republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20192020/sb-385.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Private Investigator Act."
description: "The Private Investigator Act provides for the licensure and regulation of private investigators by the Department of Consumer Affairs and the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services. That act prohibits a person from engaging in the business of a private investigator, acting or assuming to act as a private investigator, or representing that the person is licensed as a private investigator unless that person is licensed by the department, and makes a violation of this provision punishable as an infraction, as specified."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20192020"
identifier: "SB 385"
citation: "California SB 385 (20192020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Private Investigator Act."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Jones"]
version_count: 8
action_count: 27
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2019-02-20"
last_action: "2019-09-20"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e563cf94-f3c4-4540-924c-9a74436ee208"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB385"
source_hash: "cbd250314cf653f736fc71db26dccc699180d02d4a27dd8fb8d22ddbbf91f964"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California SB 385 (20192020) — Private Investigator Act.

The Private Investigator Act provides for the licensure and regulation of private investigators by the Department of Consumer Affairs and the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services. That act prohibits a person from engaging in the business of a private investigator, acting or assuming to act as a private investigator, or representing that the person is licensed as a private investigator unless that person is licensed by the department, and makes a violation of this provision punishable as an infraction, as specified.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **02/20/19 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB385&version=20190SB38599INT)
2. **04/01/19 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB385&version=20190SB38598AMD)
3. **04/09/19 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB385&version=20190SB38597AMD)
4. **06/17/19 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB385&version=20190SB38596AMD)
5. **07/02/19 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB385&version=20190SB38595AMD)
6. **09/20/19 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB385&version=20190SB38593CHP)
7. **SB385** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB385)
8. **09/06/19 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB385&version=20190SB38594ENR)

## Votes

- SB 385 Jones Senate Third Reading By Obernolte — **77–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass. — **18–0** (pass) · lower
- Unfinished Business SB385 Jones Concurrence — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- 3rd Reading — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with the recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **19–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Public Safety] — **9–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Jones — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2019-02-20** Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2019-02-21** From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 23.
- **2019-02-28** Referred to Coms. on B., P. & E.D. and PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-19** Set for hearing April 8.
- **2019-04-01** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on B., P. & E.D. `reading-1, reading-2, amendment-passage, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2019-04-08** From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on PUB. S. (Ayes 9. Noes 0. Page 599.) (April 8). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, amendment-passage`
- **2019-04-09** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S. `reading-1, reading-2, amendment-passage, referral-committee`
- **2019-04-11** Set for hearing April 23.
- **2019-04-24** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 7. Noes 0. Page 803.) (April 23). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2019-04-26** Set for hearing May 6.
- **2019-05-06** From committee: Be ordered to second reading pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8. `committee-passage, reading-2`
- **2019-05-07** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2019-05-09** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 38. Noes 0. Page 1010.) Ordered to the Assembly. `passage, reading-3, reading-1`
- **2019-05-09** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2019-06-10** Referred to Com. on B. & P. `referral-committee`
- **2019-06-17** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on B. & P. `reading-1, reading-2, amendment-passage, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2019-07-01** From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 19. Noes 0.) (June 25). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, amendment-passage`
- **2019-07-02** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `reading-1, reading-2, amendment-passage, referral-committee`
- **2019-08-14** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 18. Noes 0.) (August 14). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2019-08-15** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2019-09-03** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 77. Noes 0. Page 2957.) Ordered to the Senate. `passage, reading-3, reading-1`
- **2019-09-03** In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
- **2019-09-04** Ordered to special consent calendar.
- **2019-09-04** Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 40. Noes 0. Page 2530.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-09-10** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.
- **2019-09-20** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2019-09-20** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 326, Statutes of 2019.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/e563cf94-f3c4-4540-924c-9a74436ee208`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).