Any person, partnership, association, or corporation, intending to conduct a private detective business, the business of investigator, or the business of watch, guard or patrol agency, or the business of a detective agency, and any person, partnership, association, or corporation, intending to conduct the business of furnishing or supplying information as to the personal character of any person, or as to the character or kind of the business and occupation of any person, partnership, corporation, society, or association, or any person or group of persons, or intending to own, conduct, manage or maintain a bureau or agency for the above mentioned purposes, or, while engaged in other lawful business activities, also intending to engage in any one or more of the activities set forth in subsections (a), (b) and (c) of section two of this act , except exclusively as to the financial rating, standing and credit responsibility of persons, partnerships, associations, or corporations, shall, for each such bureau or agency, and for each and every sub-agency, office and branch office to be owned, conducted, managed or maintained by such person, partnership, association or corporation for the conduct of such business, file, in the office of the clerk of the court of quarter sessions of the county wherein the principal office of such business is located, a written application, duly signed and verified, as follows:
(a) If the applicant is a person, the application shall be signed and verified by such person, and if the applicant is a partnership or association, the application shall be signed and verified by each individual composing or intending to compose such partnership or association. The application shall state the full name, age, residence, present and previous occupations, of each person or individual so signing the same, that he is a citizen of the United States, and shall also specify the name of the city, borough, township, or incorporated town, stating the street and number if the premises have a street and number, and otherwise such apt description as will reasonably indicate the location thereof, where is to be located the principal place of business, and the bureau, agency, sub-agency, office or branch office for which the license is desired, and such further facts as may be required by the court of quarter sessions, to show the good character, competency and integrity of each person or individual so signing such application. Each person or individual signing such application shall, together with such application, submit to the court of quarter sessions his photograph, in duplicate, in passport size, and also fingerprints of his two hands, recorded in such manner as may be specified by the court of quarter sessions. Before approving such application, it shall be the duty of the court of quarter sessions to compare such fingerprints with fingerprints of criminals now or hereafter filed in the records of the Pennsylvania State Police. Every such applicant shall establish, to the satisfaction of the court of quarter sessions and by at least two duly acknowledged certificates, that such applicant, if he be a person, or, in the case of a partnership, association, or corporation, at least one member of such partnership, association, or corporation, has been regularly employed as a detective, or shall have been a member of the United States government investigative service, a sheriff, a member of the Pennsylvania State Police, or a member of a city police department of a rank or grade higher than that of patrolman, for a period of not less than three years. Such application shall be approved as to each person or individual so signing the same by not less than five reputable citizens of the community in which such applicant resides or transacts business, or in which it is proposed to own, conduct, manage or maintain the bureau, agency, sub-agency, office or branch office for which the license is desired, each of whom shall certify that he has personally known the said person or individual for a period of at least five years prior to the filing of such application, that he has read such application and believes each of the statements made therein to be true, that such person is honest, of good character, and competent, and not related or connected to the person so certifying by blood or marriage. The certificate of approval shall be signed by such reputable citizens and duly verified and acknowledged by them before an officer authorized to take oaths and acknowledgment of deeds.(b) If the applicant is a corporation, the application shall be signed and verified by the president, secretary and treasurer thereof, and shall specify the name of the corporation, the date and place of its incorporation, the location of its principal place of business, and the name of the city, borough township, or incorporated town, stating the street and number if the premises have a street and number, and otherwise such apt description as will reasonably indicate the location thereof, where is to be located the bureau, agency, sub-agency, office or branch office for which the license is desired, the amount of the corporation's outstanding paid up capital stock and whether paid in cash or property, and, if in property, the nature of the same, and shall be accompanied by a duly certified copy of its certificate of incorporation. Each and every requirement of clause (a) of this section as to a person or individual member of a partnership or association shall apply to the president, secretary and treasurer, and each such officer, his successor and successors, shall, prior to entering upon the discharge of his duties, sign and verify a like statement, approved in like manner, as is by clause (a) prescribed in the case of a person or individual member of a partnership or association. In the event of the death, resignation or removal of such officer, due notice of that fact shall forthwith be given in writing to the court of quarter sessions, together with a copy of the minutes of any meeting of the board of directors of said corporation, certified by the secretary, indicating the death, resignation or removal of such officer, and the election or designation of the successor of such deceased, resigned or removed officer.1953, Aug. 21, P.L. 1273, § 4. Amended 1957, April 30, P.L. 98, § 1, imd. effective.