§486M-4 Minimum retention of items. (a) No dealer, the dealer's agents, employees, or representatives shall alter, melt, deface, break apart, dispose of, or change the character or integrity of the precious or semiprecious metals or precious or semiprecious gems received or purchased for a period of fifteen calendar days in counties with a population of less than three hundred thousand and thirty calendar days in counties with a population of three hundred thousand or more after the purchase or possession by the dealer, whichever comes later. Every article received by the dealer, the dealer's agents, employees, or representatives shall be retained by the dealer in the county where received or purchased for a period of fifteen calendar days in counties with a population of less than three hundred thousand and thirty calendar days in counties with a population of three hundred thousand or more after the purchase or possession by the dealer, whichever comes later.
(b) At the discretion of the chief of police of each county, the holding period may be reduced to fifteen calendar days; provided that the dealer has computerized record-keeping and transmittal capabilities acceptable to the chief of police or the chief of police's authorized representative.
(c) Notwithstanding subsection (a) to the contrary, a secondhand dealer operating an automated recycling kiosk shall retain previously owned consumer handheld electronic cellular phone devices for a total period of thirty calendar days from the date they were received or purchased; provided that the secondhand dealer operating an automated recycling kiosk may store the previously owned consumer handheld electronic cellular phone devices at a business location outside the county where the devices were received or purchased; provided further that, upon request by law enforcement within the thirty-day retention period, a secondhand dealer operating an automated recycling kiosk shall promptly return any requested devices no later than five business days from the date of the request at no cost to the requesting law enforcement agency. [L 1982, c 282, pt of §2; gen ch 1985; am L 1991, c 120, pt of §1; am L 1998, c 99, §3; am L 2021, c 79, §2]