(1) The general assembly hereby finds and declares that:

(a) Private investigators often perform investigations of a sensitive nature, delving into matters impacting personal privacy;

(b) While most private investigators perform investigations in an ethical and professional manner, lack of mandatory regulation of private investigators in this state permits any person, regardless of his or her criminal history or knowledge of laws impacting private investigations, to present himself or herself to the public as a private investigator and perform private investigations for others;

(c) Imposing mandatory regulation on private investigators conducting private investigations in this state is necessary to protect consumers by ensuring private investigators have the appropriate knowledge and ability to perform investigations in an ethical and professional manner;

(d) Balancing consumer protection with the interests of private businesses and individuals desiring to engage in the private investigation profession is likewise important;

(e) It is in the interests of consumers and private investigators for the state to develop the appropriate level of regulation of private investigators that protects consumers without creating unnecessary barriers to entry into the profession.

(2) The general assembly therefore finds that in order to protect the citizens of the state and to ensure that needless requirements are not imposed that restrict access into the profession, it is important to create the licensure program established in this article to require private investigators to obtain a state-issued license to conduct private investigations in this state.

(3) The general assembly further finds that:

(a) The number of private investigators licensed under the "Private Investigators Voluntary Licensure Act", enacted by House Bill 11-1195 in 2011, which allows private investigators the option to obtain a state-issued license, is insufficient to justify continuing the voluntary program;

(b) The voluntary licensure program is currently operating at a loss as the license fees based on the number of licensees are inadequate to fully fund the program, and increasing the fees to a level that would sustain the program results in unaffordable fees, and consequently, fewer and fewer private investigators are participating in the voluntary program;

(c) While the voluntary program is unsustainable, it is important to protect consumers by establishing minimum standards for and requirements for licensure of private investigators;

(d) By repealing the voluntary program and replacing it with a mandatory licensure program, the intent is to continue regulating private investigators operating in this state to ensure private investigators are engaging in the profession in an ethical manner and have the appropriate knowledge and ability to perform investigations;

(e) As the mandatory program will regulate the same types of professionals who could have chosen to be regulated under the voluntary program, it is appropriate that private investigators licensed under the mandatory program share in the repayment of the deficit that resulted from the voluntary program; and

(f) To avoid cost-prohibitive license fees, it is the intent of the general assembly for the division to spread the repayment of the deficit generated by the voluntary program over the life of the new mandatory program, which is scheduled to repeal on September 1, 2020.