§8104. License requirement; exceptions

1.  License.  A person may not act as a professional investigator without first obtaining from the chief a license to be a professional investigator or investigative assistant.

[PL 2011, c. 366, §17 (AMD).]

2.  Exceptions.  This section does not apply to the following:

A. A person employed by or on behalf of the Federal Government, any state or any political subdivision or public instrumentality or a Canadian province, while in the performance of the person's official duties;   [PL 2011, c. 366, §18 (AMD).]

B. [PL 2011, c. 366, §19 (RP).]

C. A person employed to inquire into the fitness of an applicant for employment with that person's employer;   [PL 1981, c. 126, §2 (NEW).]

D. A credit reporting bureau or agency, or agent thereof, whose business is the furnishing of information concerning a person's business, financial or credit standing;   [PL 1981, c. 126, §2 (NEW).]

E. An insurance company investigating the personal habits and financial responsibility of applicants for insurance or indemnity bonds;   [PL 2011, c. 366, §20 (AMD).]

F. An attorney admitted to practice law in the State acting in a professional capacity;   [PL 2011, c. 366, §21 (AMD).]

G. A nonprofit trade or business association, board or organization, whether incorporated or unincorporated, or any agent thereof, conducting an investigation for the following purposes:

(1) To furnish to members of the association, board or organization, information concerning the business, financial or credit standing or the reputation of a person with whom the members consider doing business; provided that the investigation is no more extensive than is reasonably necessary; or

(2) To compile or disseminate statistics or data relating to business of the members of the association, board or organization;   [PL 1981, c. 126, §2 (NEW).]

H. An insurance adjuster, or an employee investigating claims for or against the employee's employer;   [PL 2011, c. 366, §22 (AMD).]

I. A person engaged in compiling genealogical information or otherwise tracing lineage or ancestry, by primarily using public records and historical information or databases;   [PL 2011, c. 366, §23 (AMD).]

J. A person possessing a valid private investigator's license granted under any prior existing provision of law of this State, as long as, upon expiration of the license, the person is governed by this section;   [PL 2011, c. 366, §24 (AMD).]

K. A person employed exclusively and regularly by an employer in connection with the affairs of the employer only, and there exists a bona fide employer-employee relationship in which the employee is reimbursed on an hourly basis;   [PL 2011, c. 366, §25 (RPR).]

L. A person acting within the scope of the person's professional practice to analyze facts, evidence or other data for the purposes of supplying expert testimony in a legal proceeding; or   [PL 2011, c. 366, §26 (NEW).]

M. An Internet research company or an individual who is solely engaged in the retrieval of data from an online source or database and who does not question individuals in person, by phone or by electronic means, when those electronic means are used as a tool to gather information for a fee.   [PL 2011, c. 366, §27 (NEW).]

[PL 2011, c. 366, §§18-27 (AMD).]

SECTION HISTORY

PL 1981, c. 126, §2 (NEW). PL 2011, c. 366, §§17-27 (AMD).