N.Y. General Business Law § 81 : General Business — Private Investigators, Bail Enforcement Agents And Watch, Guard And Patrol Agencies — Employees

  • Date:

Current through 2016 New York Laws, Chapters 1 to 237

1. The holder of any license certificate issued pursuant to this article may employ to assist him in his work of private detective or investigator or bail enforcement agent as described in section seventy-one of this article and in the conduct of such business as many persons as he may deem necessary, and shall at all times during such employment be legally responsible for the good conduct in the business of each and every person so employed.

No holder of any unexpired license certificate issued pursuant to this article shall knowingly employ in connection with his or its business in any capacity whatsoever, any person who has been convicted of a felony or any of the offenses specified in subdivision two of section seventy-four of this article, and who has not subsequent to such conviction received executive pardon therefor removing this disability, or received a certificate of relief from disabilities or a certificate of good conduct pursuant to article twenty-three of the correction law to remove the disability under this section because of such a conviction, or any person whose private detective or investigator's license or bail enforcement agent's license was revoked or application for such license was denied by the department of state or by the authorities of any other state or territory because of conviction of any of such offenses. Should the holder of an unexpired license certificate falsely state or represent that a person is or has been in his employ, such false statement or misrepresentation shall be sufficient cause for the revocation of such license. Any person falsely stating or representing that he is or has been a detective or employed by a detective agency or that he is or has been a bail enforcement agent or employed by a bail enforcement agency shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

2. No person shall hereafter be employed by any holder of a license certificate until he shall have executed and furnished to such license certificate holder a verified statement, to be known as "employee's statement," setting forth:
(a) His full name, age and residence address.
(b) That the applicant for employment is a citizen of the United States or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States.
(c) The business or occupation engaged in for the three years immediately preceding the date of the filing of the statement, setting forth the place or places where such business or occupation was engaged in, and the name or names of employers, if any.
(d) That he has not been convicted of a felony or of any offense involving moral turpitude or of any of the misdemeanors or offenses described in subdivision one of this section.
(e) Such further information as the department of state may by rule require to show the good character, competency, and integrity of the person executing the statement.
3. Immediately upon the verification of an employee's statement, the holder of a license certificate by whom such person has been or is to be employed shall cause two sets of fingerprints of the two hands of such person to be recorded in such manner as the department of state may by rule prescribe. The holder of a license certificate shall immediately stamp in indelible ink the employee's statement and each set of fingerprints with the name, year and license certificate number of such holder and a number, which number shall be determined by the number of such statements furnished to such holder and shall be in numerical sequence.
4. The holder of a license certificate shall affix one set of such fingerprints to the employee's statement in such manner that the prints can be examined without disclosing the contents of the employee's statement and shall retain such statement and prints so long as he shall be licensed under this article by the department of state.
5. The holder of a license certificate shall file the other set of fingerprints with the department of state by forwarding the same by registered mail to the office of the secretary of state, Albany, New York, within twenty-four hours of such employment.
6. Within five days after the filing of such fingerprints the secretary of state shall cause such fingerprints to be compared with fingerprints filed with the division of criminal justice services and, if he finds any record of any conviction as defined in the criminal procedure law of a felony or any other offense specified in subdivision one of this section, he shall immediately notify the holder of such license certificate and shall also refer the matter to the attorney-general. The secretary of state may also submit fingerprints to the federal bureau of investigation for a national criminal history record check and may, from time to time, cause such fingerprints to be checked against the fingerprints filed with the division of criminal justice services or of other official fingerprint files within or without this state, and if he finds that such person has been convicted of a felony or any other offense specified in subdivision one of this section he shall immediately notify the holder of such license certificate and shall also refer the matter to the attorney-general. The secretary of state shall at all times be given access to and may from time to time examine the fingerprints retained by the holder of a license certificate as provided in subdivision four of this section.
7. If any holder of a certificate shall file with the department of state the fingerprints of a person other than the person so employed, he shall be subject to a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars ($5,000) or to imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both.
8. The provisions of this section shall not be applicable to security guards or the employment of security guards by licensees.
N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 81
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