BILL NUMBER: AB 2632 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 18, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 18, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Olsen
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Jones)
FEBRUARY 19, 2016
An act to amend Section 7541.1 of the Business and Professions
Code, relating to private investigators.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2632, as amended, Olsen. Private Investigators:
investigators: experience for licensure.
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 applicant for licensure
under that act to 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.
This bill would include, under the above-mentioned experience
required to take the licensure examination, persons employed by
a media source who are trained as investigative reporters
and 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.
defined.
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 7541.1 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
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.
(8) (A) Persons trained as investigative reporters whose
experience is comprised of primary investigations and who meet any of
the following: and employed by a media source, as
defined in Section 1070 of the Evidence Code, whose investigative
journalism experience is comprised of conducting primary
investigations and producing investigative projects.
(i) The person was as an employee in a distinct investigative
unit.
(ii) The person's primary role was in a news organization
producing investigative projects.
(iii) The person conducted primary investigations for a media
source as defined in Section 1070 of the Evidence Code.
(B) For purposes of this paragraph, the following terms
shall have the following meanings:
(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.
(ii) "Investigative projects" mean the work of investigative teams
or individuals engaged in original reporting.
(iii) "Primary
paragraph "primary investigation" means original
and in-depth research and reporting
analysis involving a number of
multiple 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. investigative
projects.
(b) For purposes of Section 7541, persons possessing an associate
of arts degree in police science, criminal law, or criminal 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.