Rhode Island General Laws Title 19. Financial Institutions § 19-26-12. Acceptance of pawns from incompetents, wastrels, or thieves

(a) No pawnbroker shall receive in pledge or mortgage or by way of sale, either absolutely or with an agreement to sell back, any goods, note, bill, check, assignment or order for money or other property, or any article, thing, or property of any description, from any person, after receiving from any one of the officers mentioned in § 19-26-5, or the parent or guardian of any minor or person of unsound mind, written notice that the person is a minor or is of unsound mind; or neglects all lawful business; or habitually frequents houses of ill fame, gaming houses, or tippling houses; or by drinking, gaming, idleness, or debauchery of any kind squanders his or her earnings or wastes his or her estate; or is likely to bring self or family to want or to render self or family a public charge; or is a known thief or suspected of thievery.

(b) No pawnbroker shall knowingly receive any pawn from any person under eighteen (18) years of age, or from any person in a visible state of intoxication from liquors, drugs, or narcotics.

(c) Any pawnbroker violating any provision of this section shall be fined not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500), and the pawnbroker's license shall become void.