Maine
Maine licenses professional investigators and investigative assistants through the Chief of the State Police. A 2026 law eliminated the Board of Licensure of Professional Investigators effective July 29, 2026, leaving licensing qualifications and fees unchanged. Since 2023 Maine has also revised its stalking and terrorizing laws, made investigative record copies free for crime victims’ agents, including licensed investigators, and regulated employer electronic surveillance.
At a glance
- Authority
- Chief of the Maine State Police (32 M.R.S. 8103, 8104, 8116)
- Statute
- Professional Investigators Act, 32 M.R.S. 8101 to 8124
- Rules
- 16-222 C.M.R. chapter 9 (firearms examination), last amended in 1998
- Who is licensed
- Professional investigators and investigative assistants; an assistant license lasts 2 years, cannot be renewed, and requires a sponsoring licensed investigator (32 M.R.S. 8110 to 8110-B). People with law enforcement powers are ineligible (8112).
- Qualifications
- At least 21, a U.S. citizen or resident alien, a high school diploma, good moral character, no conviction of a crime punishable by 1 year or more, and a written exam (32 M.R.S. 8105). Experience by one of several routes, including 3 years as a federal investigator, 3 years as a state or local law enforcement officer who met Maine’s training standards, or 3 years licensed in a substantially equivalent state that grants reciprocity (8105(7-A)).
- Renewal
- First license 2 years, then every 4 years (32 M.R.S. 8109). Statutory fees: $500 original and $500 renewal (8117); State Police forms add a $21 criminal history check fee. A license not renewed within 60 days is treated as a new application.
- Continuing education
- None
- Bond or insurance
- A surety bond of $10,000 for residents or $50,000 for nonresidents, and liability insurance of at least $100,000 per person and $200,000 per occurrence for injury, and $10,000 for property damage (32 M.R.S. 8111).
- Firearms
- An investigator may carry a handgun on duty only with a concealed handgun permit from the Chief and after passing the Chief’s written firearms exam, 80% to pass (32 M.R.S. 8120-A; 16-222 C.M.R. ch. 9).
Changes, 2023 to 2026
Board of Licensure of Professional Investigators eliminated
Repeals 32 M.R.S. 8103-A, which created the Board of Licensure of Professional Investigators, and removes the board’s role in the Chief’s rulemaking (8116(3)) and in keeping licensees’ home addresses and phone numbers confidential (8124). Licensing qualifications, fees, and terms are unchanged.
For licensees: The Chief regulates without the board; home address and phone confidentiality continues.
Employer electronic surveillance of employees regulated
Enacts 26 M.R.S. 620-A: an employer may not electronically monitor an employee without notice, must disclose monitoring during interviews and give written notice yearly, and may not use audiovisual monitoring in an employee’s home or personal vehicle unless the job requires it. Security cameras and GPS on employer-owned vehicles are excluded.
For licensees: When monitoring for an employer client, confirm the employer has given the required notices.
Concealed handgun permit fees increased
Raises the resident concealed handgun permit fee from $35 to $50 and the renewal from $20 to $35, and the nonresident fee from $60 to $80 (25 M.R.S. 2003).
For licensees: Armed investigators need this permit (32 M.R.S. 8120-A).
Stalking and terrorizing laws revised after Counterman v. Colorado
Rewrites the definition of course of conduct in 17-A M.R.S. 210-A(2)(A) so that threats and communications count when made while consciously disregarding a substantial risk of causing the statute’s effects, and adds a recklessness standard to terrorizing and telephone harassment. The existing coverage of following, monitoring, tracking, or surveilling a person by any device or means dates from 2007. Stalking still requires intentionally or knowingly engaging in conduct that would cause a reasonable person serious inconvenience, emotional distress, or fear.
For licensees: Keep surveillance purposeful, limited, and documented.
Investigative record copies free for crime victims and their agents
Replaces 16 M.R.S. 805 with 805-A, the exceptions to confidentiality of intelligence and investigative records. As before, “agent” includes a licensed professional investigator. New: agencies may not charge a crime victim or the victim’s agent or attorney for copies, and a person is entitled to one free copy of a complaint the person made.
For licensees: Copies you receive as a crime victim’s agent are free.
Violation of privacy: new offenses when the person is under 16
Adds offenses to 17-A M.R.S. 511(1) for violating privacy, including by surveillance devices in a private place, when the person is under 16. The existing prohibitions on trespassing to observe a private place and on devices that capture what is not ordinarily visible or audible are unchanged.
For licensees: Take extra care when minors are in a subject’s household.
Checked and unchanged
- The section histories of 32 M.R.S. chapter 89 show no other amendment from 2023 through 2026, and the State Police adopted no investigator rule in that period.
- L.D. 534 of 2025, which would have set duties for investigators contacting crime victims and witnesses, died in the Senate.
- Maine enacted no data broker or comprehensive consumer privacy law.
Last updated October 18, 2026Source: United States Council for Law & InvestigationCite as: United States Council for Law & Investigation, “Maine professional investigator licensing: Licensing Law Tracker,” uscli.org/licensing-tracker/maine (last updated October 18, 2026). Text licensed CC BY 4.0.