SB 42 Summary

• Establishes the Alabama Private Investigation Board to regulate and license private investigators, with nine members appointed by the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Speaker of the House, Attorney General, and Alabama Private Investigators Association, each serving four-year terms after initial staggered appointments.

• Requires private investigators to obtain state licensure and prohibits unlicensed practice, with violations classified as a Class A misdemeanor.

• Sets licensure requirements including age 19 or older, U.S. citizenship or legal residency, good moral character, no felony convictions of moral turpitude, and passage of a board-administered examination administered twice annually.

• Provides the board authority to suspend, revoke, or refuse licenses for violations of the act, fraud, misrepresentation, or criminal convictions; authorizes civil penalties up to $2,000 per violation.

• Requires eight hours of continuing professional education annually for all licensees, including at least one hour on ethics, and mandates licensed investigators report suspected child abuse or neglect to law enforcement or Department of Human Resources.