California
California licenses private investigators through the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services (BSIS), part of the Department of Consumer Affairs. Since 2023 the Legislature has added a written client agreement requirement, a separate qualified manager license, and an express Department of Justice fingerprint background check provision, and BSIS has raised its fees 10 percent.
At a glance
- Authority
- Bureau of Security and Investigative Services (BSIS), California Department of Consumer Affairs
- Statute
- Private Investigator Act, Business and Professions Code 7512 and following
- Rules
- California Code of Regulations, Title 16, Division 7 (PI fees at 16 CCR 639)
- Who is licensed
- Individuals, partnerships, corporations, and limited liability companies doing business as private investigators; a licensee may operate through a qualified manager. Since January 1, 2025, a qualified manager who wants to manage any license other than their own needs a separate qualified manager license, and no one may be qualified manager for more than five licensees (7536(c); application requirements in 7525.2). Carrying a firearm on duty takes a separate BSIS firearms permit (BSIS fact sheet).
- Qualifications
- At least 18 (21 for a firearms permit). Three years (6,000 hours) of compensated investigative experience, certified by the employer; a law degree or a four-year degree in police science substitutes for 2,000 hours, and an associate degree in police science, criminal law, or justice for 1,000 hours. A two-hour multiple-choice exam, and a fingerprint check through the Department of Justice and the FBI (BSIS fact sheet).
- Renewal
- Every 2 years: licenses expire at midnight on the last day of the month two years after issue (7558). Fees since October 1, 2025: $374 application and exam, $424 initial license, $292 renewal, $438 delinquent renewal; qualified manager license $385 initial and $248 renewal (BSIS fee schedule).
- Continuing education
- None for private investigators. Firearms permit holders requalify on the range under BSIS rules.
- Bond or insurance
- No bond. An LLC licensee must carry at least $1,000,000 in aggregate errors and omissions coverage if it has five or fewer managing members; with more than five, an additional $100,000 for each person named as a managing member, up to $5,000,000. A PI who provides armed bodyguard services incidental to an investigation needs $1,000,000 in general liability coverage (BSIS fact sheet).
Changes, 2023 to 2026
California bill pages on leginfo.legislature.ca.gov were checked against the Legislative Counsel’s official bulk legislative database, which holds each bill’s history, chaptered text, and the current code sections.
A PI license does not cover transport escort services for minors
Adds Business and Professions Code 7539.2. A PI license or registration is not a permit to operate a transport escort service, as defined in Health and Safety Code 1596.653. A transport escort service does not need a PI license just because it transports or accompanies a minor, but one that performs investigative work requiring a license must hold a PI license for that work.
For licensees: From January 1, 2027, a PI license does not authorize running a transport escort service; a PI who offers one must meet the Health and Safety Code rules for those services.
Master agreements need not give start and end dates for each job
Amends section 7524(a)(3), the written client agreement rule. A master agreement for services contracted frequently over a set period no longer has to state approximate start and completion dates for the work, if it states its own beginning and termination dates. The rest of section 7524 is unchanged.
For licensees: A standing agreement with a repeat client can give the agreement’s own beginning and termination dates instead of dates for each assignment.
BSIS no longer required to send licensees copies of the law
Repeals section 7519, which requires the Director of Consumer Affairs to give every licensed PI business a free copy of the current licensing law and regulations at least every two years. It also repeals the matching provision for private security services (7581.5) and a similar one for alarm companies (7599.71).
For licensees: From January 1, 2027, use the online versions of the Act and the regulations.
Proposed rule would update exam application rules
BSIS proposes to drop the 20-day filing deadline before an exam in 16 CCR 601 and repeal the exam scheduling and notice rules in 16 CCR 601.1, which it says no longer match its practice now that its vendor schedules exams. It would also broaden what counts as an advertisement under 16 CCR 621, update terminology, and repeal 16 CCR 636 on firearms course approval.
For licensees: Nothing changes until the rule is approved. No effective date has been set.
Attorney-sponsored investigators eligible for state prison gate clearances
Amends Penal Code 7460 to 7467. A private investigator licensed by any state who is sponsored by an attorney or appointed by a court counts as an attorney representative, eligible for annual and short-term gate clearances from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Employees of a licensed investigator, sponsored by that investigator, count as attorney support staff. This is a practice change, not a licensing change.
For licensees: Investigators working for an attorney or a court can apply for gate clearances to visit state prisons.
Showing records to BSIS does not waive attorney privilege
Amends section 7524(e). Making signed client agreements and investigative findings available for BSIS inspection does not violate the rules on attorney work product, the attorney’s duty of confidentiality under section 6068(e), or the attorney-client privilege.
For licensees: Investigators working for attorneys can produce the required records to BSIS without that being treated as a privilege or work product violation.
Licensing fees rise 10 percent
BSIS raised its licensing fees 10 percent, citing projected insolvency. Under 16 CCR 639, PI fees went from $340 to $374 for the application and exam, $385 to $424 for the original license, $400 to $440 for an assignment, and $265 to $292 for renewal. Applications received or postmarked on or after October 1, 2025 pay the new fees.
For licensees: A renewal now costs $292, or $438 if delinquent.
Bail recovery role may not be used for immigration enforcement without a judicial warrant
Amends Penal Code 1299.07. Anyone authorized to apprehend bail fugitives under section 1299.02, which includes licensed private investigators who are also bail fugitive recovery agents, may not use that position for immigration enforcement, or disclose a bail fugitive’s personally identifiable information requested for immigration enforcement, except under a valid judicial warrant or court order.
For licensees: Applies only to investigators who also do bail fugitive recovery.
Fingerprint background check routed through the Department of Justice
Adds section 7525.3. BSIS must require every PI license applicant and every qualified manager to undergo a fingerprint-based state and national criminal history check. Fingerprints of individual applicants, partners, corporate officers, LLC members and managers, and qualified managers go to the Department of Justice, which returns state and federal results.
For licensees: No new step for applicants. Section 7525.1(e) already required fingerprints for an FBI background check; new section 7525.3 adds express authority for BSIS to get state and federal results through the Department of Justice.
Sunset bill requires written client agreements
The BSIS sunset review bill. New section 7524 requires every agreement for PI services to be in writing, with the licensee’s name, address, phone number, and license number, a BSIS disclosure, approximate start and end dates, the scope of work, how reports are delivered, and a breakdown of fees. Work may not begin, and charges may not accrue, before the client authorizes it in writing, and agreements and findings must be kept for two years. The bill moved the next legislative review of BSIS to January 1, 2029 (7573.5) and extended the PI LLC provisions to January 1, 2030.
For licensees: Since July 1, 2025, every engagement needs a written agreement with the required terms, authorized by the client before work starts, and kept for at least two years.
Power to Arrest training updated for use of force
BSIS amended its Power to Arrest training rules to carry out AB 229 (2021) and AB 2515 (2022), which require the training to cover appropriate use of force. Investigators applying for a firearms permit complete the Power to Arrest course as well as firearms training.
For licensees: A firearms permit application now requires the updated Power to Arrest and use of force course.
New qualified manager license
From January 1, 2025, a qualified manager certificate holder who wants to manage a PI license other than their own must hold a qualified manager license, and a person may be qualified manager for no more than five licensees (7536(c)). Section 7525.2 sets the application requirements, the license expires every two years, and section 7570 sets its fees. The bill also revised the firearms permit sections (7542 to 7542.6), changing some mandatory revocations to discretionary ones.
For licensees: A qualified manager for another licensee’s business needs the separate qualified manager license, renewed every two years.
License forfeited for arresting out-of-state fugitives over health care lawful in California
Adds Penal Code 1299.02(d). A person authorized to apprehend bail fugitives may not arrest someone admitted to bail in another state for violating that state’s law against sexual or reproductive health care, including abortion, contraception, or gender-affirming care, that is lawful in California. A violation is an infraction with a $5,000 fine, and the violator forfeits and is ineligible for any license under the Private Investigator Act.
For licensees: Investigators who also do bail fugitive recovery can lose the PI license for this kind of arrest.
Checked and unchanged
- Penal Code 637.7, the electronic tracking device law, has not been amended since it was added in 1998 (section 637.7).
- AB 2485 (2025–26), which would have required client agreements in the client’s preferred language, was not enacted (AB 2485).
- No continuing education requirement for private investigators was enacted or adopted.
Last updated October 17, 2026Source: United States Council for Law & InvestigationCite as: United States Council for Law & Investigation, “California private investigator licensing: Licensing Law Tracker,” uscli.org/licensing-tracker/california (last updated October 17, 2026). Text licensed CC BY 4.0.