Rhode Island
Rhode Island private detectives are licensed by the city or town where their principal place of business is located, not by a state agency. The Private Detective Act has not been amended since 2019. Adjacent laws have changed: a data privacy act and a judicial privacy law took effect January 1, 2026, a 2026 law made impersonating a person or business to defraud a felony, and the fee for process service by sheriffs and constables rose to $70.
At a glance
- Authority
- The local licensing authority: the town council or license board of a town, or the mayor and city council or license bureau of a city (R.I. Gen. Laws 5-5-2(5), 5-5-5)
- Statute
- Private Detective Act, R.I. Gen. Laws 5-5-1 to 5-5-21
- Rules
- No statewide regulations; any rules are municipal (5-5-16)
- Who is licensed
- Anyone hired to conduct investigations involving inquiries into unsolved crimes, clandestine surveillance, the search for missing persons, and the search for lost or stolen property (5-5-2(6)). Government investigators, insurance investigators, genealogists, credit bureaus, and certified computer forensic specialists, among others, are exempt (5-5-20).
- Qualifications
- A U.S. citizen or resident alien, no felony conviction, no prior license revoked or application denied, not adjudged incompetent, no habitual drunkenness or narcotics addiction, good moral character, and 5 years as a police officer or investigator, 5 years working for a private detective, a criminal justice degree, or equivalent training or experience (5-5-3). No minimum age or exam in the statute.
- Renewal
- Every year; file at least 30 days before expiration (5-5-8). $150 fee set by statute (5-5-9), paid to the local licensing authority; Newport’s application form, for example, adds a $50 application fee.
- Continuing education
- None
- Bond or insurance
- A $5,000 surety bond (5-5-14); no liability insurance requirement.
- Firearms
- The Act has no firearms authorization or training provision for private detectives.
Changes, 2023 to 2026
Process service fee set at $70
Makes the fee of deputy sheriffs, town sergeants, and constables for serving writs, citations, and subpoenas a fixed $70 rather than a maximum (R.I. Gen. Laws 9-29-9(b)). P.L. 2025, ch. 83, effective June 18, 2025, had raised the maximum from $45 to $70.
For licensees: Budget $70 per service by a sheriff or constable.
Impersonation and digital forgery become felony identity fraud
Adds to felony identity fraud knowingly impersonating a person or entity, living or dead, with intent to defraud or injure, and knowingly generating or distributing a forged digital likeness, such as an AI-generated image or voice of an identifiable person, as genuine to facilitate fraud (R.I. Gen. Laws 11-49.1-3(a)(7)-(8)). Exceptions cover constitutionally protected activity, law enforcement officers performing official duties, technology providers, and activity otherwise protected by state or federal law; there is no exception for private detectives.
For licensees: A pretext that impersonates a real person or business with intent to defraud or injure can be charged as felony identity fraud.
Genetic Information Privacy Act
New chapter 6-63 requires direct-to-consumer genetic testing companies to obtain express consent, honor revocation of consent, destroy samples within 30 days after consent to store them is revoked, and secure genetic data.
For licensees: Genetic genealogy data depends on the consumer’s express consent to the testing company.
Judges’ personal information must be taken down on request
After written notice from a covered state or federal judge, any person, data aggregator, or business must remove the judge’s or family’s listed personal information, including residence addresses and phone numbers, from publicly available content within 10 business days, and data aggregators may not sell it.
For licensees: Honor removal requests for anything you publish online, and after a request do not transfer the judge’s or family’s personal information to others (8-15-12(c)(6)).
Data Transparency and Privacy Protection Act takes effect
Commercial websites and internet service providers that sell customers’ personally identifiable information must disclose the categories collected and the third parties it is sold to (6-48.1-3). Consumer rights and controller duties apply to businesses processing data of at least 35,000 customers, or 10,000 while deriving over 20% of revenue from selling personal data (6-48.1-4, -5, -7). Data handled in compliance with the FCRA or the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act is exempt; the Attorney General enforces.
For licensees: Data vendors selling Rhode Island residents’ information must disclose buyers.
Checked and unchanged
- No public law from 2023 through 2026 amended chapter 5-5; the last amendment was P.L. 2019, ch. 308.
- The electronic tracking of motor vehicles statute (R.I. Gen. Laws 11-69-1), which has no investigator exception, has not changed since 2016.
Last updated October 18, 2026Source: United States Council for Law & InvestigationCite as: United States Council for Law & Investigation, “Rhode Island private detective licensing: Licensing Law Tracker,” uscli.org/licensing-tracker/rhode-island (last updated October 18, 2026). Text licensed CC BY 4.0.