Senate Judiciary Committee adopts amendment and passes Senate Bill 529 clarifying restitution for stolen property

The Senate Judiciary Committee adopted an amendment to Senate Bill 529 and passed the measure as amended during a short committee session. The amendment defines how owners of identifiable stolen property are to be made whole when a pawnbroker no longer has the item.

Senator Clark, who presented the bill and the amendment, read the definition included in the change: "Fair market value means the price a willing buyer would pay a willing seller after considering all factors in the marketplace to influence the price of property, and full restitution means the higher of the following, the fair market value, the identical identifiable stolen property, or the amount for which the event identifiable stolen property was sold." He added that if the item was sold to a third party before the dealer received the statutorily required affidavit and written release, "pay the owner of the stolen property full restitution."

The amendment also requires that an affidavit described under the statute be filed with the local law enforcement agency having jurisdiction and that reporting and documents must show the owner located the stolen property in the dealer's possession. In response to a question from Senator Johnson — "How do we know it was ever there?" — Senator Clark said the bill relies on that affidavit and indicated that filing a false affidavit or police report would expose an owner to prosecution.

During brief questioning, members asked whether an online registry for stolen property exists and whether the Pawnbroker Association had been consulted. Senator Clark said he had circulated the original bill to the association weeks earlier and provided amendments as they were drafted, but acknowledged the most recent amendment had been distributed only about an hour before the meeting and he was not certain of the association's current position.

Senator Clark moved to adopt the amendment; Senator Rice seconded. The committee voiced its approval and the chair announced the amendment adopted. After brief additional remarks the committee moved to pass Senate Bill 529 as amended; Senator Rice seconded the motion to pass. The chair called the roll by voice, heard 'aye,' noted no opposition and declared the motion carried.

The committee adjourned shortly after the vote. The transcript records the statutory cross-reference as "18 27 3 0 4 b" in relation to the affidavit requirement; the bill text and committee discussion tie the affidavit filing to the process for establishing the owner's claim to recovered property.

Next steps for the bill (committee report, full chamber scheduling, or enrollment) were not recorded in the committee transcript.