HB 156 – AS INTRODUCED
2005 SESSION
08/10
HOUSE BILL 156
AN ACT relative to licensing private investigators.
SPONSORS: Rep. Dumaine, Rock 3; Rep. Hagan, Hills 17
COMMITTEE: Executive Departments and Administration
This bill makes various changes to private investigator licensing.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
05-0259
08/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Five
AN ACT relative to licensing private investigators.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Name Change From Detective to Investigation. Amend the chapter heading of RSA 106-F to read as follows:
[DETECTIVE] INVESTIGATION AGENCIES AND SECURITY SERVICES
2 Private Investigators; Name Change. Amend RSA 21-P:7, I(d) to read as follows:
(d) Regulation of [detective] investigation agencies and security services under RSA 106-F.
3 Private Investigators; Name Change. Amend RSA 21-P:14, II(d) to read as follows:
(d) Licensing [detective] investigation agencies and security guard services, as authorized by RSA 106-F:3.
4 Name Change. Amend RSA 106-F:1, I to read as follows:
I. Provide reasonable supervision and control of private [detective] investigation agencies and their employees, security guard services and their employees, and individuals licensed as private [detectives] investigators and security guards doing business in this state.
5 Exclusions. Amend RSA 106-F:2, I to read as follows:
I. Insurance adjusters licensed as such, who are engaged solely in the business of insurance adjusting.
6 Repeal. RSA 106-F:2, V, relative to private investigation licensing exclusions, is repealed.
7 Name Change. Amend RSA 106-F:2-a to read as follows:
106-F:2-a Prohibition. No person who is a sworn law enforcement officer employed by the state of New Hampshire or any of its political subdivisions shall be issued or hold a private [detective’s] investigator’s license under this chapter.
8 Definitions; Name Change and Expanded Definition. RSA 106-F:4 is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
106-F:4 Definitions. In this chapter:
I. “Applicant” means any person who makes application to engage in any activity regulated under this chapter.
II. “Employee” means an individual employed by a private investigation agency or an individual employed by a security guard service performing the duties of a private investigator or a security guard for the said private investigation agency or security guard service.
III. “Individual” means an individual licensed as a private investigator or security guard who is not an employee and who has no employees.
IV. “License holder” means an employee of a licensee.
V. “Licensee” means a licensed private investigation agency or security guard service.
VI. “Private investigation agency” means the business of collecting for a fee, hire or reward information on the identity, conduct, movements, whereabouts, affiliations, associations, transactions, reputation or character of any person, or otherwise doing investigative work for a private rather than a public interest, either in the field or by computer research.
VII. “Private investigator” means a person engaged in conducting investigations involving, but not limited to:
(a) Unsolved crimes.
(b) Insurance.
(c) Clandestine surveillance.
(d) Missing persons.
(e) Lost, concealed, or stolen property.
(f) Escaped felons or wanted persons subject to reward for capture.
(g) Polygraphs.
(h) Accident reconstruction.
VIII. “Security guard service” means any business entity, except as provided in RSA 106-F:2, that furnishes or employs persons for the protection of individuals or their property from injury or theft and includes, but is not limited to, services providing for the safe transport of money or valuable documents and security patrols of homes, businesses or industrial plants.
IX. “Unprofessional conduct” means:
(a) Failing to make available, upon request of a client, copies of documents that have been prepared for the client.
(b) General unfitness to practice the occupation.
(c) Employing any person who is not a license holder, or who is employed by any other licensee.
(d) Disclosing confidential information about a client or a client’s case, except:
(1) With the client’s permission.
(2) In response to a subpoena or court order.
(3) When necessary to collect a fee from the client.
(4) To prevent a criminal act.
(e) Knowingly accepting a client that would result in a conflict of interest.
(f) Providing false or misleading reports to a client, or omitting material facts from reports to a client.
9 Name Change. Amend RSA 106-F:5, I–II to read as follows:
I. No person shall engage in the business of a private [detective] investigation agency without obtaining a private [detective] investigation agency license from the commissioner of safety and no person shall engage in the business of a security guard service without obtaining a security guard service license from the commissioner of safety.
II. No person shall become an employee of a private [detective] investigation agency or a security guard agency without first obtaining a license to do so from the commissioner of safety.
10 Confidentiality of License Applications; Employer Access. Amend the introductory paragraph of RSA 106-F:6 to read as follows:
All information provided by an applicant for a license under this chapter, other than the application date and the business address of the applicant, shall be kept confidential, unless such information is requested by a law enforcement agent engaged in the performance of his or her authorized duties, or by the licensee’s employer if also licensed under this chapter. An applicant for any license issued under this chapter shall include the following in his application:
11 Application; Name Change and Expanded Qualifications. Amend RSA 106-F:6, VI-VIII to read as follows:
VI. In the case of an applicant for an armed security guard or armed private [detective] investigator license, 2 sets of the applicant’s fingerprints taken at state police headquarters.
VII. Two photographs of the applicant taken at state police headquarters to be used for a photo license card issued by the commissioner of safety identifying the private [detective] investigator or security guard holder and by whom he or she is employed.
VIII. In addition to the requirements of paragraphs I-VII, applicants for private [detective] investigator licenses shall meet the following qualifications:
(a) Be a [resident] citizen of the United States.
(b) Be at least [18] 21 years of age.
(c) Have no record of [violent misdemeanors, or theft, fraud, or] felony convictions.
(d) Except for employees, possess:
(1) A minimum of [4] 5 years’ experience as a full-time law enforcement officer with a federal, state, county or municipal police department; [or]
(2) An associate of science degree or bachelor of science degree in criminal justice or fire service from an accredited college or university, and employment as a full-time investigator for a private [detective] investigation agency for at least 2 years; [or]
(3) A minimum of 4 years’ employment as a full-time investigator for a licensed private [detective] investigator or private [detective] investigation agency; [or]
(4) A minimum of 4 years’ experience as a full-time firefighter and certification by the International Association of Arson Investigators[.];
(5) A diploma from an accredited school of polygraph science and 4 years’ employment with a law enforcement agency; or
(6) A 2 or 4 year degree in criminal justice, a diploma from an accredited school of polygraph science, and 2 years’ employment with a law enforcement agency or licensed private investigation agency.
(e) Provide verifiable documentation of his or her qualifications at the time of application for a license.
12 Name Change. Amend RSA 106-F:7, I to read as follows:
I. Following review of the application, the applicant’s references, and investigation into the character, competency and integrity of the applicant, the commissioner shall as soon as practicable issue a license or renewal license in the form prescribed by [him] the commissioner to the applicant, or notify the applicant of denial of the application. Prior to approval of any armed [detective] investigator or security license issued under this chapter, the applicant shall submit to a fingerprint examination conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the department of safety shall be authorized to use the records of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the screening of applicants. The applicant shall be responsible for the cost of any background investigation or criminal records check required under this section.
13 Name Change. Amend RSA 106-F:8, I to read as follows:
I. The fee for a private [detective] investigation agency license or a security guard service license shall be $100 for an agency or service employing one person licensed under this chapter and $400 for an agency or service employing more than one such person. A person may hold one or more types of license at any given time, provided that a separate fee shall be paid for each license so held. Licenses shall be valid for [2] 4 years after the date of issue and shall be renewed every [2] 4 years thereafter, upon application and payment of the fee and submission of certified evidence that the surety bond remains in force. The application for renewal shall be submitted at least 15 days before the expiration of the previously granted license.
14 Name Change. Amend the introductory paragraph of RSA 106-F:8-a, I to read as follows:
I. All armed security guards and armed private [detectives] investigators shall meet minimum requirements in the proficiency in the use of firearms at least once per year. The requirements shall be as follows:
15 Surety Bonds and Insurance. Amend RSA 106-F:9 to read as follows:
106-F:9 Surety Bond.
I. The surety bond required by this [section] paragraph shall be so conditioned that the person bonded shall conduct his or her business in a lawful and honest manner without committing, compounding, aiding or abetting the commission of any criminal offense. Said bond shall be filed with and kept by the secretary of state and shall be subject to being sued upon by the attorney general of the state in the name of the state or sued upon by any person injured by a breach of any condition of such bond designed to protect such person. The principal sum of the bond shall be [$50,000, which shall be increased by $50, 000 for each additional type of license held by any person licensed under this chapter] determined by the commissioner.
II. A person with multiple licenses issued under this chapter shall not be required to post more than one bond.
III. A surety bond shall not be required for licensees who provide proof of, and maintain, liability insurance in an amount equal to a surety bond required under paragraph I.
16 Employees Covered by Insurance Added. Amend RSA 106-F:11, I to read as follows:
I. A person licensed under this chapter may employ agents or guards as he or she deems necessary. The licensee shall be responsible for the conduct of any such employees who shall be covered under the licensee’s surety bond, or insurance policy, as applicable.
17 Change of Corporate Name Included. Amend RSA 106-F:12, I to read as follows:
I. A licensee shall notify the commissioner of safety of the discharge or termination of any employee licensed under the provisions of this chapter and also any change in the membership of the firm or in the officers or directors of any association or corporation, or a change of the business name, or any change in the address of any office or the location of such business, within 10 business days after such change. Failure to give such notification shall be sufficient cause for suspension of the licensee’s license.
18 Obligation to Report Certain Criminal Violations. RSA 106-F:13-a is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
106-F:13-a Obligation to Report Certain Criminal Violations.
I. All felonies observed or discovered by persons licensed under this chapter shall be immediately reported to the state police or to the local police department in the municipality in which the felony occurred, except:
(a) When a licensee is under the direction and control of a law enforcement agency; or
(b) When a licensee is acting as an agent of an attorney, and such information is protected as work product.
II. All activity that is regulated by this chapter conducted by an unlicensed person observed or discovered by persons licensed under this chapter shall be immediately reported to the New Hampshire state police.
III. No licensee shall be held liable for reports made under this section.
IV. Reports made under this section shall not be public records and the identity of the licensee making the report shall remain confidential.
19 New Subparagraph; Suspension and Revocation; Unprofessional Conduct. Amend RSA 106-F:14, I by inserting after subparagraph (c) the following new subparagraph:
(d) Exhibits unprofessional conduct.
20 New Paragraph; Suspension and Revocation. Amend RSA 106-F:14 by inserting after paragraph III the following new paragraph:
IV. Any suspension or revocation of a license under paragraph I shall be for the following periods:
(a) Two years for a first offense.
(b) Four years for a second offense.
(c) Lifetime for a third offense.
21 Exemptions. Amend RSA 106-F:15-a to read as follows:
106-F:15-a Exemptions. Nothing in this chapter shall require the licensure of persons employed by any federal or state agency or any city or town as an investigator. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require licensure [under this chapter for persons engaged in interviewing parties or witnesses in any legal matter] of an attorney in the practice law, or a person engaged in genealogical research.
22 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2006.