BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                     AB 921


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          CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS


          AB  
          921 (Jones)


          As Amended  September 4, 2015


          Majority vote


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          |ASSEMBLY:  | 78-0 | (May 14,      |SENATE: |40-0  | (September 9,   |
          |           |      |2015)          |        |      |2015)            |
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          Original Committee Reference:  B. & P.


          SUMMARY:  Establishes a Private Investigator Disciplinary Review  
          Committee (DRC), to which a licensed private investigator under  
          the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services (BSIS) may  
          appeal the assessment of an administrative fine and the denial  
          of a license, authorizes the inclusion of an applicant's email  
          address in an application, and authorizes an applicant for a  
          private investigator license to earn experience under a  
          qualified manager, as specified.  


          The Senate amendments: 


          1)Delay the implementation date of the DRC to July 1, 2017. 


          2)Authorize the DRC to affirm, rescind, or modify all decisions  
            appealed to the DRC and grant a probationary license with  








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            respect to the appealed decisions. 


          3)Clarify that appellants may request a hearing after the DRC  
            has reviewed the decision. 


          4)Clarify that a licensee may request an administrative hearing  
            if a) he or she contests an assessment of an administrative  
            fine, or to appeal a denial, suspension, or revocation of a  
            license or b) if the appellant disagrees with the decision  
            made by the DRC.


          5)Authorize an applicant to earn investigation experience as an  
            independent contractor under a qualified manager in addition  
            to earning experience as an employee. 


          FISCAL EFFECT:  According to the Senate Appropriations  
          Committee, this bill will result in: 


          1)Estimated Bureau of Security and Investigative Services (BSIS)  
            costs of approximately $14,000 annually to hold four DRC  
            hearings. 


          2)BSIS staff costs of approximately $33,000 annually for 0.5  
            Personnel Year of administrative workload associated with DRC  
            activities.  


          3)Minor and absorbable costs to make necessary Information  
            Technology changes to the BreEZe system.  


          COMMENTS:  


          Purpose.  This bill is sponsored by the California Association  
          of Licensed Investigators.  According to the author, this bill  








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          "would amend the Private Investigator Act in the Business and  
          Professions Code to require the establishment of a disciplinary  
          review committee [DRC], to which a licensed private investigator  
          could voluntarily opt into, to contest the assessment of an  
          administrative fine or to appeal a denial of a license.


          "This bill would save the [DCA] money, and would also save  
          licensees time and money if they chose to opt-in to the new  
          disciplinary review committee to resolve their situation."


          Background.  Current law provides for three DRCs within the  
          BSIS.  The Private Security Services Act establishes two DRCs,  
          one in Northern California and one in Southern California, and  
          the Alarm Company Act establishes one DRC.  The DRCs provide  
          their respective applicants and licensees an alternate path to  
          consider appeals of the BSIS's decisions to deny, suspend, or  
          revoke licenses, or assessments of administrative fines.  This  
          bill would create a similar DRC for licensed private  
          investigators. 


          Qualified Managers.  Under existing law, applicants for a  
          private investigator license must have varying amounts of  
          investigative experience based on their education.  However, the  
          existing statute states that the education must be earned under  
          an employer.  According to the author, the BSIS has been  
          interpreting the language to mean that experience earned as an  
          independent contractor cannot count, because an independent  
          contractor is not an employee.  Therefore, this bill will amend  
          the law to allow independent contractors to use experience  
          earned under a qualified manager. 


          Analysis Prepared by:                                             
                          Vincent Chee / B. & P. / (916) 319-3301  FN:  
          0002287












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