Arkansas private investigator laws are set out in the Private Security Agency, Private Investigator, and School Security Licensing and Credentialing Act, and they are administered by the Arkansas State Police rather than a separate board.1Arkansas Department of Public Safety. Private Investigators, Security Companies, and Alarm Installation and Monitoring The statute controls who can investigate, what methods are legal, and what happens when someone works without a credential. If you are hiring a PI, planning to become one, or trying to understand the limits on what one can do to you, the rules below are the ones that matter.
Who Licenses Private Investigators in Arkansas
The Arkansas State Police handles applications, examinations, and enforcement for the entire industry. There are two things to keep straight: a company license and an individual credential. An investigations company must hold a Class A license, which costs $600 for the initial application. A person working as an investigator under that company must hold a Credentialed Private Investigator (CPI) credential, which carries a $450 application fee plus background check fees of roughly $36.2Justia. Arkansas Code 17-40-302 – Fees
Every license and credential expires two years from the date it was issued. Renewal costs $300 for a Class A license and $150 for a CPI credential. Miss the deadline by more than six months and renewal is off the table entirely; the holder has to start over with a new initial application.3Justia. Arkansas Code 17-40-313 – Renewal of License or Credential
Qualifications to Become a Private Investigator
An applicant must be at least 18, must not have been dishonorably discharged from the military, must not suffer from habitual drunkenness or narcotics dependence, must not have been adjudicated mentally incompetent, and must not be a registered sex offender.4Justia. Arkansas Code 17-40-306 – License or Credential – Applicant Qualifications U.S. citizenship is not required. Non-citizens who are eligible to work in the United States may apply if they submit proof of work eligibility.
The company-license path adds an experience test. An applicant for a Class A license, or the designated manager of that company, needs two consecutive years of experience as an agent, employee, manager, or owner in the investigative field. A licensed bail bondsman with two years of experience and a bachelor’s degree also qualifies.4Justia. Arkansas Code 17-40-306 – License or Credential – Applicant Qualifications
Every applicant clears both state and national criminal background checks, and those checks reach sealed or expunged records. The State Police will deny anyone convicted of a felony, an attempted felony, or a Class A misdemeanor involving theft, sexual offenses, violence, dishonesty, or a crime against a person. A pardon is the only way around a disqualifying conviction.4Justia. Arkansas Code 17-40-306 – License or Credential – Applicant Qualifications
CPI applicants also sit for a written examination and must score at least 70 percent. The exam is given in person at State Police headquarters in Little Rock on Tuesdays. Every investigation company must additionally operate under the daily supervision of at least one qualified manager who has passed a separate written examination.1Arkansas Department of Public Safety. Private Investigators, Security Companies, and Alarm Installation and Monitoring
What a Licensed PI Can Legally Do
Licensed investigators work for individuals, attorneys, businesses, and insurance companies. Typical assignments are surveillance, background research, locating missing persons (skip tracing), insurance fraud work, domestic evidence gathering, and civil liability investigations.
Surveillance is the bread and butter. Investigators can observe, photograph, and video-record subjects from public spaces where there is no reasonable expectation of privacy. Arkansas is a one-party consent state for audio recording, meaning a person who is part of a conversation may record it without telling the other party.5Justia. Arkansas Code 5-60-120 – Interception and Recording So a PI who talks to a subject during an investigation can record that conversation. What they cannot do is intercept or record a conversation between two other people without at least one of them consenting.
Publicly available records are fair game. Court filings, property deeds, and motor vehicle information all feed into background profiles.
What a Private Investigator Cannot Do
The statute treats impersonating a government official as an unlawful act. Investigators cannot use titles, uniforms, badges, identification, or statements that suggest a government connection.6Justia. Arkansas Code 17-40-301 – Unlawful Acts
PIs have no special arrest powers. Under Arkansas administrative rules, no employee of a licensee may arrest, detain, or take any action beyond what a private citizen could take, with a narrow exception for shoplifting detentions. This is one of the biggest misconceptions the public carries about the job. A PI is not law enforcement and cannot hold anyone against their will.
Recording a conversation between two other people without any party’s consent is a Class A misdemeanor.5Justia. Arkansas Code 5-60-120 – Interception and Recording Sealed court records are also off limits. Arkansas law restricts release of sealed records to criminal justice agencies and only in specific circumstances, such as the background checks the State Police itself runs under the licensing act.7Justia. Arkansas Code 16-90-1416 – Release of Sealed Records Trespassing on private property, peering into windows, and submitting false information in a written report to a client are all statutory violations.6Justia. Arkansas Code 17-40-301 – Unlawful Acts
Federal Rules for Background Checks
State licensing is not the only law that applies. If the background check will be used to decide employment, tenant screening, or insurance, the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act adds a separate set of requirements. A report that evaluates someone’s character, reputation, or personal characteristics for one of those purposes is a consumer report, and both the investigator and the client have obligations.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681b – Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports
Before a report is pulled, there must be a permissible purpose. The common ones are employment screening with the subject’s written consent, a business transaction the consumer initiated, a court order, or the consumer’s own written instructions.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681b – Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports For employment work, the employer must give the subject a written disclosure and get written authorization before the investigation starts. If the employer later takes an adverse action based on the report, the subject must receive a copy and a summary of their rights.
Skipping those steps exposes both the investigator and the hiring business to civil liability. Investigators handling this kind of work should document the permissible purpose in the case file before starting.
Risks of Hiring an Unlicensed Investigator
Working as a PI without a credential is unlawful in Arkansas.6Justia. Arkansas Code 17-40-301 – Unlawful Acts For the person paying the bill, the practical risk is that the evidence is worthless. If an unlicensed investigator gathers information through methods that violate state law, a court can rule it inadmissible, and the money spent goes with it.
Verify any investigator’s credential or company license through the Arkansas State Police before hiring. A legitimate PI will hand over a credential number without hesitation.