# Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania has no state licensing agency for private detectives: the court in each county licenses them under the Private Detective Act of 1953, and the district attorney investigates applicants. The Act has not been amended since 1992. The one change in this period kept the Wiretap Act, and its exception for licensed private detectives, from expiring.

Source: https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/pennsylvania

## At a glance

- **Authority:** The court of common pleas in each county issues licenses; applications are filed with the county clerk, and the district attorney investigates applicants and enforces the Act. Examples: [Philadelphia, Office of Judicial Records](https://www.courts.phila.gov/pdf/ojr/Private-Detective-Instructions.pdf); [Allegheny County, Department of Court Records](https://www.alleghenycounty.us/Government/Court-Related/Criminal-Records/Cost-and-Fee-Schedule).
- **Statute:** [Private Detective Act of 1953](https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/PDF/1953/0/0361..PDF) (Act 361, P.L. 1273; 22 P.S. 11 and following), last amended by Act 132 of 1992 ([law information](https://www.palegis.us/statutes/unconsolidated/law-information?sessYr=1953&sessInd=0&actNum=361))
- **Rules:** No statewide regulations; each county court sets its own procedure (for example, Philadelphia schedules a hearing about 60 days after filing).
- **Who is licensed:** Anyone in the private detective business, licensed per office and branch office. Employees are not licensed; each gives the licensee a verified statement and fingerprints (Section 13).
- **Qualifications:** At least 25. The applicant, or one member of a firm, needs 3 years as a regularly employed detective, a member of a U.S. government investigative service, a sheriff, a State Police member, or a city police officer above the rank of patrolman, shown by at least two certificates. Five reputable citizens who have known the applicant at least 5 years must certify the application. Any felony, or one of 11 listed offenses, bars licensing unless pardoned (Sections 4, 6). No exam.
- **Renewal:** An original license runs 2 years; the clerk may renew for up to 5 years. The statute sets $200 for an individual and $300 for a firm (Section 6); Allegheny County posts $300 and $400, and counties add their own filing fees.
- **Continuing education:** None
- **Bond or insurance:** A $10,000 corporate surety bond, also required at renewal (Sections 6, 11). No insurance requirement.

## Changes, 2023 to 2026

- Dec 14, 2023 — **Wiretap Act, with its private detective exception, extended to 2029** — Act 53 of 2023 · Approved December 14, 2023 — Amends 18 Pa.C.S. 5781 to extend the Wiretap Act’s expiration from December 31, 2023 to December 31, 2029. Without the extension, all of Chapter 57 would have expired, including the exception in section 5704(17) that lets a private detective licensed under the 1953 Act intercept a wire, electronic, or oral communication when under a reasonable suspicion that the intercepted party is committing, about to commit, or has committed a crime of violence and there is reason to believe evidence of that crime may be obtained from the interception, and the tracking device order provisions in section 5761. The Act also added section 5704(19), on telemarketing calls, along with provisions on recordings by parole agents and Department of Corrections officers (sections 5702, 5729, and 5750). — **For licensees:** The private detective interception exception in section 5704(17) remains in force through December 31, 2029, unless extended again. — [Act 53 of 2023](https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2023/0/0053..HTM)[18 Pa.C.S. 5704](https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/18/00.057.004.000..HTM)

## Checked and unchanged

- No 2023–2026 act amended the Private Detective Act of 1953; every act title in those sessions was reviewed.
- The stalking law, [18 Pa.C.S. 2709.1](https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/18/00.027.009.001..HTM), was last amended in 2020 and has no tracking device language; the tracking device order section, 5761, was last amended in 2012.
- Pennsylvania’s universal licensing laws reach state licensing boards, not county court licenses.