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Am. Sub. H. B. No. 188As Reported by the Senate Judiciary--Civil Justice Committee
As Reported by the Senate Judiciary--Civil Justice Committee
124th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2001-2002 |
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REPRESENTATIVES Schaffer, Grendell, Williams, Rhine, Flowers, Strahorn, Seitz, McGregor, Schmidt, Driehaus, Hagan, Krupinski, DeBose
A BILL
To amend sections 4749.01,
4749.04, and
4749.06 of the
Revised Code
to
exempt commissioned peace officers
from the licensing requirements
concerning
private
investigators and security
guards when acting as an
employee or as an independent contractor for a
person licensed as a private investigator, security
guard, or both.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 4749.01,
4749.04, and 4749.06 of
the
Revised Code be amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 4749.01. As used in this chapter: (A)
"Private investigator" means any person who engages in
the business of private investigation. (B)
"Business of private investigation" means, except when
performed by one excluded under division (H) of this section, the
conducting, for hire, in person or through a partner or
employees,
of any investigation relevant to any crime or wrong
done or
threatened, or to obtain information on the identity,
habits,
conduct, movements, whereabouts, affiliations,
transactions,
reputation, credibility, or character of any
person, or to locate
and recover lost or stolen property, or to
determine the cause of
or responsibility for any libel or
slander, or any fire, accident,
or damage to property, or to
secure evidence for use in any
legislative, administrative, or
judicial investigation or
proceeding. (C)
"Security guard provider" means any person who engages
in
the business of security services. (D)
"Business of security services" means either of the
following: (1) Furnishing, for hire,
watchmen
watchpersons, guards,
private
patrolmen
patrol officers, or other persons whose primary
duties
are to protect
persons or property; (2) Furnishing, for hire, guard dogs, or armored motor
vehicle security services, in connection with the protection of
persons or property. (E)
"Class A license" means a license issued under section
4749.03 of the Revised Code that qualifies the person issued the
license to engage in the business of private investigation and
the
business of security services. (F)
"Class B license" means a license issued under section
4749.03 of the Revised Code that qualifies the person issued the
license to engage only in the business of private investigation. (G)
"Class C license" means a license issued under section
4749.03 of the Revised Code that qualifies the person issued the
license to engage only in the business of security services. (H)
"Private investigator,"
"business of private
investigation,"
"security guard provider," and
"business of
security services" do not include: (1) Public officers and employees whose official duties
require them to engage in investigatory activities; (2) Attorneys at law or any
expert
hired
by an
attorney at
law for
consultation or litigation purposes; (3) A consumer reporting agency, as defined in the
"Fair
Credit Reporting Act," 84 Stat. 1128, 15 U.S.C.A. 1681a, as
amended, provided that the consumer reporting agency is in
compliance with the requirements of that act and that the
agency's
activities are confined to any of the following: (a) The issuance of consumer credit reports; (b) The conducting of limited background investigations
that
pertain only to a client's prospective tenant and that are
engaged
in with the prior written consent of the prospective
tenant; (c) The business of pre-employment background
investigation.
As used in division (H)(3)(c) of this section,
"business of
pre-employment background investigation" means, and
is limited to,
furnishing for hire, in person or through a
partner or employees,
the conducting of limited background
investigations, in-person
interviews, telephone interviews, or
written inquiries that
pertain only to a client's prospective
employee and the employee's
employment and that are engaged
in with the
prior written consent
of the prospective employee. (4) Certified public insurance adjusters that hold a
certificate of authority issued pursuant to sections 3951.01 to
3951.09 of the Revised Code, while the adjuster is investigating
the cause of or responsibility for a fire, accident, or other
damage to property with respect to a claim or claims for loss or
damage under a policy of insurance covering real or personal
property; (5) Personnel placement services
licensed under Chapter
4143. of the Revised Code and persons who act as employees of
such
entities engaged in investigating matters related to
personnel
placement activities; (6) An employee in the regular course of the employee's
employment,
engaged in investigating matters pertinent to the
business of
his or
her
the employee's
employer or protecting
property in the possession of
his
or her
the employee's employer,
provided the employer is deducting
all applicable
state
and
federal employment taxes on behalf of the employee and
neither the
employer nor the employee is employed by, associated
with, or
acting for or on behalf of any private investigator or
security
guard provider; (7) Any better business bureau or similar organization or
any of its employees while engaged in the maintenance of the
quality of business activities relating to consumer sales and
services; (8) An accountant who is registered or certified under
Chapter 4701. of the Revised Code or any of the accountant's
employees while
engaged in activities for which the accountant is
certified
or registered; (9) Any person who, for hire or otherwise, conducts
genealogical research in this state. As used in division (H)(9) of this section,
"genealogical
research" means the determination of the origins and descent of
families, including the identification of individuals, their
family relationships, and the biographical details of their
lives.
"Genealogical research" does not include furnishing for
hire
services for locating missing persons or natural or birth
parents
or children. (10) Any person
residing in this state who conducts
research
for the purpose of locating the last known owner of
unclaimed
funds, provided that the person is in compliance with
Chapter 169.
of the Revised Code and rules adopted thereunder.
The exemption
set forth in division (H)(10) of this section
applies only to the
extent that the person is conducting research
for the purpose of
locating the last known owner of unclaimed
funds. As used in division (H)(10) of this section,
"owner" and
"unclaimed funds" have the same meanings as in section 169.01 of
the Revised Code. (11) A professional engineer who is registered under
Chapter
4733. of the Revised Code or any of his employees. As used in division (H)(11) of this section and
notwithstanding division (I) of this section,
"employee" has the
same meaning as in section 4101.01 of the Revised Code. (12) Any person
residing in this state who, for
hire or
otherwise, conducts research for the purpose of locating persons
to whom
the state of Ohio owes money in the form of warrants, as
defined in
division (S) of section 131.01 of the Revised Code,
that the state
voided but
subsequently reissues. (13) An independent insurance adjuster who, as an
individual, an
independent contractor, an employee of an
independent contractor, adjustment
bureau association,
corporation, insurer, partnership, local recording agent,
managing
general agent, or self-insurer, engages in the business of
independent insurance adjustment, or any person who supervises the
handling of
claims except while acting as an employee of an
insurer licensed in this state
while handling claims pertaining to
specific policies written by that insurer. As used in division (H)(13) of this section,
"independent
insurance adjustment" means conducting investigations to determine
the cause
of or circumstances concerning a fire, accident, bodily
injury, or damage to
real or personal property; determining the
extent of damage of that fire,
accident, injury, or property
damage; securing evidence for use in a
legislative,
administrative, or judicial investigation or proceeding,
adjusting
losses; and adjusting or settling claims, including the
investigation, adjustment, denial, establishment of damages,
negotiation,
settlement, or payment of claims in connection with
insurance contractors,
self-insured programs, or other similar
insurance programs.
"Independent
adjuster" does not include
either
of the following: (a) An attorney who adjusts insurance losses
incidential
incidental to the
practice of law and who does not advertise or
represent that
he or she
the attorney is an
independent insurance
adjuster; (b) A licensed agent or general agent of an insurer licensed
in
this state who processes undisputed or uncontested losses for
insurers under
policies issued by that agent or general agent. (14) Except for a commissioned peace officer who engages in
the business of private investigation or compensates others who
engage in the business of private investigation or the business of
security services or both, any commissioned peace officer as
defined in division
(B)
of section 2935.01 of the Revised Code.
(I)
"Employee" means every person who may be required or
directed by any
employer, in consideration of direct or indirect
gain or profit, to engage in
any employment, or to go, or work, or
be at any time in any place of
employment, provided that the
employer of the employee deducts all applicable
state and federal
employment taxes on behalf of the employee.
Sec. 4749.04. (A) The
director of commerce may revoke,
suspend, or
refuse to renew, when a renewal form has been
submitted, the
license of any private
investigator or security
guard provider, or
the registration of
any
employee of a private
investigator or
security guard
provider, for any of the following: (1) Violation of any of the provisions of division (B) or
(C) of section 4749.13 of the Revised Code; (2) Conviction of a felony or a crime involving moral
turpitude; (3) Violation of any rule of the
director
governing
private
investigators, the business of private
investigation,
security
guard providers, or the business of
security services; (4) Testifying falsely under oath, or suborning perjury,
in
any judicial proceeding; (5) Failure to
satisfy the requirements specified in
division (D) of section 4749.03 of the Revised Code.
Any person whose license or registration is revoked,
suspended, or not renewed
when a renewal form is submitted may
appeal in accordance with Chapter
119. of the Revised Code. (B) In lieu of suspending, revoking, or refusing to renew
the class A, B, or C license, or of suspending, revoking, or
refusing to renew the registration of
an employee of
a class A,
B,
or C licensee, the
director of commerce
may impose a civil
penalty
of not
less than one hundred dollars or more than
two
one
hundred
dollars for each
calendar day of a violation of any of the
provisions of
this section or of division (B) or (C) of section
4749.13 of the
Revised Code or of a violation of any rule of the
director governing private investigators, the
business of private
investigation, security guard providers, or
the business of
security services.
Sec. 4749.06. (A)
Each class A, B, or C licensee shall
register
his
the licensee's investigator or security guard
employees,
with the
department of commerce, which shall
maintain a
record of each licensee and registered employee and make it
available, upon
request, to any law enforcement
agency.
The class
A, B, or C
licensee shall file an
application to register
a new
employee no
sooner than three days
nor later than seven
calendar
days after the date
on which the
employee
is hired.
(B)(1)
Each employee's registration application shall be
accompanied by one
complete set of
his
the employee's
fingerprints,
one recent
photograph of the employee,
his
the
employee's physical
description, and an
eighteen-dollar
registration fee.
(2) If the director requests the
bureau of
criminal
identification and investigation to conduct an
investigation of
a
licensee's employee and if the bureau assesses
the
director
a fee
for the investigation, the
director, in
addition to any other fee
assessed pursuant to this chapter,
may
assess the
licensee a fee
that is equal to the fee
assessed by
the bureau.
If, after
investigation, the bureau finds that the
employee
has not been
convicted of a felony within the
last
twenty years,
the
director
shall issue
to the
employee an
identification card
bearing
the
license number
and
signature of
the licensee, which
in the
case of
a corporation
shall be the signature of its
president or
its
qualifying agent,
and containing the
employee's
name, address,
age, physical description,
and right
thumb print
or other
identifying mark as the director prescribes,
a recent
photograph
of the employee, and
his
the employee's
signature.
The director
may issue a duplicate of a lost,
spoliated, or destroyed
identification card issued under this
section, upon payment of a
fee fixed by the
director, not exceeding five
dollars. (C)
No
Except as provided in division (E) of this section,
no
class A, B, or C licensee shall permit an employee,
other than an
individual who qualified a
corporation for
licensure, to engage in
the business of private
investigation,
the business of security
services, or both
businesses until the
employee
receives an
identification card from the department,
except that
pending the
issuance of an identification card, a
class A, B, or C
licensee
may offer for hire security guard or
investigator
employees
provided the licensee obtains a waiver
from the person
who
receives, for hire, security guard or
investigative services,
acknowledging that the person is aware
the employees have not
completed their registration and
agreeing
to their employment. (D) If a class A, B, or C licensee, or a
registered
employee
of a class A, B, or C licensee, intends to carry a
firearm, as
defined in section 2923.11 of the Revised Code, in
the
course of
engaging in the business or employment,
he either
the
licensee or
registered employee
shall
satisfactorily complete a firearms
basic
training program
that includes twenty hours of handgun
training
and five hours of
training in the use of other firearms,
if any
other firearm is to
be used, or equivalency training, if
authorized,
or shall be a
former peace officer who previously had
successfully completed a
firearms training course, shall receive a
certificate of
satisfactory completion of that program or written
evidence of
approval of the equivalency training, shall file an
application
for registration, shall receive a firearm-bearer
notation on
his
the licensee's or registered employee's
identification card, and shall annually requalify
on a firearms
range, all as described in division (A) of section
4749.10 of the
Revised Code. A private investigator, security
guard provider,
or
employee is authorized to carry a firearm only
in accordance
with
that division. (E) This section does not apply to commissioned peace
officers,
as defined in division (B) of section 2935.01 of the
Revised
Code,
working for, either as an employee or independent
contractor, a class
A, B, or C licensee. For purposes of this
chapter,
a commissioned peace officer is an employee exempt from
registration.
Section 2. That existing sections 4749.01,
4749.04, and
4749.06 of the
Revised
Code are
hereby repealed.
Section 3. Section 4749.01 of the Revised Code is presented
in this act
as a
composite of the section as amended by both
Am.
Sub. S.B. 162 and
Am. H.B. 229 of the 121st General Assembly. The
General Assembly,
applying the
principle stated in division (B) of
section 1.52 of
the Revised
Code that amendments are to be
harmonized if
reasonably capable of
simultaneous operation, finds
that the
composite is the resulting
version of the section in
effect
prior
to the effective date of
the section as presented in
this
act.
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