Private investigator licensing in Maine

Yes. Private investigators need a licence in Maine. The Chief of the Maine State Police licenses individual professional investigators and sponsored investigative assistants. Applicants must be 21, US citizens or resident aliens and high-school graduates, meet one of several experience routes (for example 3 years as a law enforcement officer or federal investigator), pass an exam and supply three Maine character references. Investigators also post a surety bond ($10,000 for residents, $50,000 for non-residents) and file proof of liability insurance every year.

Maine State Police, Weapons and Professional Licensing Unit (Special Investigations Unit), under 32 M.R.S. Chapter 89 (Professional Investigators).

At least 21.

One of: investigative-assistant sponsorship (1,200 hours) plus 60 relevant college credits; 3 years as a federal or military investigator; 3 years as a law enforcement officer; 3 years licensed in a substantially equivalent reciprocal state; or 6 years of combined work and education

Yes, applicants must pass an exam.

Surety bond of $10,000 (resident), $50,000 (non-resident) or $20,000 (investigative assistant); liability insurance of at least $10,000 property damage, $100,000 per person and $200,000 per occurrence

Initial licence 2 years, then renewable every 4 years

Application $50 plus $21 criminal history check ($71); $450 on issue of the 2-year licence; 4-year renewal $521 ($500 plus $21 check); investigative assistant licence $600

1. Check you meet the age, education and experience routes in 32 M.R.S. s.8105 2. Complete the paper application with three Maine character references; the third page must be notarised 3. Sign the DHHS and P-3E release forms and gather your diploma, birth certificate, photo and experience evidence 4. Get state criminal history records from any other state you lived in during the last 5 years 5. Post the packet and $71 cheque to the Weapons and Professional Licensing Unit in Augusta 6. Sit the exam on the date you are sent and pay the $450 balance 7. File the surety bond and proof of liability insurance to receive the licence

3 years' licensing in another state with substantially equivalent requirements meets the experience requirement, provided that state grants Maine licensees the same treatment.

Maine is a one-party consent state: you can generally record a conversation you are part of without telling the others.