Did electrical experts hired to examine fire evidence need Connecticut private investigator licenses?

Plain-English summary

In May 1998, Connecticut’s AG advised that electrical-system experts hired by the Department of Public Safety did not need private detective or investigator licenses for the work the department described. They examined electrical evidence to determine whether a system caused a fire. The department said they did not undertake the broader investigation of the fire and did not advertise or present themselves as private investigators.

The distinction came from § 29-153. It required a license for someone engaging in or soliciting business as a private detective or investigator, or holding themselves out as providing such services. The AG read that wording according to its ordinary meaning and concluded that technical analysis of evidence, without detective services or a detective business representation, fell outside it. The answer depended on the stated scope of the experts’ work. It did not say that every contractor assisting a fire investigation was exempt regardless of duties or advertising.

Technical consultants at the time

The described electrical analysis could be performed without a private investigator license. The role and how the consultant represented it mattered.

Public safety officials at the time

The agency could hire these specialists as experts under the facts supplied. A contract calling for investigative services would require a separate licensing assessment.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1998. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: Did examining a fire-damaged electrical system automatically make an expert a private investigator?
A: No. The AG distinguished specialized evidence analysis from detective services.

Q: What fact was central to the answer?
A: The consultants neither performed general investigative work nor held themselves out as private investigators.

Q: Did the opinion exempt all fire-related contractors?
A: No. Its conclusion was limited to the work and representations the department described.

Background and statutory framework

The Department of Public Safety asked whether its electrical consultants had to satisfy the private detective license statute. The AG applied § 29-153 to their technical role and the absence of a detective-service business claim.

Citations and references

Statute: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 29-153.

Source

• Landing page: https://portal.ct.gov/AG/Opinions
• Opinion page: https://portal.ct.gov/ag/opinions/1998-formal-opinions/honorable-john-a-connelly-department-of-public-safety-1998005-formal-opinion-attorney-general-of-con

Original opinion text

Honorable John A. Connelly, Department of Public Safety, 1998-005 Formal Opinion, Attorney General of Connecticut

Attorney General's Opinion

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal

May 19, 1998

Honorable John A. Connelly

Department of Public Safety

1111 Country Club Road

Middletown, CT 06457-9294

Dear Commissioner Connelly:

Your department requested our advice on whether individuals or firms providing personal services to the Department of Public Safety, to examine fire damaged electrical systems in order to determine whether such systems caused the fire, must be licensed as private detectives in accordance with Section 29-153 of the Connecticut General Statutes. It is our opinion that to the extent such individuals or firms are not performing detective or investigating services they need not be licensed in accordance with Section 29-153 of the Connecticut General Statutes.

Your staff has advised us that the individuals or firms are hired as consultants or experts in the field of electrical systems. Their duties include analyzing and examining evidence to determine whether the electrical system caused the fire. They do not hold themselves out as private detectives or investigators.

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 29-153 provides as follows:

No person shall engage in the business of, or solicit business as a private detective or investigator or as a watchman, guard or patrol service or represent himself to be, hold himself out as or advertise as a private detective or investigator or as furnishing detective or investigating services or as a watchman, guard or patrol service without first obtaining a license from the Commissioner of Public Safety.

The commissioner may grant a private detective or investigator's license to any suitable person, or to any corporation, association or partnership meeting the qualifications set forth in Conn. Gen. Stat. § 29-154a (1). Subsection (1) of Conn. Gen. Stat. § 29-154a provides in relevant part as follows:

Private detective or investigator: The applicant for a private detective or investigator's license shall . . . have had at least five years' experience as a full-time investigator either in the employment of a licensed private detective or investigator or with a United States government investigative service, a state or organized municipal fire or police department . . . If the commissioner grants a private detective or investigator's license to an applicant based on such applicant's experience as an investigator with an organized municipal fire department, such license shall restrict such licensee to performing the same type of investigations as he performed for the municipal fire department.

When the words of a statute are clear and unambiguous, there is no need to look further than the words used because the words are assumed to express the legislative intent. Office of Consumer Counsel v. Dept. of Public Utility Control, 234 Conn. 624, 646, 662 A.2d 1251 (1995). Conn. Gen. Stat. § 29-153 is clear and unambiguous. It provides that no person shall "engage in the business of, or solicit business as . . . represent himself to be, hold himself out as or advertises as . . ." an investigator unless that person is licensed as an investigator. Your staff has stated to us that the Department of Public Safety does not engage these individuals or firms for the purpose of investigating the cause of a fire. They are engaged as consultants or experts to analyze and examine evidence. Moreover, they do not solicit business as, represent themselves to be, hold themselves out as, or advertise as investigators. Thus, such individuals or firms cannot be construed to be investigators for purposes of the licensing requirements of Conn. Gen. Stat. § 29-153.

For the foregoing reasons, it is our opinion that an individual or firm engaged by the Department of Public Safety as a consultant or expert in the field of electrical systems to analyze and examine evidence to determine whether the electrical system caused the fire, need not be licensed under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 29-153.

Very truly yours,

RICHARD BLUMENTHAL

ATTORNEY GENERAL

Henri Alexandre

Assistant Attorney General

RB/HA