2016 Arkansas Code
Title 17 - Professions, Occupations, and Businesses
Subtitle 2 - Nonmedical Professions
Chapter 40 - Private Investigators and Private Security Agencies
Subchapter 3 - -- License, Credential, and Commission
§ 17-40-306. License or credential -- Applicant qualifications

(a) A person applying for a license or credential other than that for a commissioned security officer or commissioned school security officer shall:

(1) Be at least eighteen (18) years of age at the time of application;

(2) Not be suffering from habitual drunkenness or from narcotics addiction or dependence;

(3) Not have been discharged from the United States Armed Forces under dishonorable conditions;

(4) Be in compliance with any other reasonable qualifications that the Director of the Department of Arkansas State Police may set by rule;

(5) Not have been adjudicated as mentally incompetent or have been involuntarily committed to a mental institution or mental health treatment facility; and

(6) Not be a registered sex offender or be required to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration Act of 1997, § 12-12-901 et seq.

(b) An applicant who applies for a license to engage in the business of an investigations company or his or her manager shall have:

(1) Two (2) consecutive years' experience before the date of the application in the investigative field as an agent, employee, manager, or owner of an investigations company;

(2) Two (2) years' experience as a licensed bail bondsman and a baccalaureate degree from a four-year institution of higher education; or

(3) Satisfied other requirements as may be set by the director.

(c) An applicant who makes application to engage in the business of a security services contractor, private business, or his or her manager shall:

(1) Have two (2) consecutive years' experience before the date of application in the security services field as an agent, employee, manager, or owner of a security services contractor company; or

(2) Satisfy other requirements as may be set by the director.

(d) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (d)(2) of this section, the director shall not issue a license or credential nor renew an existing license or credential of a person who has been found guilty of or pleaded guilty or nolo contendere to one (1) or more of the following in any court in the State of Arkansas or to a comparable offense in another state or in a military or federal court for which a pardon has not been granted:

(A) A felony;

(B) A Class A misdemeanor involving theft, sexual offenses, violence, an element of dishonesty, or a crime against a person as determined by the department under subsection (e) of this section; or

(C) An attempted felony or solicitation or conspiracy to commit a felony that is classified as a Class A misdemeanor.

(2) An individual shall not be denied issuance of a license or credential or renewal of an existing license or credential if the individual by any court has been found guilty of or pleaded guilty or nolo contendere to any misdemeanor if the person was found guilty of or pleaded guilty or nolo contendere to the misdemeanor ten (10) or more years before the date of the application for issuance or renewal.

(3) For purposes of this subsection, the state and national criminal background check shall include a record of all offenses that have been previously sealed or expunged by any court.

(e) The Department of Arkansas State Police shall promulgate rules within ninety (90) days of May 23, 2016 that determine the offenses under subdivision (d)(1)(B) of this section that constitute a Class A misdemeanor involving theft, sexual offenses, violence, an element of dishonesty, or a crime against a person.