KANSAS ASSOCIATION OF PRIVATE INVESTIGATORS

Missouri Statewide Licensing of Private Investigators Information

The Missouri Legislature passed provisions for statewide licensing of Private Investigators in the 2007 Legislative session. This legislation is codified at RSMo 324.110-324.1148; it became law on 28 August 2007. A copy of the statutory provisions is linked below.

While the law became effective in August 2007, the new state licensing board is not yet operating. That will require the following steps:

Establishment of the Board of Private Investigator Examiners within the existing state agency, the Division of Professional Registration. The five members must be appointed by the Governor and approved by the Legislature.

Appropriate administrative rules must be drafted, reviewed and published in compliance with the existing statutory requirements.

An operating budget must be developed and approved.

A supporting staff must be authorized, hired, etc. within the Division of Professional Registration.

Minor amendments or corrections must be made to the authorizing legislation.

The Division of Profession Registration estimates that it will take approximately 18 months to accomplish this which translates to statewide licensing beginning about January 2009.

The Division of Professional Registration is planning on holding meetings in several parts of the state to inform cities and investigators about the process. Here are the initial issues and current focus:

Persons interested in being on the Board of Private Investigator Examiners must submit a Letter of Interest to the Division; a background check will be made.
Missouri sunshine law allows release of disciplinary records of licensees.
Licensees will be required to provide their SSN on application.
The Division of Professional Registration needs a list of all cities within Missouri that are currently licensing private investigators.
Lists of existing licensed private investigators within Missouri are being sought.

The following issues have been identifed by KAPI and input is being prepared. Comments may be forwarded to the KAPI Secretary.

The licensing provisions that passed do not address carry of firearms by private investigators. KAPI will recommend use of the existing concealed carry license supplemented by some additional requirements to resolve this.
The licensing provisions that passed have requirements for instructors. Originally intended to apply to firearms trainers, this will need clarification due to the included provisions for continuing education.
One exemption from licensing is ‘consumer reporting agencies' as defined under title 15 of the US Code. This will need clarification as the Federal Trade Commission has ruled that private detective agencies meet this definition. Obviously, exempting private detectives makes no sense.
Since the licensing provisions that passed prohibit cities from regulating private investigators, how will that affect current city-licensed private investigators who are exempt from licensing under the new provisions?
The licensing provisions for agency employees is slightly ambiguous raising questions about whether each employee will need to be licensed, no individual license under agency, etc.
The limited screening of licensee backgrounds (two years back) will probably be a barrier to reciprocity with other states.

Reference material on current status:

Last Updated: 14 October 2007