The following persons shall not be deemed to be engaging in the private investigator business:

(1) A person employed exclusively and regularly by one employer in connection only with the affairs of such employer and where there exists an employer-employee relationship;

(2) Any officer or employee of the United States, or of this state or a political subdivision thereof while engaged in the performance of the officer’s or employee’s official duties;

(3) Any employee, agent, or independent contractor employed by any government agency, division, or department of the state whose work relationship is established by a written contract while working within the scope of employment established under such contract;

(4) An attorney performing duties as an attorney, or an attorney’s paralegal or employee retained by such attorney assisting in the performance of such duties or investigation on behalf of such attorney;

(5) A certified public accountant performing duties as a certified public accountant who holds an active license issued by any state and the employees of such certified public accountant or certified public accounting firm assisting in the performance of duties or investigation on behalf of such certified public accountant or certified public accounting firm;

(6) A collection agency or an employee thereof while acting within the scope of employment, while making an investigation incidental to the business of the agency, including an investigation of the location of a debtor or a debtor’s property where the contract with an assignor creditor is for the collection of claims owed or due, or asserted to be owed or due, or the equivalent thereof;

(7) Insurers and insurance producers licensed by the state, performing duties in connection with insurance transacted by them;

(8) Any bank subject to the jurisdiction of the director of the division of finance of the state of Missouri or the comptroller of currency of the United States;

(9) An insurance adjuster;

(10) Any private fire investigator whose primary purpose of employment is the determination of the origin, nature, cause, or calculation of losses relevant to a fire;

(11) Employees of an organization, whether for-profit or not-for-profit, or its affiliate or subsidiary, whether for-profit or not-for-profit, whose investigatory activities are limited to making and processing requests for criminal history records and other background information from state, federal, or local databases, including requests for employee background check information under section 192.2495;

(12) Any real estate broker, real estate salesperson, or real estate appraiser acting within the scope of his or her license;

(13) Expert witnesses who have been certified or accredited by a national or state association associated with the expert’s scope of expertise;

(14) Any person who does not hold themselves out to the public as a private investigator and is exclusively employed by or under exclusive contract with a state agency or political subdivision;

(15) Any person performing duties or activities relating to serving legal process when such person’s duties or activities are incidental to the serving of legal process; or

(16) A consumer reporting agency as defined in 15 U.S.C. § 1681a and its contract and salaried employees.