Qualifications to Be a Private Investigator in Tennessee

By Business & Finance Last updated Monday, July/15/2024

Private investigators gather information.magnifier with a credit card. image by Petr Gnuskin from Fotolia.com

A private investigator is one who gathers and furnishes information as a means of employment. This information may pertain to such areas as crimes, threats, identity, honesty, integrity, affiliations, location of property, insurance claims, evidence to be used in court, reputations or character of any person.

License Requirements

Tennessee requires any private investigator license applicant to be employed or associated with a licensed Tennessee private investigation company.

Additionally, a private investigator must be at least 21 years old and a United States citizen or resident alien, must not have an alcohol or drug dependency and must have a good moral character. An individual must meet continuing education and examination requirements. Finally, the license seeker must submit to a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and Federal Bureau of Investigation background check to include fingerprint cards.

The private investigator exam is closed-book with 50 multiple choice questions and takes two hours to complete. It is comprised of 80 percent Tennessee laws and 20 percent Tennessee rules.

Your exam results will be displayed at the end of your test. A score of 70% or above is passing. Average application time is 3 to 4 months, and the commission will contact you about your license and license fee.

If you fail the exam, you must wait at least two weeks prior to retaking. After two failed attempts, you may request to review your last exam taken. There is a fee of $50 to review your exam. You also may request a strength and weakness report to help you prepare prior to retaking the exam. The report costs $20.

Twelve hours of continuing education is required during the renewal period. Continuing education courses must be approved by the commission, which recommends on its website that at least one of those hours be a course in ethics.

Licenses are renewable two years after issuance. A late fee is required if a license has expired for less than 30 days. Any licensed expired for more than 30 days is not renewable.

Fees are subject to change, and it is recommended you check with the Tennessee Private Investigation and Polygraph Commission prior to application for current fee information.

As of May 2010, the application fee for becoming a private investigator is $150. License and license renewal fees are $100. Duplicate license fee is $25.