PRINTER'S NO. 2789
No. 2120 Session of 1998
INTRODUCED BY BARLEY, LYNCH, HERSHEY, READSHAW, ZUG, DEMPSEY,
HENNESSEY, ROSS, SEYFERT, E. Z. TAYLOR, RAMOS, ORIE AND
TRELLO, JANUARY 22, 1998
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, JANUARY 22, 1998
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of August 21, 1953 (P.L.1273, No.361), entitled
2 "An act to regulate the business of private detectives,
3 investigators and watch, guard, or patrol agencies, and the
4 licensing thereof in each county; providing penalties,"
5 further providing for out-of-State investigators.
6 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
7 hereby enacts as follows:
8 Section 1. Sections 2(b) and 3(c) of the act of August 21,
9 1953 (P.L.1273, No.361), known as The Private Detective Act of
10 1953, amended or added December 3, 1987 (P.L.405, No.83), are
11 amended to read:
12 Section 2. Definitions.--* * *
13 (b) "Private detective business" shall also mean and
14 include, separately or collectively, the making, for hire,
15 reward, or for any consideration whatsoever, of any
16 investigation or investigations for the purpose of obtaining
17 information with reference to any of the following matters,
18 notwithstanding the fact that other functions and services may
19 also be performed for fee, hire, or reward:
1 (1) Crime or wrongs done or threatened against the
2 government of the United States of America or any state or
3 territory of the United States of America.
4 (2) The identity, habits, conduct, movements, whereabouts,
5 affiliations, associations, transactions, reputation, or
6 character, of any person, group of persons, association,
7 organization, society, other groups of persons, partnership, or
8 corporation.
9 (3) The credibility of witnesses or other persons.
10 (4) The whereabouts of missing persons.
11 (5) The location or recovery of lost or stolen property.
12 (6) The causes and origin of, or responsibility for, fires,
13 or libels, or losses, or accidents, or damage, or injuries, to
14 real or personal property.
15 (7) The affiliation, connection, or relation, of any person,
16 partnership, or corporation, with any union, organization,
17 society, or association, or with any official member or
18 representative thereof.
19 (8) With reference to any person or persons seeking
20 employment in the place of any person or persons who have quit
21 work by reason of any strike.
22 (9) With reference to the conduct, honesty, efficiency,
23 loyalty, or activities, of employes, agents, contractors and
24 subcontractors.
25 (10) The securing of evidence to be used before any
26 authorized investigating committee, board of award, board of
27 arbitration, or in the trial of civil or criminal cases.
28 (11) The furnishing, for hire or reward, of watchmen, or
29 guards, or private patrolmen, or other persons, to protect
30 persons or property, or to prevent the theft or the unlawful
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1 taking of goods, wares and merchandise, or to prevent the
2 misappropriation or concealment of goods, wares or merchandise,
3 money, bonds, stocks, choses in action, notes, or other valuable
4 documents, papers, and articles of value, or to procure the
5 return thereof, or the performing of the service of such guard
6 or other person, or any of said purposes.
7 The foregoing shall not be deemed to include persons engaged
8 in the business of investigators for or adjusters for insurance
9 companies, nor persons in the exclusive employment of common
10 carriers subject to regulation by the interstate commerce
11 commission or the Public Utility Commission of the Commonwealth
12 of Pennsylvania, nor any telephone, telegraph or other
13 telecommunications company subject to regulation by the Federal
14 Communications Commission or the Public Utility Commission of
15 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or an employe of any such
16 company while performing any investigatory activities engaged in
17 by his employer, or investigators in the employment of credit
18 bureaus, nor licensed or registered private detectives or
19 investigators, or their agents, from other states entering
20 Pennsylvania during the course of an investigation originating
21 in their state of licensure or registration when the other state
22 offers similar reciprocity to private detectives and
23 investigators and their agents licensed and registered by the
24 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
25 * * *
26 Section 3. Licenses.--* * *
27 (c) Nothing contained in this section shall be deemed to
28 include the business of investigators for or adjusters for
29 insurance companies, nor persons in the exclusive employment of
30 common carriers subject to regulation by the interstate commerce
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1 commission or the Public Utility Commission of the Commonwealth
2 of Pennsylvania, nor any telephone, telegraph or other
3 telecommunications company subject to regulation by the Federal
4 Communications Commission or the Public Utility Commission of
5 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or an employe of any such
6 company while performing any investigatory activities engaged in
7 by his employer, or investigators in the employment of credit
8 bureaus, nor licensed or registered private detectives or
9 investigators, or their agents, from other states entering
10 Pennsylvania during the course of an investigation originating
11 in their state of licensure or registration when the other state
12 offers similar reciprocity to private detectives and
13 investigators and their agents licensed and registered by the
14 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
15 Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
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