BILL NUMBER: SB 202 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 5, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 22, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Senators Harman, Aanestad, Cox, Ducheny, and Wyland
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Adams, Gaines, Garrick, Hall, and
Silva)
FEBRUARY 23, 2009
An act to amend Section 7570 of, and to add Section 7560.5 to, the
Business and Professions Code, relating to private investigators.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 202, as amended, Harman. Private investigators: continuing
education.
Existing law, the Private Investigator Act, provides for the
licensure and regulation of private investigators by the Bureau of
Security and Investigative Services within the Department of Consumer
Affairs. Existing law requires an applicant for licensure to submit
a specified application, meet certain requirements, and pay a fee not
to exceed $175. Existing law provides that a private investigator
license expires 2 years following the date of issuance or on the
assigned renewal date. A licensee is required to apply for a renewal
and pay a renewal fee not to exceed $125 in order to renew his or her
license.
On and after January 1, 2013, this bill would require licensees,
as a condition of license renewal, to complete 12 hours of continuing
education in specified subjects, and as otherwise specified for a
licensee renewing a license between January 1, 2012, and January 1,
2013. The bill would require a licensee for renewal to submit to the
department a signed statement attesting that he or she has completed
the specified continuing education requirements, for which a false
statement may be subject to a specified civil penalty as well as
suspension of a license. The bill would specify that these continuing
education requirements do not apply to any individual licensed as a
private investigator who is 70 years of age or older and has been in
good standing for at least 25 consecutive years, is an inactive
licensed private investigator, as defined, or is a peace officer, as
defined. The bill would authorize an inactive licensee to become
active by, among other things, submitting to the department a signed
statement attesting that he or she has completed the specified
continuing education requirements, for which a false statement may be
subject to a specified civil penalty as well as suspension of a
license. The bill would specify standards to be met by continuing
education providers and would require the department to convene a
review panel to consult with the department in the consideration and
approval of course providers and course content. The bill would
authorize the department to establish and impose a fee on course
providers, in an amount that does not exceed the department's direct
costs and for no more than $____ per course provider for implementing
various provisions of the bill. The bill would also increase
the fee for an original license to up to $195 and the renewal fee to
up to $145.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 7560.5 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
7560.5. (a) (1) On or after January 1, 2013, any individual
licensed as a private investigator shall complete 12 hours of
continuing education, as approved by the department, in order to
renew his or her license, and of these, two hours shall be on the
subject of privacy rights, two hours shall be on the subject of
professional ethics, two hours shall be on the subject of recent
legal developments relating to private investigators, and six hours
shall be on any subject relating to private investigators.
(2) (A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), any
individual licensed as a private investigator whose license is
subject to renewal between January 1, 2012, and January 1, 2013,
shall complete six hours of continuing education, as approved by the
department, in order to renew his or her license, and of these, two
hours shall be on the subject of privacy rights, two hours shall be
on the subject of professional ethics, and two hours shall be on the
subject of recent legal developments relating to private
investigators.
(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), an individual licensed as a
private investigator who is a retired peace officer as defined in
Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2 of the
Penal Code, who has been retired for less than one year, and whose
private investigator license is subject to renewal between January 1,
2012, and January 1, 2013, shall not be subject to the continuing
education requirement described in this paragraph.
(b) A licensee shall submit to the department a signed statement
attesting that he or she has completed the continuing education
requirement in subdivision (a). This statement shall be submitted
with the license renewal application.
(c) A licensee shall maintain, for a period of five years, copies
of certificates of continuing education completion demonstrating
compliance with the continuing education requirement in subdivision
(a).
(d) The department may suspend for a period not to exceed 60 days,
the license of any licensee who is found not to be in compliance
with subdivision (a), (b), or (c), at which time the department shall
revoke the license unless the required continuing education has been
completed and documented.
(e) The department shall have the right to audit the records of
any licensee to verify completion of the continuing education
requirement.
(f) This section shall not apply to any individual licensed as a
private investigator who meets any of the following requirements:
(1) Is 70 years of age or older and has been a licensee in good
standing for a minimum of 25 consecutive years.
(2) Is an inactive licensed private investigator.
(3) Is a peace officer as defined in Section 830
in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title
3 of Part 2 of the Penal Code.
(A) For the purposes of this subdivision, "inactive licensed
private investigator" shall mean an individual who meets all of the
following requirements:
(i) Is licensed under this chapter.
(ii) Has informed the department that he or she will not be
performing activities that require licensure.
(iii) Does not perform activities requiring licensure.
(B) A licensee who is inactive under this paragraph may become
active upon submission to the department of a signed statement
attesting that he or she has completed the continuing education
requirement in subdivision (a), and upon payment to the department of
the renewal fee, as specified in Section 7570.
(g) (1) Continuing education providers (CEPs) shall obtain
approval from the department prior to offering a course for
continuing education to licensed private investigators.
(A) CEPs shall submit to the department a course description,
certificate, and curriculum vitae of course instructors for review
and approval.
(B) CEPs shall maintain a record of course sign-in forms, sign-out
forms, student enrollment, copies of certificates of completion, and
course outlines for a period of five years.
(C) CEPs shall agree to audits performed by the department.
(D) The director may revoke or deny the right of a CEP to offer
continuing education for failure to comply with any of the
requirements of this subdivision.
(2) Notwithstanding (1):
(A) CEPs that have been approved by, and are in good standing
with, the State Bar to provide mandatory continuing legal education
may offer courses for continuing education to licensed private
investigators without approval from the department.
(B) CEPs that have been approved by, and are in good standing
with, the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training may
offer courses that have been approved by the commission to licensed
private investigators for continuing education without approval from
the department.
(h) (1) The department shall establish a procedure for approving
CEPs to offer continuing education to licensed private investigators.
(2) The department shall convene a review panel to consult with
the department in the consideration and approval of CEPs and course
content. The review panel shall include representatives of CEPs and
professional associations of licensed private investigators.
Accredited academic institutions and recognized national and state
associations of licensed private investigators may be approved by the
department as CEPs.
(3) The department shall develop criteria for course providers and
course content that, to the extent applicable and feasible, is
consistent with the provisions of Section 166.
(4) The department may establish and charge a fee, to be paid by
CEPs, in an amount not to exceed the department's direct costs, and
for no more than ____ ($____) dollars per CEP, in implementing the
provisions of this section that require the department to approve
CEPs and to perform audits, as described in subdivision (g), and to
develop criteria for course providers and course content, as
described in subdivision (h).
(i) If, in a signed statement required by subdivision (b) or (f),
a declarant willfully states as true any material fact he or she
knows to be false, that person shall be subject to a civil penalty of
up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000). In addition, the department
may suspend the license of a licensee for a period not to exceed one
year, at which time the department shall revoke the license unless
the licensee submits a signed statement attesting that he or she has
completed the continuing education requirement in subdivision (a).
Any public prosecutor may bring a civil action to impose the civil
penalty. A licensee shall be advised of the penalty authorized under
this subdivision in the documents submitted for signature.
SEC. 2. Section 7570 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
7570. The fees prescribed by this chapter are as follows:
(a) The application and examination fee for an original license
may not exceed fifty dollars ($50).
(b) The application fee for an original branch office certificate
may not exceed thirty dollars ($30).
(c) The fee for an original license for a private investigator may
not exceed one hundred ninety-five dollars ($195).
(d) The renewal fee is as follows:
(1) For a license as a private investigator, the fee may not
exceed one hundred forty-five dollars ($145).
(2) For a combination license as a private investigator and
private patrol operator under Chapter 11.5 (commencing with Section
7580), AC or DC prefix, the fee may not exceed six hundred dollars
($600).
(3) For a branch office certificate for a private investigator,
the fee may not exceed thirty dollars ($30), and for a combination
private investigator and private patrol operator under Chapter 11.5
(commencing with Section 7580), the fee may not exceed forty dollars
($40).
(e) The delinquency fee is 50 percent of the renewal fee in effect
on the date of expiration.
(f) A reinstatement fee is equal to the amount of the renewal fee
plus the regular delinquency fee.
(g) The fee for reexamination of an applicant or his or her
manager may not exceed fifteen dollars ($15).