Sec. 5-238. Retention of items

No secondhand dealer or pawn dealer and no employee or other person acting for that dealer shall dispose of any item described in Section 5-233 and received by the dealer until a period of thirty (30) days shall have elapsed after the date of submission or electronic transmission of the report required by Section 5-237, or the item is inspected by the County Police Department, whichever shall occur first. Where the dealer finds that the thirty (30) day waiting period constitutes a burden, he may contact the Police Department by letter stating his need for early action and requesting an expedited inspection. Within 96 hours after receiving the request, the Police Department shall approve or deny the request. The dealer shall retain, for an additional period of twelve (12) days, any item described in Section 5-233 if the County Police Department requests that the dealer retain the item and the County Police Department has reasonable cause to believe the item has been stolen. Items which are required to be retained by the provisions of this Section shall be tagged in compliance with regulations of the County Police Department and shall be securely stored in a separate location within the business, apart from other items of property. In any case, no item shall be sold or otherwise be removed from the location of the licensed business of the secondhand dealer or pawn dealer during the period of prescribed retention. The thirty (30) day holding period required by this Section shall not apply to pawned items which are redeemed with the original ticket.