PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 2789 PRINTER'S NO. 3984
No. 2120 Session of 1998
INTRODUCED BY BARLEY, LYNCH, HERSHEY, READSHAW, ZUG, DEMPSEY,
HENNESSEY, ROSS, SEYFERT, E. Z. TAYLOR, RAMOS, ORIE, TRELLO
AND MAHER, JANUARY 22, 1998
AS REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES, AS AMENDED, OCTOBER 6, 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
1 also be performed for fee, hire, or reward:
2 (1) Crime or wrongs done or threatened against the
3 government of the United States of America or any state or
4 territory of the United States of America.
5 (2) The identity, habits, conduct, movements, whereabouts,
6 affiliations, associations, transactions, reputation, or
7 character, of any person, group of persons, association,
8 organization, society, other groups of persons, partnership, or
9 corporation.
10 (3) The credibility of witnesses or other persons.
11 (4) The whereabouts of missing persons.
12 (5) The location or recovery of lost or stolen property.
13 (6) The causes and origin of, or responsibility for, fires,
14 or libels, or losses, or accidents, or damage, or injuries, to
15 real or personal property.
16 (7) The affiliation, connection, or relation, of any person,
17 partnership, or corporation, with any union, organization,
18 society, or association, or with any official member or
19 representative thereof.
20 (8) With reference to any person or persons seeking
21 employment in the place of any person or persons who have quit
22 work by reason of any strike.
23 (9) With reference to the conduct, honesty, efficiency,
24 loyalty, or activities, of employes, agents, contractors and
25 subcontractors.
26 (10) The securing of evidence to be used before any
27 authorized investigating committee, board of award, board of
28 arbitration, or in the trial of civil or criminal cases.
29 (11) The furnishing, for hire or reward, of watchmen, or
30 guards, or private patrolmen, or other persons, to protect
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1 persons or property, or to prevent the theft or the unlawful
2 taking of goods, wares and merchandise, or to prevent the
3 misappropriation or concealment of goods, wares or merchandise,
4 money, bonds, stocks, choses in action, notes, or other valuable
5 documents, papers, and articles of value, or to procure the
6 return thereof, or the performing of the service of such guard
7 or other person, or any of said purposes.
8 The foregoing shall not be deemed to include persons engaged
9 in the business of investigators for or adjusters for insurance
10 companies, nor persons in the exclusive employment of common
11 carriers subject to regulation by the interstate commerce
12 commission or the Public Utility Commission of the Commonwealth
13 of Pennsylvania, nor any telephone, telegraph or other
14 telecommunications company subject to regulation by the Federal
15 Communications Commission or the Public Utility Commission of
16 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or an employe of any such
17 company while performing any investigatory activities engaged in
18 by his employer, or investigators in the employment of credit
19 bureaus, nor licensed or registered private detectives or
20 investigators, or their agents, from other states entering
21 Pennsylvania during the course of an investigation originating
22 in their state of licensure or registration when the other state
23 offers similar reciprocity to private detectives and
24 investigators and their agents licensed and registered by the
25 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
26 * * *
27 Section 3. Licenses.--* * *
28 (c) Nothing contained in this section shall be deemed to
29 include the business of investigators for or adjusters for
30 insurance companies, nor persons in the exclusive employment of
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1 common carriers subject to regulation by the interstate commerce
2 commission or the Public Utility Commission of the Commonwealth
3 of Pennsylvania, nor any telephone, telegraph or other
4 telecommunications company subject to regulation by the Federal
5 Communications Commission or the Public Utility Commission of
6 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or an employe of any such
7 company while performing any investigatory activities engaged in
8 by his employer, or investigators in the employment of credit
9 bureaus, nor licensed or registered private detectives or
10 investigators, or their agents, from other states entering <--
11 ANOTHER STATE, PROVIDED THE OTHER STATE REQUIRES A CRIMINAL <--
12 HISTORY RECORD INQUIRY BEFORE THE GRANTING OF A LICENSE OR
13 PERMITTING REGISTRATION TO A PRIVATE DETECTIVE OR INVESTIGATOR,
14 WHO ENTER Pennsylvania during the course of an investigation
15 originating in their state of licensure or registration when the
16 other state offers similar reciprocity to private detectives and
17 investigators and their agents licensed and registered by the
18 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
19 Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
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