Report Title:

Locksmiths

 

Description:

Requires licensing for locksmiths.

 


HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

188

TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT


 

 

RELATING TO LOCKSMITHS.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 


     SECTION 1.  The Hawaii Revised Statutes is amended by adding a new chapter to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"Chapter

LocKsmith Industry act

     §   -1  Definitions.  As used in this chapter:

     "Director" means the director of commerce and consumer affairs.

     "Licensee" means any person licensed under this chapter.

     "Lock" means mechanical or electronic devices of twenty-four volts or less, designed to control use of a device or control ingress or egress of a structure or automobile, including but not limited to peripheral devices to alarm systems, safes, vaults, safe deposit boxes, bio-metric/retina readers, and mechanical or electronic key systems.

     "Locksmith industry" means the servicing or installing, repairing, rebuilding, readying, repinning, adjusting or installing of locks, mechanical or electronic security devices, annunciation devices not designed to require a response by law enforcement or opening or bypassing a lock by a means other than those intended by the manufacturer of such devices.  For the purposes of this chapter, "mechanical or electronic security devices" includes but is not limited to access control systems including peripheral devices to alarm systems, fiber optic security systems, closed circuit television, and nurse call systems.

     "Person" means an individual, sole proprietorship, firm, partnership, association, limited liability company, corporation, or other similar entity.

     §   -2  Exemptions.  This chapter shall not apply to:

     (1)  An officer or employee of this State or its political subdivisions, while the employee or officer is engaged in the performance of official duties;

     (2)  An individual who owns and installs mechanical or electronic security devices and locks on the individual's own property or, if the individual does not charge for the device or its installation, installs it for the protection of the individual's personal property located on another's property, and does not install the mechanical or electronic security devices and locks as a normal business practice on the property of another; or

     (3)  The locksmith industry activities of either tow truck operators or repossession agents within the execution of their duties.

     §   -3  Installation or repair of certain electrical circuits; exemption.  Any person engaged in any activity regulated under this chapter, when installing or repairing electrical circuits of twenty‑four volts or less shall not be required to obtain any license as required by chapter 448E, if the person is licensed under this chapter.

     §   -4  License required; time for application; extension of time.  No person shall engage in a locksmith industry business in this State without first having obtained a license pursuant to this chapter.  Every person engaged in a locksmith industry business in this State on the effective date of this chapter shall have ninety days in which to apply to the director for a license.  A person applying for a license within this ninety‑day period may continue business pending a final determination by the director of the person's application.  Additional time beyond the ninety‑day period may be granted by the director.

     §   -5  Qualifications of applicants; information concerning felonies or crimes involving moral turpitude; photographs; fingerprints.  (a)  Any person applying for a license to engage in a locksmith industry business under this chapter shall provide evidence to the director that the individual within this State having direct supervision over the function and local operations of the locksmith industry business or a branch thereof has the following qualifications:

     (1)  Is at least twenty‑one years of age;

     (2)  Has not been declared by any court of competent jurisdiction incompetent by reason of mental defect or disease, and has not been restored to competency;

     (3)  Is not a habitual user of intoxicating liquors or habit‑forming drugs;

     (4)  Has not been discharged from the armed services of the United States under other than honorable conditions, or received a bad conduct or dishonorable discharge;

     (5)  Is of good moral character; and

     (6)  Meets such other standards as may be established by the director relating to experience or knowledge of the alarm or locksmith industry.

     (b)  The applicant shall advise the director and furnish full information on each individual described in subsection (a) of any conviction of a felony or any crime involving moral turpitude for which a full pardon has not been granted and furnish a recent photograph of a type prescribed by the director.

     §   -6  Application for company or individual license; fees.  (a)  An application for a company license shall include:

     (1)  The address of the principal office of the applicant and the address of each branch office of the applicant located within this State;

     (2)  The name per business location under which the applicant intends to do business as a licensee;

     (3)  A statement as to the extent and scope of the applicant's locksmith industry business and all other businesses in which the applicant is engaged in this State;

     (4)  A recent photograph of a type prescribed by the director, if the applicant is a sole proprietor, or of each officer and of each partner or shareholder who owns a twenty-five per cent or greater interest in the applicant, if the applicant is an entity;

     (5)  Two classifiable sets of fingerprints of the applicant, if the applicant is a sole proprietor, or of each officer and of each partner or shareholder who owns a twenty-five per cent or greater interest in the applicant, if the applicant is an entity; and

     (6)  Such other information, statements or documents as may be required by the director.

     (b)  An applicant for an individual license shall provide such documents, statements, or other information as may be required by the director, including two classifiable sets of fingerprints of the applicant.  The fingerprints may be used for a criminal history record check.

     (c)  Fees for license and renewal issued under this chapter shall be adopted by rule.  An applicant shall pay the license fee at the time the applicant makes application.

     §   ‑7  Issuance of license; term; renewal and disciplinary proceedings; expiration dates.  (a)  Upon making proper application and payment of the proper license fee, the director shall issue a license to the applicant.  The license shall be valid for a one‑year term.  The fee shall be deposited into the compliance resolution fund.

     (b)  Renewal of a license shall not prohibit disciplinary proceedings for an act committed prior to the renewal.

     (c)  The director may adopt a system under which licenses expire on various dates throughout the year.  For any change in the expiration dates, license fees shall be prorated on an appropriate periodic basis.

     §   -8  Alteration or assignment of license; posting; change of information; false representation as licensee; records.  (a)  A license shall not be altered or assigned.

     (b)  A company license shall be posted in a conspicuous place in each locksmith industry business location of the licensee.

     (c)  A company licensee shall notify the director within fourteen days of any change of information furnished on the licensee's application for license or on the licensee's license including but not limited to change of ownership, address, business activities, or any developments related to the qualifications of the licensee or the individual described under section   -5.  If the licensee for any reason ceases to engage in a locksmith industry business in this State, the licensee shall notify the director within fourteen days of the cessation.  If the required notice of cessation is not given to the director within fourteen days, the license may be suspended or revoked by the director.

     (d)  No person shall represent falsely that the person is licensed or employed by a licensee.

     (e)  Each company licensee shall maintain a record containing such information relative to the licensee's employees as may be required by the director.

     §   -9  Responsibility for business activities and actions of employees.  The licensee shall be responsible to the director in matters of conduct of business activities covered under this chapter.  The licensee shall be responsible for the activities on the part of the licensee's employees.  For purposes of this chapter, improper conduct on the part of the employees which occurs within the scope of employment shall be considered by the director as acts of the licensee.

     §   -10  Suspension or revocation of license.  (a)  The director may suspend any license, upon the conviction of any individual named on the license or on the application for license of a felony, for a period not to exceed thirty days pending a full investigation.  The investigation shall be initiated within the thirty‑day period of the suspension.  A final determination by the director shall result in either removal of the suspension or such sanction as the director considers appropriate, as provided under this chapter.

     (b)  The director may revoke or suspend any license, reprimand any licensee, or deny any application for license or renewal if, in the judgment of the director:

     (1)  The applicant or licensee has violated this chapter or any rule adopted under this chapter;

     (2)  The applicant or licensee has committed any offense resulting in the applicant's or licensee's conviction of a felony or crime involving moral turpitude; provided, however, if the applicant has had no felony convictions at least ten years prior to making application for a license and the applicant has shown the director that the applicant has been rehabilitated, the director may recommend the applicant for a license;

     (3)  The applicant or licensee has practiced fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation;

     (4)  The applicant or licensee has made a material misstatement in any information required by the director; or

     (5)  The applicant or licensee has demonstrated incompetence or untrustworthiness in the applicant's or licensee's actions.

     (c)  The director, before final action under subsection (b), shall provide thirty days' written notice to the applicant or licensee involved, of the action intended and give sufficient opportunity for the person to request a hearing before the director.

     (d)  In the event the director denies the application for, or revokes or suspends, any license or imposes any reprimand, a record of the action shall be in writing and officially signed by the director.

     (e)  Notice of the suspension or revocation of any license by the director shall be sent by the director to law enforcement agencies and fire departments in the principal areas of operation of the licensee.

     (f)  A suspended license shall be subject to expiration and may be renewed as provided under this chapter, regardless of suspension; provided that the renewal shall not remove the suspension.

     (g)  A revoked license terminates on the date of revocation and cannot be reinstated; provided that the director may reverse the revocation action.  Any licensee whose license is revoked shall apply for a new license and meet all requirements for a license under this chapter prior to engaging in any locksmith industry business activities.  The director shall take action on the new application and may require additional safeguards against such acts by the applicant as may have been the cause of the revocation of the prior license.

     §   -11  Violations; penalties.  (a)  Any individual or person who is found to be in violation of this chapter, upon conviction, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

     (b)  In addition to any other penalties provided by law, if after a hearing the director finds any person to be in violation of this chapter or the rules adopted thereunder, the person may be subject to an administrative fine of not more than $200 for each violation.  Each day a person is in violation may constitute a separate violation.  The maximum fine shall not exceed $1,000.

     (c)  All administrative fines collected under this chapter shall be deposited into the compliance resolution fund.

     §   -12  Rules.  The director may adopt rules under chapter 91 consistent with this chapter for the purpose of governing the establishment and levying of administrative fines and the examination and licensure of locksmith companies, managers, technicians, and salespersons."

     SECTION 2.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2007.

 

INTRODUCED BY:

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