State private investigator licensing law changes, each cited to official sources. https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker 2026-10-06T00:00:00Z United States Council for Law & Investigation CC BY 4.0, United States Council for Law & Investigation https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/ohio#sb-315 2026-10-06T00:00:00Z

Senate Bill 315, which mainly concerns SNAP and Medicaid program integrity, added one exemption to ORC 2903.216, as new division (D)(10). The tracking device ban does not apply to location verification technology used by the Department of Medicaid, a Medicaid provider, a provider’s employee or contractor, or an electronic visit verification vendor solely to meet electronic visit verification requirements, such as confirming when a covered service begins or ends. The exemption does not cover continuous tracking outside the delivery of Medicaid-covered services. The rest of the section, including the private investigator exemption in division (D)(5) and the penalties, is unchanged. For licensees: No change for private investigators. The consent and purpose limits on tracking from SB 100 still apply.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/kentucky#kar-41-040-2026 2026-10-01T00:00:00Z

The board filed an amendment to its fee regulation. The late renewal fee for individual and company licenses would drop from $250 to $100, and the late window would run from July 1 to September 1 instead of to August 31. The reinstatement fee for a terminated license would rise from $100 to $250. The amendment also states that the company application fee is owed in addition to the individual licensure fee. The $400 initial fee, the $250 renewal fee, and the inactive status fees are unchanged. A public hearing is scheduled for December 21, 2026, and written comments are accepted through December 31, 2026. For licensees: Nothing changes until the amendment is adopted. If it is, renewing late will cost less, and letting a license terminate will cost more to fix.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/kentucky#kar-41-100-2026 2026-10-01T00:00:00Z

Licensees already must register each limited employee (a person who investigates for a licensee less than 240 hours a year) within five business days of hire, pay $20, keep a daily log of hours, and file an annual report in December. The amendment would also require the registration to include the results of a national background check on the employee. The board’s impact statement estimates the check at about $100 per person. The hearing and comment dates are the same as for the fee rule: December 21 and December 31, 2026. For licensees: If the amendment is adopted, budget for a national background check before registering a limited employee.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/ohio#rapback-fees 2026-09-30T00:00:00Z

PISGS announced that the Attorney General’s Office is raising annual RAPBACK enrollment fees by $3. The new fees are $8 for a new registrant or registrant renewal and $16 for a new qualifying agent or qualifying agent renewal. The notice cites ORC 4749.031(B), which requires these fees to be paid with initial and renewal applications. For licensees: Budget for the higher fee on new registrations and renewals filed on or after October 1, 2026.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/iowa#ra-26-276 2026-09-02T00:00:00Z

Under Executive Order 10, the Department of Public Safety published a regulatory analysis proposing to rescind 661 IAC Chapter 121 and adopt a new chapter in its place. A public hearing was scheduled for September 23, 2026, with written comments due the same day. The proposed text keeps the $100 license fee, the $10 identification card fee, and the 12-hour continuing education requirement. It would allow fingerprints to be submitted through a department-approved fingerprint vendor instead of only on FD-258 cards, add a limited liability company form to the application, accept general liability or professional liability coverage on the insurance certificate, and replace definitions with cross-references to Iowa Code 80A.1. It would drop the list of offenses that personal injury insurance must cover, the 2003 letter-of-credit exception, and the requirement that reports and cover letters to clients be personally signed by the licensee or a designee. The department’s Red Tape Review report also lists the campus weapon rule (121.18) and the replacement license rule (121.24) for repeal. As of the October 14, 2026 Bulletin, the Notice of Intended Action had not been published. For licensees: Nothing has changed yet. Watch for the Notice of Intended Action, which opens a further comment period before any new rules are adopted.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/kentucky#kar-41-certification-2026 2026-09-01T00:00:00Z

Under KRS 13A.3104, Kentucky agencies must periodically review each regulation and certify whether it will be amended or remain in effect. The board filed certification letters stating that 201 KAR 41:020, 41:030, 41:040, 41:060, 41:065, 41:070, and 41:080 (September 1, 2026) and 41:090 and 41:100 (September 14, 2026) remain in effect without amendment. The October 2026 Administrative Register lists the letters. For licensees: No change to application, exam, renewal, continuing education, complaint, or ethics rules.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/missouri#sb-1421 2026-08-28T00:00:00Z

The public safety bill amends RSMo 324.1100, 324.1102, 324.1103, 324.1105, 324.1116 and 324.1134 and moves the licensing of professional surety bail bond agents from the Department of Commerce and Insurance to the renamed Board of Private Investigators, Private Fire Investigators, and Professional Surety Bail Bond Agents. The board grows from seven to ten members, adding three members from the bail bond or surety recovery business. Members serving on August 28, 2026 keep their seats. The board’s bail bond duties, and the abolition of the old board, take effect only once the governor appoints and the Senate confirms the bail bond members. Existing rules in 20 CSR 2234 stay in force until the board revises them, and the board fund is renamed. For licensees: Licensing requirements, fees and continuing education for private investigators do not change. Expect the board’s name, and later its forms and rules, to change once the new members are seated.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/illinois#pa-104-0852 2026-08-21T00:00:00Z

The First 2026 General Revisory Act made technical and stylistic corrections to the alarm contractor and security contractor training sections (225 ILCS 447/20-20 and 25-20). It states that it is not intended to make any substantive change in the law. For licensees: No action needed by private detectives.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/missouri#20-csr-2234-3-040-2026 2026-07-30T00:00:00Z

A new application is now required only when an agency investigator employee without an active license moves to a different agency. An employee who holds an active license instead files a Change in Agency Affiliation form and a Verification by Investigator-In-Charge form, both on the board’s website. The proposal was published March 2, 2026, and adopted without changes; no comments were received. For licensees: When hiring an agency investigator employee who already holds an active Missouri license, use the change of affiliation forms rather than a new application.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/illinois#pa-104-0601 2026-07-24T00:00:00Z

Amends 225 ILCS 447/50-10. The board drops from 13 to 11 members by removing one locksmith seat and the seat for a licensee who provides canine odor detection services. Licensed members will need 3 years of experience instead of 5. The two private detective seats remain. For licensees: No change to individual licensing requirements. Private detectives licensed for 3 to 5 years become eligible for board appointment.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/nebraska#lb-935 2026-07-18T00:00:00Z

Enacted sections 28-1336 to 28-1339. It is a Class IIIA felony to knowingly install a mobile tracking device on another person’s property without consent, to use a device or app to track a person or their property without consent, or to fail to remove a device after consent is revoked. Consent is treated as revoked if the person says so, if either spouse files for divorce, annulment, or separate maintenance, or if the person obtains a protection order. The general exception for legitimate business purposes does not apply to private investigators. A person licensed under 71-3201 to 71-3213 is exempt only with the property owner’s consent and only to investigate crimes, locate a fugitive, locate lost or stolen property or court-awarded assets, or investigate workers’ compensation claims. The exception does not apply if the client is the subject of a protection order or if the investigator knows or reasonably should know the client wants help committing a crime. The act also added a tracking device conviction to the list of potentially disqualifying convictions for occupational licenses (84-941.01). An earlier tracking bill with a similar investigator exception, LB 1224, was indefinitely postponed on April 18, 2024. For licensees: Do not place a GPS tracker or tracking app without the property owner’s consent, even for a client with a business purpose. Screen clients for protection orders before any tracking work.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/indiana#hea-1230 2026-07-01T00:00:00Z

Amends IC 25-1-11-12, which applies to this board. The civil penalty a board may assess is now up to $1,000 per violation for an individual practitioner and up to $5,000 per violation for a business entity. The act also updates the renewal-date cross-reference in IC 25-30-1-16 after merging the licensing agency’s duties into IC 25-1-5. Renewal cycles and fees did not change. For licensees: Licensed firms face a higher maximum penalty per violation. The board’s fines rule (874 IAC 2-1-2) sets fines at half the statutory maximum unless adjusted.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/missouri#hb-2637 2026-06-12T00:00:00Z

Enacted RSMo 565.260. A person commits unlawful tracking of a motor vehicle by knowingly installing, concealing, or placing an electronic tracking device in or on a motor vehicle without the consent of all owners of the vehicle, for the purpose of monitoring or following its occupants. The listed exceptions cover law enforcement in a criminal investigation, a parent or guardian who owns or leases the vehicle and monitors a minor child, tracking stolen goods or a stolen vehicle, a legally authorized representative of a vulnerable adult, anyone with the consent of all owners, rental, sharing, and leasing companies, lienholders repossessing a vehicle, and voluntary usage-based insurance programs. There is no exception for licensed private investigators. A first offense is a class A misdemeanor; a second or later offense is a class E felony. For licensees: From July 1, 2027, do not place a GPS tracker on a vehicle without the consent of every owner. A client’s business purpose is not an exception.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/indiana#lsa-26-152 2026-05-27T00:00:00Z

Would amend 874 IAC 2-1-1 to add a $50 late renewal fee for private investigator firms and security guard agencies. Public hearing held August 12, 2026. As of October 15, 2026, no final rule has been published. For licensees: Renew by October 1, 2027. If the rule is finalized, a late renewal will cost $50 on top of the $300 fee.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/minnesota#ch-83-2026 2026-05-12T00:00:00Z

Removes partnerships from the parties that can apply for or hold a private detective or protective agent license. For a corporate applicant, the chief executive officer, chief financial officer, qualified representative, and any Minnesota manager must each meet the licensing requirements, including the fingerprint-based criminal history check. Before this change, only one member had to qualify. The House says the change gives the board full access to FBI criminal records to vet applicants. For licensees: Corporate license holders should expect fingerprinting and background checks for the CEO and CFO as well as the qualified representative and Minnesota manager.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/ohio#oac-4501-7-1-2026 2026-05-01T00:00:00Z

The Department of Public Safety amended 13 rules, kept 7 without change, and rescinded rule 4501:7-1-20, which covered meetings of the now abolished Ohio Private Investigation and Security Services Commission. The rules now set a $200 initial license fee and a $550 two-year renewal fee. Employee registration is filed online, with fingerprints, within seven calendar days of hire. Peace officer experience may count if gained within the last 20 years, up from 10. Passport-style photos, outdated payment methods, and the requirement to hold a concealed handgun license while working were removed. The firearm bearer rule, 4501:7-1-22, took effect July 1, 2026. For licensees: Renew every two years at $550. Register new employees online within seven days of hire. A concealed handgun license is no longer required to carry a firearm on duty, but a valid firearm bearer notation still is.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/wisconsin#ab-746 2026-03-23T00:00:00Z

Would have exempted volunteers on a church safety or security team from private detective and private security licensing and permit requirements while on the premises of the church. Recommended for passage by the Assembly Committee on Regulatory Licensing Reform on January 15, 2026, by a vote of 5 to 2. It never reached a floor vote and failed to pass on March 23, 2026, under Senate Joint Resolution 1. For licensees: Nothing changed. A similar proposal could return in the 2027 to 2028 session.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/missouri#20-csr-2234-6-010-2026 2026-02-28T00:00:00Z

Private investigators and agency investigator employees may not take the same course in consecutive cycles without a written request to the board that gives the reason for repeating it. The amendment also restates the reporting cycles as March 1 to February 28 of every even year for investigators and May 1 to April 30 of every even year for agency employees. Hour requirements are unchanged. The proposal was published October 1, 2025, and adopted without changes. For licensees: Get written board approval before counting a repeated course toward your 16 or 8 hours.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/ohio#hb-96 2025-09-30T00:00:00Z

The state budget amended ORC 4749.01 to exclude security personnel and contractors working under an approved physical protection program at a federally licensed commercial nuclear power plant from the licensing chapter. For licensees: No change for private investigators.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/michigan#hb-4888 2025-09-11T00:00:00Z

Would amend the Act’s list of exemptions (MCL 338.824) to revise its references to collection agencies. It takes effect only if House Bill 4887, which would change collection agency licensing under the Occupational Code, is also enacted. Both bills were referred to the House Committee on Regulatory Reform on September 11, 2025. No further action is recorded as of October 15, 2026. For licensees: Nothing has changed. The bill does not alter licensing, renewal, or bond requirements for professional investigators.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/illinois#leosa 2025-09T00:00:00Z

IDFPR states that LEOSA credentials issued in Illinois are now valid for three years from the date of last issuance. We found no matching amendment to 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1240. For licensees: Holders of the retired peace officer firearm control card waiver should note the validity period.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/missouri#sb-71 2025-08-28T00:00:00Z

Enacted RSMo 324.1105 as part of a set of criminal background check provisions for many licensing boards. The board may require fingerprints from applicants for private investigator or private fire investigator licenses and from agency employees. If it does, the prints go to the Missouri State Highway Patrol for a state check and on to the FBI for a federal check, and the board gets access to the results. For licensees: Little changes in practice. The rules already required fingerprint submission through the Highway Patrol’s approved vendor for applicants and agency employees.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/ohio#hb-238 2025-04-09T00:00:00Z

Amends ORC 4749.03. Licenses now last two years instead of one. The cap on the initial license fee drops from $375 to $200, and the cap on the renewal fee changes from $275 a year to $550 for two years. The same act abolished the Ohio Private Investigation and Security Services Commission, effective December 31, 2024, and repealed ORC 4749.021. For licensees: Renew every two years instead of every year. Licenses issued before April 9, 2025 keep their March 1 expiration date and then renew on a two-year cycle.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/indiana#lsa-24-610 2025-04-03T00:00:00Z

Adds 874 IAC 2-1-2. Board fines default to half the statutory maximum, or $1,000 where no maximum is set, with a $100 minimum, adjusted by listed factors such as self-disclosure and remediation, or dishonesty and a pattern of misconduct. For licensees: Fines are more predictable, and cooperation and voluntary disclosure count in your favor.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/ohio#sb-100 2025-03-20T00:00:00Z

Enacted ORC 2903.216, which makes it a crime to knowingly install a tracking device or tracking app on another person’s property without consent. A licensed private investigator acting in the normal course of business is exempt only with the consent of the property owner and only for listed purposes: criminal matters, locating fugitives, locating lost or stolen property or court-awarded assets, and workers’ compensation claims. The exemption does not apply if the client is the subject of a protection order or if the investigator knows or should know the client wants help committing a crime. A violation is generally a first-degree misdemeanor; some are a fourth-degree felony. For licensees: Do not place a GPS tracker without the property owner’s consent. Screen clients for protection orders before any tracking work.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/missouri#mopro 2025-01-14T00:00:00Z

The board’s page directs licensees to register for an account in the Division of Professional Registration’s MOPRO system, which handles license applications, renewals and account changes online. For licensees: Set up a MOPRO account before your next renewal.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/illinois#core 2024-10-30T00:00:00Z

IDFPR launched CORE, its online licensing system. New private detective applications are filed there. For licensees: Expect to apply for and manage your credential through CORE.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/iowa#arc-8226c 2024-10-23T00:00:00Z

Implementing 2024 House Files 2586 and 2652, the department added a definition of “private school security officer” to Chapter 121 and a new rule, 121.25, requiring these officers to take part in annual live scenario training, an initial firearm familiarization and course of fire, and quarterly live firearm training under the Chapter 91 weapons permit rules. The same rulemaking set training for the new educator professional permit to carry weapons. For licensees: Applies to private security staff employed or retained by a school district as private school security officers. No change for private investigators.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/nebraska#lr-364 2024-09-06T00:00:00Z

An interim study to review the credentialing requirements for private detectives, private detective agencies, and plain clothes investigators under the Occupational Board Reform Act, which requires each standing committee to review the occupations it oversees every five years (84-948). It was introduced March 25, 2024, referred to the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee, and heard September 6, 2024. No action after the hearing is recorded, and the committee’s list of reports has no private detective report after its 2019 review, which recommended keeping licensure. For licensees: Nothing has changed. No legislation resulted from the study.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/nebraska#lb-16 2024-07-19T00:00:00Z

Amended the Occupational Board Reform Act. Under section 84-950, an occupational board must issue a license to an applicant who has held a credential for at least one year in another state, or a military occupational specialty, for an occupation with a similar scope of practice, if the credential required an exam or education, training, or experience standards and the applicant has no disqualifying criminal record, no revoked or surrendered credential, and no pending complaint. Applicants from states that do not license the occupation may qualify with three years of work experience. The board may require a jurisprudential exam on Nebraska law if one is required of other applicants, and must generally approve or deny a complete application in writing within 60 days. The exclusions in 84-946.01 do not name the Secretary of State or private detectives. For licensees: Investigators licensed in another state for at least a year have a path to a Nebraska license. The Nebraska exam may still be required.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/iowa#hf-2164 2024-07-01T00:00:00Z

Amended Iowa Code 80A.2 so that the exemption for a person employed by one employer in connection with that employer’s affairs does not cover a person employed by a surety licensed under Chapter 811 who is acting as a bail enforcement agent. It also amended Chapter 811 to bar a company acting as surety from bail enforcement activity without a Chapter 80A license from the Department of Public Safety. For licensees: No change for private investigators. Bail enforcement work for an insurance company surety now requires a Chapter 80A license.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/indiana#lsa-23-821 2024-05-30T00:00:00Z

Readopted 874 IAC 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, and 2-1 under Indiana’s five-year rule expiration law. Nothing was repealed. For licensees: Licensing, renewal, and fee rules remain in force unchanged.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/minnesota#ch-123-2024 2024-05-24T00:00:00Z

Private companies that provide guards to transport prisoners or people arrested on a warrant now need a protective agent license. The board must revoke, suspend, or refuse to issue or reissue a license if the license holder or its staff commits criminal sexual conduct or uses unreasonable force on a person being transported, with a minimum $10,000 administrative penalty per act. A 2025 law (ch. 35, art. 7, sec. 14) added transfers by people employed by a federal law enforcement agency to the transport exceptions. For licensees: No change for private detectives who do not transport people.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/wisconsin#act-218 2024-03-28T00:00:00Z

Creates Wis. Stat. 440.26 (3m) (am). The department’s rules on carrying dangerous weapons by license and permit holders and their employees must allow a person certified as a tactical emergency medical services professional under Wis. Stat. 165.85 (3) to carry a concealed firearm. For licensees: No change for most private detectives. It matters only for staff who hold that certification.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/ohio#sb-131 2023-12-29T00:00:00Z

Rewrote ORC 4749.12. PISGS must issue a license under ORC Chapter 4796 to a person licensed as a private investigator or security guard provider in another state, or to a person with qualifying work experience or certification from a state that does not issue the license. The former provision let the director waive the exam for some nonresidents licensed in another state. For licensees: Investigators licensed in another state have a path to an Ohio license under Chapter 4796.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/missouri#20-csr-2234-1-050-2023 2023-11-30T00:00:00Z

The board described the amendment as a language cleanup. It drops the word “fee” from each line item, states the additional agency license fees as $200 initial and $100 renewal, and renames the insufficient funds fee the bad check fee ($25). No fee amount changed. For licensees: No change in what you pay.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/indiana#lsa-23-52 2023-11-14T00:00:00Z

Adds 874 IAC 3. Lists the convictions that may disqualify an applicant, allows probationary licenses, and creates a $25 petition for a determination before applying. For licensees: Applicants or firm qualifiers with a criminal record can get a ruling for $25 before applying.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/wisconsin#cr-21-056 2023-08-01T00:00:00Z

Creates SPS 31.037. A reciprocal private detective or private security person license must be granted to a service member, former service member, or the spouse of either who meets the requirements of Wis. Stat. 440.09 (2). For licensees: Military applicants and spouses can apply through reciprocity.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/illinois#pa-103-0309 2023-07-28T00:00:00Z

Moved the Act’s repeal date from January 1, 2024 to January 1, 2029. Added a required email address of record, removed the pre-2005 canine odor detection grandfather provisions, and updated provisions on applications, hearings, subpoenas, and the board. For licensees: Keep a valid mailing address and email address on file with IDFPR and report changes within 14 days. The Act needs another extension before January 1, 2029.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/missouri#20-csr-2234-3-2023 2023-06-30T00:00:00Z

An agency must tell the board within ten days, on the board’s form, when an agency investigator employee leaves, including the last day of employment. A departing employee must return the license and pocket card to the agency within five days. As first adopted, a new license application was required whenever an agency employee moved to a different agency; the 2026 amendment above limits that to employees without an active license. For licensees: File the separation form within ten days of an employee’s last day, and collect the license and pocket card.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/minnesota#ch-52-2023-fbi 2023-05-19T00:00:00Z

Amends Minn. Stat. 326.3381, subd. 3. Applicants must submit fingerprints and consent to a criminal history check by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the FBI. The board decides whether the results show a disqualifying offense. A separate section of the same law (art. 20, sec. 15) added carjacking to the list of disqualifying offenses. For licensees: New applicants should plan for a national fingerprint check.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/minnesota#ch-52-2023-board 2023-05-19T00:00:00Z

The board may investigate and refer for prosecution criminal violations and unlicensed activity. Prior unlicensed operation became grounds to deny, suspend, or revoke a license. Employee identification cards must be presented on request. Preassignment training completed with another Minnesota licensee within the past three calendar years now counts, and an employer must give a current or former employee a free copy of the training certificate on request. For licensees: Accept valid preassignment training certificates from other Minnesota licensees, and provide certificate copies to employees at no charge.

https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/ohio#hb-509 2023-04-06T00:00:00Z

Amended ORC 4749.03 to remove the requirement that license applications include a physical description and a recent full-face photograph of the applicant or of each qualifying officer or agent. For licensees: Applications are slightly simpler. Other application contents and the fingerprint check are unchanged.