Louisiana
Louisiana licenses private investigation agencies and investigators through the State Board of Private Investigator Examiners. In 2024 the Legislature raised license and exam fees, removed “crimes of moral turpitude” from the licensing bar, and created a licensing route for Louisiana residents licensed in other states. A 2025 executive order put most of the Board’s rules up for review, with at least half due by the end of 2025 and the rest by the end of 2026.
At a glance
- Authority
- Louisiana State Board of Private Investigator Examiners, within the Department of Public Safety and Corrections (La. R.S. 37:3504; 36:409)
- Statute
- Private Investigators Law, La. R.S. 37:3501 to 37:3525 (Title 37, Chapter 56)
- Rules
- Louisiana Administrative Code Title 46, Part LVII (Word file)
- Who is licensed
- Private investigation agencies, private investigators employed by a licensed agency, apprentices, and journeymen who contract with licensed agencies (37:3507.2; LAC 46:LVII.510, 512).
- Qualifications
- Legal age (the Board says 18); a U.S. citizen or resident alien authorized to work; no conviction of a felony the Board finds directly related to investigator practice (37:3507). An agency needs 3 years of investigative experience within the last 10. A 40-hour Board-approved training class, then a written exam (37:3509, 37:3510). State and FBI fingerprint checks.
- Renewal
- Every year. Since 2024: $300 for an agency license and renewal, $150 for an individual or apprentice license and renewal, $100 exam (37:3516). A license not renewed within 30 days after expiration lapses (37:3517).
- Continuing education
- Pass the Board’s online investigative course every two years to renew (LAC 46:LVII.518; Board page).
- Bond or insurance
- None found in the statute or rules.
Changes, 2023 to 2026
Louisiana Data Privacy Act takes effect
Enacts a consumer data privacy law at La. R.S. 51:1780.1 to 1780.5. It applies only to businesses with annual gross revenue over $25 million, or that each year buy, receive, sell, or share the personal information of 75,000 or more consumers, households, or devices, or that get at least half their revenue from selling personal information (R.S. 51:1780.2(A)). It excludes publicly available information, exempts activity under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and does not limit processing to investigate, establish, exercise, prepare for, or defend legal claims, or to comply with a government inquiry or investigation (51:1780.5(H)). It has no exemption specific to private investigators.
For licensees: The Act has no investigator exemption, but it reaches only firms that meet one of its thresholds; its exclusions for public information, FCRA activity, and legal claims apply to every covered business.
Notice required before recording with camera glasses
Adds La. R.S. 9:2790.1 to 2790.4, which bar a participant in a direct conversation from using wearable camera eyeglasses to record or transcribe it unless all participants are notified; a person who is not a participant is not covered. Exceptions include recordings made to preserve evidence related to an actual or anticipated civil or administrative proceeding, or to a criminal act or proceeding (9:2790.3(B)(6)-(7)). The Chapter also does not apply to incidental capture in public places (9:2790.3(D)). The remedy is civil, and the Act does not change the Electronic Surveillance Act.
For licensees: The Act has no provision specific to investigators; its exceptions include recording to preserve evidence for a proceeding.
Limits on boards recovering attorney fees after a licensee’s offer
Adds La. R.S. 37:21(D): when a licensing board’s disciplinary case ends with the licensee as the prevailing party after a written offer of judgment, the board may not collect attorney fees or costs it incurred after the offer, and the subsection overrides any less favorable agency rule (37:21(D)(3)). The PI Board is not excluded.
For licensees: A licensee who prevails after a written offer is not charged the Board’s later fees and costs.
State Police background-check access widened beyond investigators
Licensed Louisiana private investigators remain eligible to be approved as an “authorized agency” to request criminal history checks on licensed ambulance personnel and nonlicensed persons for employers under R.S. 40:1203.1 and following (LAC 55:I.205(A)(1)). The rule adds employees of Louisiana businesses whose primary business is background screening. It also states that each check carries the $5 technology fee set by R.S. 15:587(D), on top of the $26 fee (LAC 55:I.207(B)).
For licensees: Investigators keep their eligibility, and background-screening firms are now eligible too.
Tracking device exceptions withdrawn in protective order cases
Adds La. R.S. 14:323(E): the exceptions in Subsection C, including vehicle owner consent, do not apply when an individual with an ownership interest has been granted a protective order (R.S. 46:2136) or temporary restraining order (R.S. 46:2135), or when a court has granted another individual exclusive use of the vehicle. The law has no exception for licensed private investigators, before or after the Act.
For licensees: An owner’s consent no longer authorizes tracking in the situations in subsection E.
Cellular tracking devices need a court order
Adds cellular tracking devices to La. R.S. 15:1313(A), under which no person may install or use a pen register, trap and trace device, or cellular tracking device without a court order under R.S. 15:1315 or 1318. It also sets penalties and court-order rules for bail enforcement agents, who hold bail bond producer licenses and are not licensed by the Board.
For licensees: The ban applies to every person, including investigators; only a court order under R.S. 15:1315 or 1318 authorizes a cellular tracking device.
No deference to agency interpretations in hearings and courts
Adds La. R.S. 49:978.1(H): courts, administrative law judges, and hearing officers may not defer to an agency’s interpretation of a statute or rule, and review is de novo. It applies to Board hearings under the Administrative Procedure Act.
For licensees: In a disciplinary or licensing hearing, the Board’s reading of the law gets no deference.
Executive order puts most Board rules up for review
Requires each agency to review at least 50% of its rules listed in Exhibit A, or a minimum of 100 rules, whichever is greater, by December 31, 2025, and the remaining rules by December 31, 2026, and to report the results. Exhibit A lists 46 of the Board’s 51 rule sections in LAC 46:LVII, 33 of them last revised in 1993. No Board notice of intent has appeared in the Louisiana Register through October 2026.
For licensees: No proposed Board rule had been published as of October 2026.
License, exam, and renewal fees raised
Amends La. R.S. 37:3516(A). Agency fees: exam $50 to $100, re-exam $25 to $50, license and annual renewal $250 to $300. Individual and apprentice fees: exam $50 to $100, re-exam $25 to $50, license and annual renewal $100 to $150. The $50 application fees did not change.
For licensees: Annual renewal is $300 for an agency and $150 for an individual.
“Moral turpitude” removed from the licensing bar
Strikes “any crime involving moral turpitude” from La. R.S. 37:3507(A)(3), leaving felonies the Board finds directly related to investigator practice under R.S. 37:2950, a standard that was already in the law. It also adds R.S. 37:2950(C), which bars licensing boards from relying on vague terms such as “moral turpitude” or “good character.” Section 37:3508(D)(5), which says the Board shall deny an applicant convicted of a felony, was not amended.
For licensees: Crimes of moral turpitude are no longer a separate listed bar; felony convictions still are.
Welcome Home Act: licenses for Louisiana residents licensed in other states
Enacts La. R.S. 37:51 to 37:59. A board must license an individual who holds a current, valid license with a similar scope of practice in another state, has held it for at least a year, earned it by exam or by meeting education, training, or experience standards, is in good standing, has no disqualifying criminal record or pending discipline, pays the fees, and lives in Louisiana (R.S. 37:52(A)). The PI Board is not among the exclusions. The two acts enacted near-identical text. The Board’s license page offers “Welcome Home” endorsement but says applicants must pass the Louisiana state exam, while the Act lets boards require only a jurisprudential exam.
For licensees: Investigators licensed elsewhere for at least a year who live in Louisiana have this route in addition to reciprocity under 37:3518.
Department and its boards re-created under the Sunset Law
Re-creates the Department of Public Safety and Corrections and the statutory entities placed in it, which include the PI Board (R.S. 36:409), with a new termination date of July 1, 2029.
For licensees: The Board’s next sunset date is July 1, 2029, unless the Legislature acts.
Checked and unchanged
- Acts 478 and 644 of 2024 are the only 2023–2026 amendments to La. R.S. 37:3501 to 37:3525 found.
- No Board rule notice appeared in the Louisiana Register from January 2023 through October 2026; the fee rule dates to 2007 and the continuing education rule to 2016.
- General laws that reach all licensing agencies were also enacted: electronic pre-revocation notices (Act 487 of 2024) and repeal of the Occupational Licensing Review Commission (Act 516 of 2024, effective January 1, 2025). Act 192 of 2024 requires every agency, including the Board, to review all its rules within each five-year period (R.S. 49:964(D)); the executive order above directs agencies to evaluate each rule as set forth in that subsection.
Last updated October 18, 2026Source: United States Council for Law & InvestigationCite as: United States Council for Law & Investigation, “Louisiana private investigator licensing: Licensing Law Tracker,” uscli.org/licensing-tracker/louisiana (last updated October 18, 2026). Text licensed CC BY 4.0.