Committee expands licensing term and updates criminal-history checks for private investigators and security guards

Senate Bill 1618, which adjusts licensing procedures for private investigators and security guards, was returned with a due-pass recommendation by the House Committee on Public Safety and Law Enforcement.

Ryan Boyd of the Arizona Department of Public Safety told members the bill responds to administrative burden and changes in record-sharing technology. Under the bill, licensing terms would be lengthened (testimony described extending a two-year licensing term to four years), the timing of renewal applications would be relaxed, and DPS would be able to rely on concurrent criminal-history records checks rather than requiring fingerprint renewals on the old schedule. Boyd said the changes would reduce paperwork for licensees while keeping public-safety protections, because DPS can more quickly detect disqualifying out-of-state events with updated systems.

Committee members discussed the practical effect: Representative Veil Carter asked whether the bill only extended renewal length; Boyd answered it also removed the 90-day timing restriction for renewals and clarified DPS’s ability to collect criminal-history information. No witnesses registered opposition; the committee recorded 14 ayes and 1 absent and returned the bill with a due-pass recommendation.

The bill’s supporters framed it as a modernization of licensing procedures to reflect current technology and to reduce unnecessary bureaucratic burden for businesses and employees who hold these licenses.