SB 1454

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(1) Existing law establishes the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services (bureau) within the Department of Consumer Affairs (department) for purposes of regulating locksmiths, repossessors, private investigators, proprietary security services, private security services, and alarm company operators and alarm agents, under various acts. Under existing law, the powers and duties of the bureau under each of those acts are subject to review by the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature. Existing law requires the review to be performed as if the act were scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2025. This bill would extend that date to January 1, 2029. (2) Existing law, the Collateral Recovery Act, imposes duties related to the licensure and regulation of repossession agencies on the bureau under the supervision and control of the Director of Consumer Affairs (director) . A violation of the Collateral Recovery Act is a crime. Existing law requires a licensee under the Collateral Recovery Act to serve a debtor with a specified notice of seizure after the licensee recovers collateral. Existing law provides the repossession agency with the option of giving the notice by personal service or by regular mail addressed to the last known address of the debtor. This bill would revise the option to mail the notice by requiring the mail to be addressed, instead, to the current address of the debtor, and would make that option contingent on the current address being known. By imposing new requirements on repossession agencies under the Collateral Recovery Act, the violation of which is a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law authorizes various boards under the department to establish a system to issue citations that may include an order of abatement or to pay an administrative fine if a licensee is in violation of the applicable licensing act, as specified. Existing law provides an exception to this authority with respect to persons regulated under the Collateral Recovery Act. This bill would delete that exception, thereby authorizing the bureau to establish a system to issue citations to licensees under the Collateral Recovery Act for violations of that act. (3) Existing law, the Private Investigator Act (PIA) , requires the director to administer and enforce its provisions relating to the licensure and regulation of private investigators, and imposes certain duties on the bureau in this regard. Existing law makes a violation of the PIA, as specified, a crime. This bill, beginning July 1, 2025, would require an agreement for the provision of a service regulated by the PIA to be in writing and to contain specified information, including a description of the scope of the investigation or services to be provided. The bill would prohibit the performance of those services and the accrual of charges before written authorization to proceed is obtained from the client. The bill would require a licensee to maintain a legible copy of the signed agreement and investigative findings for a minimum of 2 years and to make those records available for inspection by the bureau upon demand. By imposing new requirements under the PIA, the violation of which is a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The PIA authorizes the bureau to issue a private investigator license to a limited liability company and imposes various requirements on a limited liability company as a condition for licensure, including maintaining liability insurance, as specified. Existing law repeals these provisions on January 1, 2025. This bill would extend that date to January 1, 2030. (4) Existing law, the Proprietary Security Services Act, prohibits a person from engaging in the business of a proprietary private security officer or a proprietary private security employer unless registered with the department under that act. The Proprietary Security Services Act makes a violation of the prohibition on engaging in unregistered business as a private security officer an infraction, as specified. Existing law, the Private Security Services Act (PSSA) , prohibits a person from engaging in the business of private security services, as specified, unless the person is licensed under the PSSA by the bureau. The PSSA makes a violation of that prohibition an infraction, as specified. Other existing law lists specified provisions relating to the registration, licensure, certification, or authorization required to engage in certain businesses and professions, and makes a violation of any of those listed provisions punishable as infractions, as specified. This bill would revise that other existing law by adding to that list the above-described provisions of the Proprietary Security Services Act and the PSSA prohibiting unlicensed or unregistered activity. By making the unregistered engagement in the business of a proprietary private security employer a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (5) The Proprietary Security Services Act and the PSSA except from their provisions certain entities, including a charitable philanthropic society or association and a person engaged solely in the business of securing information about persons or property from public records, as specified. This bill would delete several of those entities included in those exceptions, including those specified above. The bill would additionally except from the Proprietary Security Services Act a federally recognized tribe, as defined, that has one or more employees who provide unarmed security services only for the federally recognized tribe, as specified. (6) The PSSA requires an application for licensure to be verified and prescribes additional requirements if the applicant is, among others, an individual, a qualified manager, a partner of a partnership, or an officer of a corporation as specified. Existing law limits the investigations of a person licensed as a private patrol operator to those that are incidental to what they have been hired or engaged to protect, guard, or watch, as provided. Under existing law, the failure of a person licensed to do business as a corporation in this state to be registered and in good standing with the Secretary of State and the Franchise Tax Board after notice from the bureau, as specified, results in the automatic suspension of the licensee. This bill would require the bureau to license a federally recognized tribe that applies for licensure under the PSSA, as specified. The bill would prescribe additional requirements for licensure for the tribe, including that the application state the names and business addresses of those individuals authorized to submit the application on behalf of the tribe, as specified. The bill would make the above-described limitation on private patrol operator investigations not applicable to any federally recognized tribe performing investigative functions, as specified, consistent with federal or tribal law. This bill would also exempt a tribe or a tribe's business that is chartered under tribal or federal law from the above-described requirement to be registered and in good standing with the Secretary of State and the Franchise Tax Board. The PSSA requires an institution, firm, or individual to complete an application for certification, as specified, to receive approval from the bureau to offer certain training courses in the carrying and usage of firearms or batons. This bill would apply that requirement to a federally recognized tribe. The PSSA requires the bureau to issue a firearm permit or a baton permit when certain conditions are satisfied. Among the conditions for the firearm permit is that a bureau-certified firearms training instructor has certified that the applicant has successfully completed a written examination prepared by the bureau and training course in the carrying and use of firearms approved by the bureau. Among the conditions for the baton permit is that the applicant has completed a specified course of training in the carrying and use of a baton. This bill would require the above-specified conditions to be met within 6 months before submitting the application to the bureau. The PSSA requires a licensee, qualified manager of a licensee, or security guard, before carrying a firearm, to complete a course of training in the carrying and use of firearms and to receive a firearms qualification card or be otherwise qualified to carry a firearm, as specified. The PSSA exempts a peace officer or federal qualified law enforcement officer, as those terms are defined, from the course of training requirement if the officer has completed a course of study in the use of firearms. The PSSA requires an applicant for a renewed firearms qualification card to, among other things, requalify on the range and pass a specified written examination. Under the PSSA, a peace officer or federal qualified law enforcement officer is exempt from the above-specified requalification requirements if the officer is authorized to carry a firearm in the course of the officer's duties and has completed requalification training. This bill would limit the exemption from the course of study in the use of firearms requirement by requiring the officer to have completed the course within the 24 months preceding the date of application. The bill would also limit the exemption from the requalification training requirement by requiring the officer to have completed the training within the 12 months preceding the month of the permit's expiration. (7) Existing law, the Alarm Company Act, imposes additional requirements for an alarm company operator license if the applicant is a limited liability company, including requiring the application to be subscribed, verified, and signed by a duly authorized member of the applicant under penalty of perjury. Existing law repeals those provisions on January 1, 2025. This bill would extend the operation of those provisions until January 1, 2030. Under the Alarm Company Act, the director is required to issue a firearms permit when certain conditions exist. Existing law requires a firearm permit to be automatically revoked if the Department of Justice notifies the bureau that the holder of the permit is prohibited from possessing, receiving, or purchasing a firearm, as specified. Existing law requires the bureau to seek an emergency order, as prescribed, against the holder of the firearms permit if the bureau determines that the holder presents an undue hazard to public safety, as specified. This bill would, instead, authorize the bureau to automatically revoke a firearms permit or seek an emergency order, as described above. (8) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 146 of the Business and Professions Code proposed by AB 2148 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2148 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. (9) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.