Ohio
Ohio licenses private investigation and security businesses through Private Investigator Security Guard Services (PISGS) in the Department of Public Safety. Investigators who work for a licensee are registered by that licensee, not licensed.
At a glance
- Authority
- Private Investigator Security Guard Services (PISGS), a component of Ohio Homeland Security in the Ohio Department of Public Safety
- Statute
- Ohio Revised Code Chapter 4749
- Rules
- Ohio Administrative Code Chapter 4501:7-1
- Who is licensed
- Class A (investigation and security), Class B (investigation only), and Class C (security only) licenses for individuals and corporations. A corporation qualifies through an officer or qualifying agent who meets the experience and exam requirements. Employees are registered by the licensee (ORC 4749.06).
- Qualifications
- Two years of investigatory or security experience, or equivalent experience set by rule, and a passing exam score (ORC 4749.03)
- Renewal
- Every two years. Licenses issued on or after April 9, 2025 expire two years after issue; older licenses expire March 1 and now renew every two years. Renewal fee $550 (OAC 4501:7-1-17). Employee registrations renew every year for $25.
- Continuing education
- None in ORC 4749 or OAC 4501:7-1. Licensees and employees who carry a firearm must requalify on a firearms range every year (ORC 4749.10).
- Insurance
- Comprehensive general liability of at least $100,000 per person and $300,000 per occurrence for bodily injury, and $100,000 for property damage (ORC 4749.03)
Changes, 2023 to 2026
Tracking device law gains a Medicaid visit verification exemption
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.
Background monitoring fees rise by $3
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.
Rules updated for two-year licenses; concealed handgun license requirement removed
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.
Nuclear plant security staff excluded from licensing
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.
Licenses extended to two years; fee caps changed; commission abolished
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.
New tracking device crime, with a limited exemption for licensed investigators
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.
Licensing for applicants from other states
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.
Photograph and physical description dropped from applications
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.
Last updated October 15, 2026Source: United States Council for Law & Investigation