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IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2000

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5-5-2. Definitions.-- As used in this chapter:

(1) "Applicant" means any person who has applied for permission to engage in any act or activity which is regulated under the provisions of this chapter.

(2) "License" means any license required by this chapter.

(3) "License fee" means any moneys required by law to be paid for the issuance or renewal of any license required by the regulations.

(4) "Local licensing authority" means the town councils of license boards of the several towns, the mayor and city council or license bureau of a city. the department of business regulation.

(5) "Private detective" means a person who is hired for the purpose of conducting investigations involving:

(i) Inquiries into unsolved crimes;

(ii) Clandestine surveillance;

(iii) The search for missing persons; and

(iv) The search for lost or stolen property.

(6) Words in the singular include the plural and the plural includes the singular.

(7) "Department" means the department of business regulation.

5-5-3. License qualifications. -- In order to be eligible for a license, an applicant must:

(1) Be a citizen of the United States or a resident alien;

(2) Not have been convicted in any jurisdiction of a felony;

(3) Not have had any previous private investigator license or registration revoked or application for that license or registration denied by the appropriate authority of any local licensing authority;

(4) Not have been declared by any court of competent jurisdiction incompetent by reason of mental defect or disease unless the court has subsequently determined that his or her competency has been restored;

(5) Not suffer from habitual drunkenness or from narcotics addiction or dependence;

(6) Be of good moral character;

(7) Have experience that has been gained through:

(i) At least five (5) years experience as an investigator or as a police officer with a state, county or municipal police department or with an investigative agency of the United States of America or of any state, county or municipality; or

(ii) Has received a degree in criminal justice from an accredited college or university; or

(iii) Has been employed by a private detective as an investigator for at least five (5) years; or

(iv) Has substantively equivalent training or experience.;

(8) Have, at a minimum, an associate's degree in criminal justice, or have at least five (5) years of law enforcement experience.

5-5-4. License application. -- Any person engaged as a private detective prior to January 1, 1988, and who continues to be engaged as of January 1, 1988 may apply for a private detective license with the local licensing authority where his or her principal place of business is located. department of business regulation. Persons presently licensed shall be granted private detective licenses from the local licensing authority department upon application and verification that he or she has not been convicted in any jurisdiction of a felony. This initial application will be treated as a renewal of a license. Subsequent applications for renewal of his or her license are governed by section 5-5-6.

5-5-9. Registration and license fees.-- (a) The registration and license fee for a private detective is one hundred fifty dollars ($150) four hundred dollars ($400) annually. to be paid to the department of business regulation.

(b) No license issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall be assigned or transferred, either by operation of law or otherwise.

(c) With good cause, the local licensing authority may extend the period of time for filing the application required by this subsection.

(d) The department shall maintain a list of all persons licensed under this chapter.

5-5-14. Bonding requirements. -- Any licensee or private detective shall deliver to the local licensing authority or their designee a bond with a surety company authorized to do business in the state conditioned for the benefit of any person injured by willful, malicious, or wrongful acts of the licensee which in the case of an individual is five thousand dollars ($5,000) five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000).

5-5-16. Identification cards. -- The local licensing authority department shall prescribe by regulation the form of identification cards which may be carried by persons licensed under this chapter. Every person licensed under this chapter is given a permanent licensed number and is issued an identification card which is approximately two and one-half (2 1/2) inches wide and three and one-half (3 1/2) inches long and bears on it the number assigned to the licensee, the full name, date of birth, residence address, brief description of the licensee, his or her fingerprints and photograph, and a space upon which the licensee writes his or her usual signature with pen and ink, or a facsimile of the signature.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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LC00853
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EXPLANATION
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
OF

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This act would amend the provisions regarding the licensing and regulation of private detectives.

This act would take effect upon passage.