(a) The business of each licensee shall be operated under the active direction, control, charge, or management, in this state, of the licensee, if they are qualified, or the person who is qualified to act as the licensee’s qualified manager, if the licensee is not qualified.
(b) No person shall act as a qualified manager of a licensee until they have complied with each of the following:
(1) Demonstrated their qualifications by a written or oral examination, or a combination of both, if required by the director.
(2) Made a satisfactory showing to the director that they have the qualifications prescribed in Section 7526 and that none of the facts stated in Section 7538 or 7538.5 exist as to them.
(c) If the holder of a qualified manager certificate wishes to be associated with more than their own private investigator license, they shall apply to the bureau for a qualified manager license in accordance with Section 7525.2. A person shall not act as a qualified manager of more than five licensees. The person acting as a qualified manager shall possess a qualified manager license and share equally with the licensee the responsibility and any liability for the conduct of the business of the licensee and the actions of the employees and other personnel of the licensee. This section shall not apply to any licensee that notifies the bureau in writing that they are not conducting any business, but requests to maintain a current license status with the bureau. Whenever the licensee resumes conducting business, the licensee shall inform the bureau in writing within 30 days.
(d) Any person acting as a qualified manager of their own private investigator license shall be the holder of a qualified manager certificate issued by the bureau. The certificate shall be predominantly displayed below the private investigator’s license. Any person acting as qualified manager of an additional private investigator license shall be the holder of a qualified manager license issued by the bureau. A copy of the qualified manager license shall be predominantly displayed below the private investigator’s license.
(e) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2025.
(Repealed (in Sec. 7) and added by Stats. 2023, Ch. 571, Sec. 2. (AB 1244) Effective January 1, 2024. Operative January 1, 2025, by its own provisions.)