Private investigator licensing in South Carolina

Yes. Private investigators need a licence in South Carolina. SLED licenses private investigation businesses, and investigators employed by those businesses must be registered with SLED. A business licence applicant must be at least 21, a US citizen with a high school diploma or equivalent, have no felony or moral turpitude convictions, have three years' investigative experience and post a $10,000 surety bond. Registered employees must be at least 18, and both licences and registrations last one year.

South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), Regulatory Services, under S.C. Code Title 40, Chapter 18 (Private Security and Private Investigation Business Act).

At least 21.

Business licence: 3 years' investigative experience (SLED counts this as 6,000 hours) as a registered PI with a licensed agency, an investigator for a law firm, government, corporate or nonprofit employer, or a sworn officer; registered employees need none

No state exam is required.

Business licence: $10,000 surety bond in favour of the State, on SLED's approved form

Annually (licence and registration each last one year); 12 hours of SLED-approved CE every 24 months

Business licence $350 a year (non-refundable; covers the licensee's own registration); employee registration fees set by SLED regulation

1. Check you meet the age 21, citizenship, education and three-year (6,000-hour) experience rules 2. Get a $10,000 surety bond on SLED's approved form 3. Complete and notarise the application, judgment statement affidavit, Form PD/PS-9 and disclosure of principals 4. Prepare two fingerprint cards, a digital photo and a sample client contract for SLED approval 5. Send everything to SLED Regulatory Services with the $350 fee; SLED runs a background investigation 6. Once licensed, register each investigator you employ with SLED

Only North Carolina PIs, for up to 30 days per investigation that began in North Carolina; SLED says out-of-state investigators otherwise need a South Carolina licence to work cases here

Limited agreement with North Carolina only (since 2001): a PI licensed or registered in either state may continue a specific investigation into the other for up to 30 days. SLED states there is no reciprocity with any other state.

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