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AN ACT relating to private investigators.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky:
1 Section 1. KRS 329A.035 is amended to read as follows:
2 (1) An application for a private investigator license shall be filed with the board on the
3 prescribed form.
4 (a) The application shall include the following information regarding the
5 applicant:
6 1. Full name and address;
7 2. Date and place of birth;
8 3. Social Security number;
9 4. All residences during the past five (5) years;
10 5. All employment or occupations engaged in during the past five (5)
11 years;
12 6. Three (3) sets of classifiable fingerprints; and
13 7. Any other information as the board may reasonably require by
14 administrative regulation.
15 (b) The application shall be subscribed and sworn to by the applicant.
16 (c) If the applicant intends to conduct fire or arson investigations, proof of current
17 national certification from the National Association of Fire Investigators or
18 the International Association of Arson Investigators shall be filed with the
19 board in addition to the information required in paragraph (a) of this
20 subsection.
21 (2) An application for an investigating company license shall be filed with the board on
22 the prescribed form.
23 (a) The application shall include:
24 1. The information required in subsection (1)(a) of this section for:
25 a. The owner, if the company is a sole proprietorship;
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1 b. Each partner, if the company is a partnership; or
2 c. The qualifying agent, if the company is a corporation;
3 2. The name under which the company intends to do business;
4 3. The address of the principal place of business and any branch offices of
5 the company within this state; and
6 4. Other information as the board may reasonably require by administrative
7 regulation.
8 (b) If the company is a corporation, the following information is also required:
9 1. The correct legal name of the corporation;
10 2. The state and date of incorporation;
11 3. The date the corporation qualified to do business in this state;
12 4. The address of the corporate headquarters, if located outside of this
13 state;
14 5. The names of two (2) principal corporate officers other than the
15 qualifying agent, their business addresses, residence addresses, and the
16 office held by each in the corporation; and
17 6. The identity and license number of all private investigators employed by
18 or affiliated with the company.
19 (c) The application shall be subscribed and sworn to by:
20 1. The owner, if the applicant is a sole proprietorship;
21 2. Each partner, if the applicant is a partnership; or
22 3. The qualifying agent, if the applicant is a corporation.
23 (3) Each applicant for an individual license or owner, partner, or qualifying agent for a
24 company license shall:
25 (a) Be at least twenty-one (21) years of age;
26 (b) Be a citizen of the United States or a resident alien;
27 (c) Have a high school education or its equivalent;
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1 (d) Not receive a license until the earlier of:
2 1. The expiration of ten (10) years from the applicant's release from a
3 sentence imposed by any state or territory of the United States or the
4 federal government for the commission of a felony, including a sentence
5 of confinement or time served on probation, parole, or other form of
6 conditional release or discharge; or
7 2. The date the applicant received a restoration of the applicant's civil
8 rights;
9 (e) Not have been convicted of a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude or for
10 which dishonesty is a necessary element within the previous five (5) years;
11 (f) Not have been dishonorably discharged from any branch of the Armed Forces
12 of the United States;
13 (g) Not have had his or her certification as a peace officer revoked in this or
14 another state;
15 (h) Not have been declared by any court of competent jurisdiction to be
16 incompetent by reason of mental defect or disease unless a court of competent
17 jurisdiction has since declared the applicant to be competent;
18 (i) Not have been voluntarily or involuntarily committed to a facility or
19 outpatient program for the abuse of a controlled substance or been convicted
20 of a misdemeanor violation of KRS Chapter 218A or similar laws of any other
21 state relating to controlled substances within the three (3) year period
22 immediately preceding the date on which the application is submitted;
23 (j) Not chronically and habitually use alcoholic beverages as evidenced by:
24 1. The applicant having two (2) or more convictions for violating KRS
25 189A.010 within the three (3) year period immediately preceding the
26 date on which the application is submitted; or
27 2. The applicant having been committed as an alcoholic pursuant to KRS
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1 Chapter 222, or similar laws of any other state, within the three (3) year
2 period immediately preceding the date on which the application is
3 submitted;
4 (k) Not chronically and habitually use alcoholic beverages or drugs to the extent
5 that his or her normal faculties are impaired;
6 (l) Be of good moral character;
7 (m) Pass an examination administered by the board in accordance with KRS
8 329A.025(2)(c); and
9 (n) Submit proof of coverage which meets the following requirements:
10 1. Is written by an insurance company which is lawfully engaged to
11 provide insurance coverage in Kentucky;
12 2. Provides for a combined single-limit policy in the amount of at least two
13 hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000); and
14 3. Insures for liability all of the applicant's employees while acting in the
15 course of their employment.
16 Private investigators who limit their practice exclusively to working under the
17 supervision and as employees of an attorney who is licensed to practice law in
18 this state are exempted from the requirement of this paragraph. The
19 exemption shall not apply if the private investigator works as an
20 independent contractor or subcontractor of an attorney.
21 (4) The board shall maintain the confidentiality of information relating to the licensee
22 or applicant, except that the board may provide this information to local, state, or
23 federal law enforcement agencies.
24 (5) Upon inquiry by any individual or entity, the board or the board's administrative
25 staff shall provide or confirm the license status of any private investigator or private
26 investigating company.
27 Section 2. KRS 329A.070 is amended to read as follows:
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1 The provisions of KRS 329A.010 to 329A.090 do not apply to:
2 (1) An officer or employee of the United States, this state, another state, or any political
3 subdivision thereof, performing his or her official duties within the course and
4 scope of his or her employment;
5 (2) A public accountant, certified public accountant, or the bona fide employee of
6 either, performing duties within the scope of public accountancy;
7 (3) A person engaged exclusively in the business of obtaining and furnishing
8 information regarding the financial rating or standing and credit of persons;
9 (4) An attorney-at-law, or an attorney's bona fide employee, performing duties within
10 the scope of the practice of law or authorized agent with duties limited to document
11 and record retrieval or witness interviews. The exemption shall not apply to an
12 independent contractor or subcontractor of an attorney who is engaged in private
13 investigating;
14 (5) An insurance company, licensed insurance agent, or staff or independent adjuster if
15 authorized to do business in Kentucky, performing investigative duties limited to
16 matters strictly pertaining to an insurance transaction;
17 (6) A person engaged in compiling genealogical information, or otherwise tracing
18 lineage or ancestry, by primarily utilizing public records and historical information
19 or databases;
20 (7) A private business employee conducting investigations relating to the company
21 entity by which he or she is employed;
22 (8) An individual obtaining information or conducting investigations on his or her own
23 behalf;
24 (9) An employee of a private investigator or a private investigating firm who works
25 under the direction of the private investigator or the private investigating firm for
26 less than two hundred forty (240) hours per year. The board shall promulgate
27 administrative regulations to establish a method of verification of the number of
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1 hours worked;
2 (10) A professional engineer, a professional land surveyor, or a professional engineer's
3 or professional land surveyor's bona fide employee, performing duties within the
4 scope of practice of engineering or land surveying; or
5 (11) A secured creditor, or person acting on behalf of a secured creditor, engaged in the
6 repossession of the creditor's collateral pursuant to KRS 355.9-609.
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