Texas
Texas licenses investigations companies and the private investigators they employ through the Private Security Program of the Department of Public Safety (DPS). No law has amended the Private Security Act since the 2023 session; the later changes came from DPS rules and broader laws, including a 2026 rule requiring proof of lawful presence for every new and renewal license.
At a glance
- Authority
- Texas Department of Public Safety, Regulatory Services Division, Private Security Program. The Private Security Board no longer exists; references to it now mean DPS, and a seven-member Private Security Advisory Committee advises DPS and the Public Safety Commission, which adopts the rules (Occ. Code 1702.005(b), 1702.021, 1702.031, 1702.061).
- Statute
- Private Security Act, Texas Occupations Code chapter 1702
- Rules
- 37 Texas Administrative Code chapter 35
- Who is licensed
- An investigations company (Class A) holds a company license (1702.104). Each private investigator holds an individual license and must be employed by a licensed company (1702.221). Each company has a company representative who meets the experience and exam requirements, and owners of 51 percent or more hold an owner license.
- Qualifications
- At least 18 (1702.113). The company applicant or representative needs 3 consecutive years of investigative experience, a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice or a related field, any bachelor’s degree plus 12 months of experience, an associate degree in criminal justice plus 24 months, or a 200-hour PI course at an accredited four-year university (1702.114; 37 TAC 35.121). The company representative passes a timed, open-book exam with a score of 70 percent or higher (DPS). All applicants undergo a fingerprint-based criminal history check.
- Renewal
- Company licenses run 1 year and individual licenses 2 years (37 TAC 35.31). Fees: $361 for an investigations company, original or renewal; $57 for an owner, officer, partner, or shareholder; $37 for an individual investigator; plus $28.25 for the FBI fingerprint check (DPS fee schedule). A late renewal costs 1.5 times the fee within 90 days and twice the fee up to a year; after a year, a new license is required (1702.302).
- Continuing education
- 18 hours per renewal for investigators licensed less than 15 years (14 in investigations, 2 in ethics, 2 on the Act and rules), and 12 hours for those licensed longer (37 TAC 35.161). Amendments to this rule are on the October 15, 2026 commission agenda; see below.
- Bond or insurance
- No bond. A company license requires general liability insurance of at least $100,000 per occurrence for bodily injury and property damage, $50,000 per occurrence for personal injury, and $200,000 aggregate (1702.124).
Changes, 2023 to 2026
Continuing education rule amendments on the commission agenda
The Public Safety Commission listed “proposed amendments to 37 TAC Section 35.161, concerning Continuing Education Requirements” among rule proposals for publication and public comment. The proposed text has not appeared in the Texas Register as of October 17, 2026, so what would change is not yet known.
For licensees: Continuing education hours or topics may change. A 30-day comment period opens when the proposal is published in the Texas Register.
Proof of lawful presence required for new and renewal licenses
Individual, owner, and company applicants, new and renewing, must prove eligibility for state public benefits, which include professional licenses, under the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. DPS checks the documents through the federal SAVE program. Accepted documents include a REAL ID-compliant license or ID, a U.S. passport, a birth certificate, naturalization papers, a permanent resident card, or an employment authorization document (35.21(b)(5) lists them all; 35.22(a)(4) applies the list to renewals and 35.121(c) to investigations company applicants).
For licensees: Every new or renewal application filed on or after July 2, 2026 needs one of the listed documents.
DPS rules for military applicants with out-of-state licenses
Carries out HB 5629 (below). A military service member, veteran, or spouse may apply with a current license from another state that is similar in scope of practice and in good standing, or with a Texas license held in the past five years. New 35.186 says that when a military service member or military spouse asks DPS to recognize an out-of-state license under Occupations Code 55.0041, DPS will decide whether it is similar in scope by comparing the other state’s license requirements, statutes, rules, and application review with its own.
For licensees: DPS compares the other state’s requirements, not only the scope of practice, before recognizing a service member’s or spouse’s out-of-state license.
Military applicants licensed under a “similar scope of practice” test
Amends Occupations Code chapter 55, which applies to every state licensing agency, including DPS. An agency must license a military service member, veteran, or spouse who holds a current license in good standing from another state that is similar in scope of practice; the earlier test was “substantially equivalent” requirements. The agency must process the application within 10 business days, and application and exam fees are waived for service members, veterans, and spouses (55.009).
For licensees: Military applicants with another state’s PI license have a faster path to a Texas license, without application or exam fees.
Business cards count as advertisements; a home address may be left off
Section 35.9 now states expressly that business cards are advertisements, which must show the company name and license number, and exempts a licensee from publishing its address in advertisements when the address is a residence. Sections 35.5 and 35.9 already barred use of the state seal and department insignia; the amendments extend the ban to the department’s name and to advertisements and websites, but allow the department’s name to be used to show that a company is regulated by DPS. Section 35.13 now treats a sole proprietor who performs regulated services as an employee who must sign the company’s drug-free workplace policy. DPS described the changes as clarifications.
For licensees: Business cards must show the company name and license number. A company run from a home may leave its address off advertisements.
Harassment law now covers tracking or following someone
Adds Penal Code 42.07(a)(9). It is harassment, with intent to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, or embarrass, to track or monitor another person’s personal property or vehicle without consent, using a tracking device or application or by following the person. Lack of consent is presumed when a protective order or application exists against the actor, or when the person is the actor’s spouse with a divorce petition filed, or a former spouse. Section 42.07 has no exception for licensed investigators. The separate tracking device law, Penal Code 16.06, and its defense for investigators did not change.
For licensees: The offense requires intent to harass. Consent is presumed absent when a protective order or application is against the person doing the tracking, or when the person tracked is that person’s spouse with a divorce petition filed, or a former spouse.
In-person training and psychological testing for commissioned officers
Requires personal protection officer training (1702.205(b)) and the commissioned security officer handgun proficiency and self-defense course (1702.1675(g)) to be taught in person, and requires commissioned security officer applicants, and current officers at their first renewal, to submit Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory results (1702.163(a)(5), (h)). The Act applies these changes to applications and courses from January 1, 2024.
For licensees: Applies to investigators who also hold a security officer commission or personal protection officer license; investigator licensing alone is unchanged.
Landman exemption widened
The Act already exempted a landman acting within the landman’s business (1702.324(b)(8)). SB 604 widened the definition of landman in 1702.324(a) to include anyone who otherwise performs land services as defined in Occupations Code 954.001.
For licensees: Land services work done by someone within the wider landman definition does not need a Texas investigations license.
Checked and unchanged
- No 2025 or 2026 law amended Occupations Code chapter 1702 (chapter 1702 with history notes).
- Penal Code 16.06, the tracking device law, and its defense for licensed investigators have not been amended since 2009.
- DPS’s four-year review of chapter 35, published in the May 22, 2026 Texas Register, found that the reasons for the rules still exist and made no text changes (Texas Register).
- The DPS private security fee schedule has not changed since 2019.
Last updated October 17, 2026Source: United States Council for Law & InvestigationCite as: United States Council for Law & Investigation, “Texas private investigator licensing: Licensing Law Tracker,” uscli.org/licensing-tracker/texas (last updated October 17, 2026). Text licensed CC BY 4.0.