diff --git a/Supporters/lib/Supporters.pm b/Supporters/lib/Supporters.pm
index dea1224..aa58ce0 100644
--- a/Supporters/lib/Supporters.pm
+++ b/Supporters/lib/Supporters.pm
@@ -548,6 +548,37 @@ sub _verifyId($$) {
 
 }
 
+=item _verifyRequestTypeId()
+
+Parameters:
+
+=over
+
+=item $self: current object.
+
+=item $requestTypeId: A scalar numeric argument that is the request type id to  lookup
+
+
+=back
+
+Returns: scalar boolean, which is true iff. the $requestTypeId is valid and
+already in the supporter database's request_type table.
+
+
+=cut
+
+
+sub _verifyRequestTypeId($$) {
+  my($self, $requestTypeId) = @_;
+
+  die "_verifyRequestTypeId() called with a non-numeric id" unless defined $requestTypeId and looks_like_number($requestTypeId);
+
+  my $val = $self->dbh()->selectall_hashref("SELECT id FROM request_type WHERE id = " .
+                                            $self->dbh->quote($requestTypeId, 'SQL_INTEGER'), 'id');
+  return (defined $val and defined $val->{$requestTypeId});
+
+}
+
 =item _getOrCreateRequestType
 
 Arguments:
diff --git a/Supporters/t/Supporters.t b/Supporters/t/Supporters.t
index 31b6462..fc097d4 100644
--- a/Supporters/t/Supporters.t
+++ b/Supporters/t/Supporters.t
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 use strict;
 use warnings;
 
-use Test::More tests => 110;
+use Test::More tests => 124;
 use Test::Exception;
 
 use Scalar::Util qw(looks_like_number reftype);
@@ -423,6 +423,22 @@ lives_ok { $tempSP->_getOrCreateRequestType(\%hh); }
 is_deeply(\%hh, { requestTypeId => $rr },
    "_getOrCreateRequestType: deletes requestType if both are provided.");
 
+dies_ok { $tempSP->_verifyRequestTypeId(undef); }
+        "_verifyRequestTypeId: dies for undefined requestTypeId";
+
+dies_ok { $tempSP->_verifyRequestTypeId("NoStringsPlease"); }
+        "_verifyRequestTypeId: dies for a string requestTypeId";
+
+ok( (not $tempSP->_verifyRequestTypeId(0)), "_verifyRequestTypeId: returns false for id lookup for 0");
+
+# Assumption here: that id number one more than the last added would never be in db.
+ok( (not $tempSP->_verifyRequestTypeId($rr + 1)),
+    "_verifyRequestTypeId: returns false for id one greater than last added");
+
+ok( ($tempSP->_verifyRequestTypeId($rr)),
+    "_verifyRequestTypeId: returns true for id known to be in database");
+
+
 =item _getOrCreateRequestConfiguration
 
 =cut