Amended in Assembly March 18, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2632

Introduced by Assembly Member Olsen

(Coauthor: Assembly Member Jones)

February 19, 2016

An act to amend Section begin delete 7525 end delete begin insert 7541.1 end insert of the Business and Professions Code, relating to private investigators.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2632, as amended, Olsen. Private begin delete Investigators. end delete begin insert Investigators: experience for licensure. end insert

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 and requires the Director of Consumer Affairs to administer and enforce the act. Existing law requires an begin delete application end delete begin insert applicant end insert for licensure under that act to begin delete be on a form prescribed by the director and requires the application to be accompanied by an application fee. end delete begin insert take an examination. Existing law requires an applicant for examination to have experience in certain activities performed in connection with investigations, as specified, and only if the activities are performed by persons who are employed or managed in certain capacities, including, among others, persons trained as investigators and employed by a public defender to conduct investigations. end insert

This bill would begin delete make a nonsubstantive change to that provision. end delete begin insert include end insert begin insert , under the above-mentioned experience required to take the licensure examination, persons trained as investigative reporters whose experience is comprised of primary investigations, as defined, and who meet an additional specified requirement. The bill would also define terms for these purposes. end insert

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert . State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

begin insert

begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 7541.1 of the end insert begin insert Business and Professions
Code end insert begin insert is amended to read: end insert

7541.1.  

(a) Notwithstanding any other law, experience for
purposes of taking the examination for licensure as a private
investigator shall be limited to those activities actually performed
in connection with investigations, as defined in Section 7521, and
only if those activities are performed by persons who are employed
or managed in the following capacities:

(1) Sworn law enforcement officers possessing powers of arrest
and employed by agencies in the federal, state, or local government.

(2) Military police of the armed forces of the United States or
the National Guard.

(3) An insurance adjuster or their employees subject to Chapter
1 (commencing with Section 14000) of Division 5 of the Insurance
Code.

(4) Persons employed by a private investigator who are duly
licensed in accordance with this chapter, or managed by a qualified
manager in accordance with Section 7536.

(5) Persons employed by repossessors duly licensed in
accordance with Chapter 11 (commencing with Section 7500),
only to the extent that those persons are routinely and regularly
engaged in the location of debtors or the location of personal
property utilizing methods commonly known as “skip tracing.”
For purposes of this section, only that experience acquired in that
skip tracing shall be credited toward qualification to take the
examination.

(6) Persons duly trained and certified as an arson investigator
and employed by a public agency engaged in fire suppression.

(7) Persons trained as investigators and employed by a public
defender to conduct investigations.

begin insert

(8) (A) Persons trained as investigative reporters whose
experience is comprised of primary investigations and who meet
any of the following:

end insert begin insert

(i) The person was as an employee in a distinct investigative
unit.

end insert begin insert

(ii) The person’s primary role was in a news organization
producing investigative projects.

end insert begin insert

(iii) The person conducted primary investigations for a media
source as defined in Section 1070 of the Evidence Code.

end insert begin insert

(B) For purposes of this paragraph, the following terms shall
have the following meanings:

end insert begin insert

(i) “Distinct investigative unit” means an investigative team of
any size reporting to an editor or supervisor responsible for
managing the projects. An individual reporter may constitute a
distinct investigative unit.

end insert begin insert

(ii) “Investigative projects” mean the work of investigative
teams or individuals engaged in original reporting.

end insert begin insert

(iii) “Primary investigation” means original research and
reporting involving a number of sources, including, but not limited
to, public records, databases, archives, published and unpublished
documents, witnesses, informers, whistleblowers, public officials,
and experts, to produce stories or reports with new information
of interest or importance to the public.

end insert

(b) For purposes of Section 7541, persons possessing an
associate of arts degree in police science, criminal begin delete law end delete begin insert law, end insert or
begin insert criminal end insert justice from an accredited college shall be credited with
1,000 hours of experience in investigative activities.

(c) The following activities shall not be deemed to constitute
acts of investigation for purposes of experience toward licensure:

(1) The serving of legal process or other documents.

(2) Activities relating to the search for heirs or similar searches
which involve only a search of public records or other reference
sources in the public domain.

(3) The transportation or custodial attendance of persons in the
physical custody of a law enforcement agency.

(4) The provision of bailiff or other security services to a court
of law.

(5) The collection or attempted collection of debts by telephone
or written solicitation after the debtor has been located.

(6) The repossession or attempted repossession of personal
property after that property has been located and identified.

(d) Where the activities of employment of an applicant include
those which qualify as bona fide experience as stated in this section
as well as those which do not qualify, the director may, by
delegation to the bureau, determine and apportion that percentage
of experience for which any applicant is entitled to credit.

begin delete

SECTION 1.  

Section 7525 of the Business and Professions
Code is amended to read:

7525.  

An application for a license under this chapter shall be
on a form prescribed by the director and accompanied by the
application fee required by this chapter.

end delete