HB 2170 -- Licensure of Private Investigators

Sponsor:  Wasson

This bill changes the laws regarding the licensure of private
investigators.  In its main provisions, the bill:

(1)  Requires each member of the Board of Private Investigators
in the Division of Professional Registration within the
Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional
Registration to be a resident of the state for at least one year
prior to his or her appointment and to be a registered voter;

(2)  Increases, from two to five years, the term of a board
member and allows him or her to serve consecutive terms;

(3)  Repeals a conflicting statute created by the passage of
House Bill 780 and Senate Bill 308 in 2007 regarding the Board of
Private Investigator Examiners;

(4)  Authorizes the division to employ board personnel, exercise
all administrative functions, and deposit all fees collected into
the Board of Private Investigators Examiners Fund;

(5)  Removes the exemption for licensure as a private
investigator if an employer-employee relationship exists;

(6)  Clarifies the exemption for licensure as a private
investigator for employees of profit and non-profit agencies
making employee background checks;

(7)  Clarifies the exemption for licensure as a private
investigator if the person is exclusively employed by or under an
exclusive contract with a state agency or political subdivision;

(8)  Clarifies the exemption for licensure as a private
investigator when legal process servers are conducting
process-serving activities;

(9)  Requires the board, instead of the department, to be
responsible for the review of applicants;

(10)  Specifies that an applicant can be denied a license if he
or she has received a suspended imposition of sentence following
a guilty plea to a misdemeanor offense involving moral turpitude;

(11)  Removes a provision regarding the licensure fee for an
individual, an agency, or an employee of an agency and for
licenses issued for less than a year;

(12)  Specifies the procedures for renewing a license;

(13)  Allows the board to establish all fees;

(14)  Requires licensees to maintain records containing
information relative to his or her employees and copies of
contracts or court orders regarding the destruction, sealing, or
return of certain records; and

(15)  Allows the board to issue licenses to private investigator
trainers.

Missouri House of Representatives
95th General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated September 14, 2010 at 3:13 pm