West Virginia
West Virginia licenses private investigators and investigative firms through the Secretary of State under W. Va. Code chapter 30, article 18, which has not been amended since 2021. Since 2023 the State has labeled stalking separately from harassment, added a drone offense for critical infrastructure, and let public officials have their home addresses removed from government websites, and a federal court held the private-disclosure ban in the State’s Daniel’s Law unconstitutional.
At a glance
- Authority
- Secretary of State, Licensing Division (W. Va. Code 30-18-3, -9, -10); no separate board
- Statute
- W. Va. Code chapter 30, article 18
- Rules
- 153 CSR 12 (contested case hearings, 2000); no substantive licensing rule is in force
- Who is licensed
- Individual private investigators, who may not employ others, and investigative firms; firm employees are not separately licensed but must meet the eligibility requirements other than experience (30-18-4). Insurance adjusters, single-employer investigators, attorneys and their employees, federal and state officers on duty or working off duty for a private employer, alarm companies, and prosecutors’ investigators are exempt (30-18-1(5)(B)).
- Qualifications
- At least 18; a U.S. citizen or legal resident; good moral character; at least one year of experience, education, or training, including relevant coursework, law enforcement, work for a licensed agency, or military service; no felony; and no conviction for listed weapons, burglary-tool, stolen-property, unlawful-entry, escape, or drug offenses or a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude or dishonesty (30-18-2(a)). No exam. Five character references and a fingerprint-based state and FBI check (30-18-3, 30-18-10).
- Renewal
- Every 2 years; renewal fee capped at $50 (30-18-9). Initial fees: $50 processing plus a $100 individual or $200 firm license fee (30-18-3(g)(2)).
- Continuing education
- None
- Bond or insurance
- A $5,000 surety bond or proof of liability insurance as the Secretary of State requires (30-18-3(h)-(i)).
- Firearms
- The article has no firearms provision; carrying is governed by general law (W. Va. Code 61-7-7).
Changes, 2023 to 2026
Permitless concealed carry extended to ages 18 to 20
Allows a person at least 18 who is a U.S. citizen or legal resident and is not prohibited from possessing firearms to carry a concealed deadly weapon without a license (W. Va. Code 61-7-7(c)); permitless carry for those 21 and older already existed.
For licensees: An investigator license still does not itself authorize carry.
Public officials may have home addresses removed from government websites
Lets current or former judicial officers, prosecutors, public defenders, law enforcement officers, elected officials, campaign treasurers, and their household family members ask a state or local agency to remove or redact their home address and personal phone from a publicly accessible website or database. Exceptions include recorded title documents, disclosures to consumer reporting agencies, title insurers, attorneys, and real estate brokers, disclosures required under the motor vehicle records statute, and disclosures under subpoena. It binds government agencies, not private parties.
For licensees: Expect redacted addresses in some online government records.
Federal court holds Daniel’s Law private-disclosure ban unconstitutional
Held facially unconstitutional under the First Amendment W. Va. Code 5A-8-24(e), which bars any person or business from disclosing, without permission, the home address or unpublished phone number of current or former judicial officers, prosecutors, public defenders, and law enforcement officers where a reasonable person would believe it would expose them to harassment or risk of harm. The opinion distinguished the separate notice-and-removal provision in 5A-8-24(h). Section 5A-8-24(e) remains in the code. An appeal in the consolidated cases (No. 25-2121) was argued in the Fourth Circuit on September 15, 2026; no opinion had been posted as of October 18, 2026.
For licensees: The ruling did not address the takedown-request provision in 5A-8-24(h).
Health care workers’ personal information protected
Makes it a misdemeanor to knowingly post a health care worker’s or family member’s home address, phone numbers, or photos of the home online with intent to threaten, intimidate, or incite violence, or with the intent and knowledge that it will be used that way, and lets health care workers ask officials to stop making such information available online.
For licensees: Posting such information is a crime only with the stated intent.
Drone offense for critical infrastructure
Creates an offense of operating an unmanned aerial vehicle over critical infrastructure to conduct surveillance or gather information with intent to harm, or to obtain trade secrets (W. Va. Code 61-16-2(b)). The same act added exceptions that apply to the whole section, including the existing ban (61-16-2(a)) on using a drone to capture images of a person or private property in a way that invades a reasonable expectation of privacy: a person may survey their own or leased property, third persons retained by the owner of immovable property may survey that property, and news organizations flying above 400 feet are exempt (61-16-2(c), (e)).
For licensees: Drone surveillance that invades a reasonable expectation of privacy was already a misdemeanor.
Stalking and harassment labeled as separate offenses
Labels the existing offenses in W. Va. Code 61-2-9a(a) and (b) as stalking and harassment, retitles the section, and extends the felony for conduct intended to cause self-injury or suicide to stalking. The existing definition of course of conduct, which covers following, monitoring, observing, or surveilling a person by any device or means, is unchanged.
For licensees: The stalking law has no investigator exemption; bills to create a separate tracking device crime died in 2023 and 2024.
Checked and unchanged
- The section histories of article 18 show no amendment after 2021, and bills in 2023 and 2024 to remove the good moral character and moral turpitude bars died in committee.
- The general criminal-record limits in W. Va. Code 30-1-24 do not apply to investigator licenses (30-1-24(b)).
- Licensed private investigator agencies remain permitted users of motor vehicle records (17A-2A-7(8)), and the one-party consent recording rule is unchanged.
Last updated October 18, 2026Source: United States Council for Law & InvestigationCite as: United States Council for Law & Investigation, “West Virginia private investigator licensing: Licensing Law Tracker,” uscli.org/licensing-tracker/west-virginia (last updated October 18, 2026). Text licensed CC BY 4.0.