California Business and Professions Code

§ 7523

BPC § 7523 Effective Jan 1, 2023Div. 3 · Ch. 11.3 · Art. 3

Statute text

(a)Unless specifically exempted by Section 7522, no person shall engage in the business of private investigator, as defined in Section 7521, unless that person has applied for and received a license to engage in that business pursuant to this chapter.

(b)Any person who violates any provision of this chapter or who conspires with another person to violate any provision of this chapter, relating to private investigator licensure, or who knowingly engages a nonexempt unlicensed person is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of five thousand dollars ($5,000) or by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment.

(c)A proceeding to impose the fine specified in subdivision (b) may be brought in any court of competent jurisdiction in the name of the people of the State of California by the Attorney General or by any district attorney or city attorney, or with the consent of the district attorney, the city prosecutor in any city or city and county having a full-time city prosecutor for the jurisdiction in which the violation occurred. If the action is brought by the district attorney, the penalty collected shall be paid to the treasurer of the county in which the judgment is entered. If the action is brought by a city attorney or city prosecutor, one-half of the penalty collected shall be paid to the treasurer of the city in which the judgment was entered and one-half to the treasurer of the county in which the judgment was entered. If the action is brought by the Attorney General, all of the penalties collected shall be deposited in the Private Security Services Fund.

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Legislative history

Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 511, Sec. 41. (SB 1495) Effective January 1, 2023.