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The following opinion is presented on-line for informational use only and does not replace the official version. (Mich Dept of Attorney General Web Site - www.ag.state.mi.us)



STATE OF MICHIGAN

FRANK J. KELLEY, ATTORNEY GENERAL


Opinion No. 6039

February 5, 1982

PRECIOUS METAL AND GEM DEALERS:

Filing of reports by precious metal and gem dealers

SECOND HAND DEALERS:

Filing of reports with local police

Precious metal and gem dealers must file reports of transactions in compliance with 1981 PA 95, even though as second hand and junk dealers they may also file reports pursuant to 1917 PA 350 and 1945 PA 231.

Robert L. Kaczmarek

Prosecuting Attorney

County of Saginaw

111 South Michigan Avenue

Saginaw, Michigan 48602

You have requested my opinion whether dealers in certain cities and villages engaged in buying or receiving precious items in Michigan, who are currently complying with the filing requirements of the second hand and junk dealers act, 1917 PA 350, as amended; MCLA 445.401 et seq; MSA 19.711 et seq, which requires the dealer to deliver a written description of all items purchased by the dealer to the chief police officer of the City of Saginaw, must also file a separate description form of the transaction in compliance with The Precious Metal and Gem Dealer Act, 1981 PA 95; MCLA 445.481 et seq; MSA 19.720(1) et seq.

Under the provisions of 1917 PA 350, supra, second hand dealers and junk dealers are required to be licensed by the city or village in which their business is carried on in any city or village having a population of 1,000 persons, located in any county having 25,000 or more persons. 1917 PA 350, supra, Sec. 4, requires the licensed dealers to keep a separate book open to inspection containing a description of articles purchased by the dealers along with the name, description and residence of the seller of the article.

1917 PA 350, supra, Sec. 5, requires the dealers to provide this information to local government officials, stating in pertinent part:

'[s]uch purchaser shall prepare and deliver on Monday of each week to the chief of police or chief police officer of the city in which such business is carried on, before 12 o'clock noon, a legible and correct copy written in the English language from such book, containing a description of each article purchased or received during the preceding week, the hour and day when the purchase was made, and the description of the person from whom it was purchased. Such statement shall be verified by the affidavit of the person subscribing his name thereto. . . .'

The Legislature, in 1917 PA 350, supra, did not prescribe either the style or format to be used by the dealers in their weekly reports. It only prescribed that they be a legible and correct copy of the transaction information contained in the written records of the dealer. However, according to your letter and its accompanying transmittal, the City of Saginaw uses the 3" X 5"' RI-47 form supplied by the Michigan State Police for the dealers to report to the Saginaw Police Department on each transaction required to be reported by the dealers under either 1917 PA 350, supra, or 1945 PA 231, as amended; MCLA 445.471 et seq; MSA 19.740 et seq.

The latter act, 1945 PA 231, supra, provides additional regulations and requirements for pawnbrokers, secondhand dealers and junk dealers in respect to the taking of fingerprints and the making of reports on the purchase of various articles of personal property, including gold, silver, platinum, gems, jewelry, and other precious items.

The Precious Metal and Gem Dealer Act, 1981 PA 95, supra, effective September 12, 1981, is an act to regulate the business of buying and receiving gold, silver, platinum, gems, jewelry, and other precious items. It is applicable to any person, corporation, partnership or association, wherever located in Michigan, which, in whole or in part, engages in the ordinary course of repeated and recurrent transactions of buying or receiving precious items from the public within this state. Such a business dealer is required under 1981 PA 95, supra, Sec. 3, to obtain a valid certificate of registration from the local city, village or township police agency in which it is conducting its business.

Under the provisions of 1981 PA 95, supra, Sec. 4, a dealer is required to maintain a permanent record of each transaction of business involving the buying and receiving of either gold, silver, platinum, gems, jewelry, or other precious items. A dealer shall make out in triplicate a record in accordance with the form provided by the statute of each transaction and one copy of the triplicate form shall be retained as part of the dealer's records, one copy shall be provided to the customer in the transaction, and the remaining copy shall be sent within 48 hours to the local police agency.

The Legislature has provided a form for the recording of the transaction by the dealer. 1981 PA 95, supra, Sec. 4(6), prescribes that the record of the transaction shall be 8 1/2" X 11" in size and that it shall follow the form or format specified. The factual information required in respect to a transaction involving the purchase or receipt by a secondhand dealer or junk dealer of gold, silver, platinum, gems, jewelry, and other precious items is similar to that required on the reporting form RI-47 used by the Saginaw Police Department pursuant to 1917 PA 350, supra, and 1945 PA 231, supra, with one addition, i.e., the number of the certificate of registration issued by the city, village or township pursuant to the provisions of 1981 PA 95, supra, is also required to be reported. You advise that this registration number '[c]ould easily be listed on the form currently being used' to provide information to the City of Saginaw, and that with that modification to RI-47, a dealer licensed under the provisions of 1981 PA 95, supra, would be reporting to the City of Saginaw all of the information on transactions required to be provided under the provisions of said Act.

In essence, your question, restated, is: Is it necessary for dealers who have been engaged in buying or receiving precious items in Michigan and who have been complying with the filing requirements of 1917 PA 350, supra, by filing a RI-47 form, to file a separate and additional transaction form with the City of Saginaw in compliance with the filing requirements of 1981 PA 95, supra?

It is a cardinal rule of statutory construction that if language employed in a statute is plain, certain and unambiguous, a bare reading suffices and no interpretation is necessary. Dussia v Monroe County Employees Retirement System, 386 Mich 244; 191 NW2d 307 (1971).

The record keeping and reporting requirements of a dealer registered pursuant to 1981 PA 95, supra, are clear, certain and unequivocal. Under 1981 PA 95, Sec. 4, supra, a dealer is required to record a transaction involving gold, silver, platinum, gems, jewelry, and other precious items in triplicate and to file one of the copies of the transaction with the local law enforcement agency. The size, style and content of the record to be kept by the dealer is explicitly prescribed in the Act. It is neither similar in size nor style to the report form RI-47 that is accepted and used by the Saginaw Police Department pursuant to 1917 PA 350, supra, and 1945 PA 231, supra. Although it may do so by amendment to 1981 PA 95, supra, the Legislature has not authorized a variation or exception to this procedure, irrespective of whether the licensee is required to file similar type reports under any other statute or statutes.

The Department of State Police may wish to re-examine form RI-47 in light of the provisions contained in 1981 PA 95, Sec. 4, supra, so that, if appropriate, one form may serve to fulfill the requirement of 1917 PA 350, supra, 1945 PA 23, supra, and 1981 PA 95, supra. It should be emphasized that the respective reporting time schedules must continue to be observed.

It is my opinion, therefore, that irrespective of the fact that some dealers are filing reports on the purchase or receipt of gold, silver, platinum, gems, jewelry, and other precious items pursuant to the provisions of 1917 PA 350, supra, and 1945 PA 231, supra, they are, nonetheless, required to file an additional separate report of the transaction in compliance with the provisions of 1981 PA 95, supra.

Frank J. Kelley

Attorney General


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