SPONSOR:	Rep. Potter & Rep. Smyk & Sen. Henry
	Reps. Bolden, Heffernan, J. Johnson

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 148th GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HOUSE BILL NO.

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 24 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO PRIVATE INVESTIGATORS AND PRIVATE SECURITY AGENCIES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:

Section 1.Amend §1314, Title 24 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through andinsertions as shown by underline as follows:

§1314. Security guard license requirements.

Anyone who wishes to be licensed, under this chapter, as a noncommissioned security guard, must meet and maintain the following requirements:

(1) Must be at least 18 years of age;

(2) Must not have been convicted of any felony;

(3) Must not have been convicted of any misdemeanor involving moral turpitude;

(4)(3) Must not have been convicted of any felony or misdemeanor involving the act of theft; a theft-related offense, drug offense, or moral turpitude, within the last seven years, and:

a. There are no more than two of such misdemeanors during such person's lifetime; and

b. No misdemeanor conviction occurred during or as a result of employment in a capacity regulated by this chapter.

(5) Must not have been convicted of any felony or misdemeanor involving drug offenses;

(4) Must not have been, as a juvenile, adjudicated delinquent for conduct which, if committed by an adult would constitute a felony, unless and until that person has reached their twenty-first birthday;

(6) (5)If served in the armed forces, must not have been discharged other than honorable conditions dishonorably discharged;

(7)(6)Must not be a member or employee of any law-enforcement organization, as defined by the Council of Police Training;

(8) (7)Must meet and maintain the qualifications set and approved by the Board of Examiners.

Section 2.Amend §1315, Title 24 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:

§1315 Commissioned security guard license requirements.

Anyone who wishes to be licensed as an armed security guard, under this chapter, must meet and maintain the same qualifications as a security guard with the following exceptions: and must be at least 21 years of age.

(1) Must be at least 21 years of age;

(2) Must meet and maintain the qualifications set and approved by the Board of Examiners.

Section 3.Amend §1316, Title 24 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:

§1316. Private investigator license requirements.

Anyone who wishes to be licensed as a private investigator, under this chapter, must meet and maintain the following requirements: same qualifications as a security guard under section 1314 of this chapter, and must also be at least 21 years of age.

(1) Be at least 21 years of age;

(2) Not have been convicted of any felony;

(3) Not have been convicted of any misdemeanor involving moral turpitude or theft or any misdemeanor that, in the discretion of the Board, bears such a relationship to the performance of security services as to constitute a disqualification for a private security guard and/or private investigator to be issued a license;

(4) Not have been convicted of any drug offense;

(5) Meet and maintain the qualifications set and approved by the Board of Examiners.

Section 4.Amend §1317, Title 24 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:

§1317 Armored car guard license requirements.

Must meet same qualifications as a commissioned security guard. Anyone who wishes to be licensed as an armored car guard, under this chapter, must meet and maintain the same qualifications as a commissioned security guard.

Section 5.Amend §1318, Title 24 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:

§1318 Security guard business licensee license requirements.

An applicant applying for a license, to own and operate a security guard business, shall have the following qualifications:

(1) Be Must be at least 25 years of age;

(2) HaveMust haveat least 4 years of experience as a manager in a bona fide licensed security agency or must have at least 5 years investigative experience or must have been a police officer for any local, state or federal agency or the equivalent thereof who has graduated from a certified law enforcement academy;

(3) Not Must not have been convicted of any felony;

(4) Not have been convicted of any misdemeanor involving moral turpitude or theft or any misdemeanor that, in the discretion of the Board, bears such a relationship to the performance of security services, as to constitute a disqualification for a private security guard, and/or licensee to be issued a license;

(5) Not have been convicted of any drug offense;

(4) Must not have been convicted of any misdemeanor involving a theft-related offense, drug offenses, or moral turpitude within the last seven years, and:

a. There are no more than two of such misdemeanors during such person's lifetime; and

b. No misdemeanor conviction occurred during or as a result of employment in a capacity regulated by this chapter;

(6) Meet(5) Must meet and maintain the qualifications set and approved by the Board of Examiners.

Section 6.Amend §1319, Title 24 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:

§1319 Private investigator business licensee license requirements.

An applicant applying for a license to own and operate a private investigative business, shall have the following qualifications: same qualifications as the security guard business license and must also

(1) Be at least 25 years of age;

(2) Havehave at least 5 years investigative experience or must have been a police officer for any local, state or federal agency or the equivalent thereof who has graduated from a certified law-enforcement academy;.

(3) Not have been convicted of any felony;

(4) Not have been convicted of any misdemeanor involving moral turpitude or theft or any misdemeanor that, in the discretion of the Board, bears such a relationship to the performance of the private investigative industry, to constitute a disqualification for a private investigator to be issued a license;

(5) Not have been convicted of any drug offense;

(6) Meet and maintain the qualifications set and approved by the Board of Examiners.

Section 7.Amend §1320, Title 24 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:

§1320 Armored car guard business licensee license requirements.

An applicant applying for a license, to own and operate an armored car guard business, shall have the following qualifications: same qualifications as the security guard business licensee and must also:

(1) Be at least 25 years of age;

(2)(1) Have at least 4 years of experience as a manager in a bona fide armored car agency;

(3) Not have been convicted of any felony;

(4) Not have been convicted of any misdemeanor involving moral turpitude or theft or any misdemeanor that, in the discretion of the Board, bears such a relationship to the performance of armored car services, as to constitute a disqualification for an armored car guard, and/or licensee to be issued a license;

(5) Not have been convicted of any drug offense;

(6) Meet and maintain the qualifications set and approved by the Board of Examiners;

(7)(2)Have been issued acurrent license by the Banking Commissioner pursuant to §3203 of Title 5.

SYNOPSIS

This bill changes the requirements for security guards, private investigator licenses by (a) making the qualifications uniform for both occupations; (b) providing that a license may still be issued for persons convicted of 2 or less of certain misdemeanors, so long as the misdemeanors are more than 7 years old; and (c) disqualifying juveniles adjudicated delinquent of a felony level offense unless they are at least 21 years old. The bill also provides for uniformity across all the licensees in Chapter 13 of Title 24.