# Vermont

Vermont licenses private investigators through the Office of Professional Regulation. The licensing chapter has not been amended since 2020, but fees rose in 2023, a 2026 voyeurism rewrite kept the investigator exemption, and a data broker rewrite taking effect January 1, 2027 will require brokers to verify buyers’ identity and review their stated purpose.

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

## At a glance

- **Authority:** [Office of Professional Regulation](https://sos.vermont.gov/private-investigative-security-services/), Secretary of State, advised by five appointees (26 V.S.A. 3161)
- **Statute:** [26 V.S.A. chapter 59](https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/26/059)
- **Rules:** [Administrative Rules for Private Investigators and Security Guards](https://outside.vermont.gov/dept/sos/office_professional_regulation/professions/private_investigative_security_services/private_investigative_security_services_administrative_rules.pdf)
- **Who is licensed:** Licensed private investigators, registered investigative employees of licensed agencies, and agencies (26 V.S.A. 3172, 3173, 3176). Nonresident licensed investigators may get a 30-day-per-year transitory permit (3176a). Attorneys and their staff, insurance adjusters, in-house investigators, and genealogists, among others, are exempt (3151a).
- **Qualifications:** At least 18, 40 hours of approved training, an examination, and 2 or more years of investigative experience (26 V.S.A. 3173; rule 4-3). State and FBI background checks. An application may be denied for failing the character standard or for unprofessional conduct, which includes a felony or a crime of fraud or dishonesty (3173(d), 3181).
- **Renewal:** Every 2 years; licenses expire May 31 of odd-numbered years. Unarmed licensee renewal $140, armed $205, agency $345 (3 V.S.A. 125(b)).
- **Continuing education:** None for investigators
- **Bond or insurance:** None found in the statute or rules.
- **Firearms:** A licensee may not possess a firearm while working without a firearms certification, which requires approved training and a federal background check (26 V.S.A. 3175c; rule 5-3).

## Changes, 2023 to 2026

- Jul 1, 2026 — **Voyeurism statute rewritten; investigator exemption kept** — Act 89 (2026), H.626 · Signed April 28, 2026; effective July 1, 2026 — Rewrites 13 V.S.A. 2605 into separate offenses for unlawful viewing, recording, and home surveillance without consent, keeps the up-to-5-year penalty for disclosing an unlawfully recorded image, and adds a civil cause of action for that disclosure and higher penalties when the victim is under 18. Bona fide private investigators remain exempt from the home surveillance offense for otherwise lawful work, and keep an affirmative defense for unintentional, incidental viewing or recording during legal surveillance, but not for disclosure. — **For licensees:** Never share an image of intimate areas or sexual conduct captured during surveillance. — [Act 89](https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2026/Docs/ACTS/ACT089/ACT089%20As%20Enacted.pdf)
- Jul 1, 2026 — **Genetic data privacy for consumer testing companies** — Act 135 (2026), H.639 · Signed June 15, 2026; effective July 1, 2026 — Requires direct-to-consumer genetic testing companies to get a consumer’s separate express consent before disclosing genetic data to a third party, naming the recipient and purpose, and to honor revocation and deletion requests (9 V.S.A. 2421a to 2421d). — **For licensees:** Genetic genealogy data depends on the consumer’s consent. — [Act 135](https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2026/Docs/ACTS/ACT135/ACT135%20As%20Enacted.pdf)
- Jun 8, 2026 — **License rescission process** — Act 119 (2026), H.588 · Signed and effective June 8, 2026 — Lets the Office of Professional Regulation rescind a license issued by administrative mistake or for which the application fee was not paid, with notice and an opportunity for review or a hearing; a rescission is not recorded as discipline (3 V.S.A. 129c). — **For licensees:** Make sure application fees clear. — [Act 119](https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2026/Docs/ACTS/ACT119/ACT119%20As%20Enacted.pdf)
- Jun 20, 2023 — **Investigator license fees raised** — Act 77 (2023), H.305 · Became law over the Governor’s veto; effective June 20, 2023 — Raised fees in 3 V.S.A. 125(b): unarmed licensee application from $150 to $175 and renewal from $120 to $140; armed licensee application from $200 to $230 and renewal from $180 to $205; agency renewal from $300 to $345. The sole proprietor fee stayed $250. — **For licensees:** These remain the current fees. — [Act 77](https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/Docs/ACTS/ACT077/ACT077%20As%20Enacted.pdf)

## Enacted, not yet in effect

Act 138 of 2026 rewrites the data broker law in 9 V.S.A. chapter 62 effective January 1, 2027: brokers must have buyers identify themselves, state their purpose, and certify no other use, must make a reasonable effort to verify them, and must refuse disclosure if they have reasonable grounds to believe the data will be misused ([Act 138](https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2026/Docs/ACTS/ACT138/ACT138%20As%20Enacted.pdf)). Act 145 of 2026, a consumer data privacy law, takes effect January 1, 2028 and preserves the ability to investigate and defend legal claims ([Act 145](https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2026/Docs/ACTS/ACT145/ACT145%20As%20Enacted.pdf)).

## Checked and unchanged

- No act amended 26 V.S.A. chapter 59 from 2023 through 2026, and the posted investigator rules date from 2021.
- Vermont has no tracking device statute; tracking can be reached through the stalking law when its elements are met (13 V.S.A. 1061 to 1063), which has no investigator exemption and was amended in 2026 so that the two or more acts in a course of conduct need not occur on separate days.