement agencies, and allow law enforcement officials to inspect and track transactions in a more timely manner; and

     WHEREAS, a unified statewide electronic database of pawn transactions would increase the probability of solving stolen property crimes and aid in the recovery of stolen property; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2014, the Senate concurring, that the Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs is requested to convene a working group to examine the feasibility of establishing a unified statewide electronic reporting system for pawn shops; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs is requested to serve as the chairperson of the working group and to invite the following parties to be members of the working group:

     (1)  One member from the State Procurement Office;

     (2)  One member from the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu;

     (3)  Two members of law enforcement agencies, with one member representing the island of Oahu and one member representing a neighbor island;

     (4)  Two members who are pawnbrokers, with one member representing the island of Oahu and one member representing a neighbor island;

     (5)  One member from the National Pawnbrokers Association; and

     (6)  One member from the Hawaii Pawnbrokers Association; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs is requested to provide any necessary administrative, professional, technical, and clerical support to the working group; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of the working group shall receive no compensation for their services, but may be reimbursed for incidental expenses, including travel costs, necessary for the performance of their duties; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group be exempt from the requirements of chapter 92, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs is requested to submit a report of the working group's findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2016; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Administrator of the State Procurement Office, Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu, President of the National Pawnbrokers Association, and President of the Hawaii Pawnbrokers Association.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Pawnbrokers; Electronic Reporting