How To Become A Private Investigator In Arizona

Updated September 7, 2022

Arizona’s private investigator licensing program is run by the Licensing Unit in the Department of Public Safety. In order to for you to be granted a Private Investigator Agency License you must have …:” equivalent of three years of full-time investigative experience that consists of actual work performed as an investigator for a private concern, for the federal government or for a state, county or municipal government.” Let’s get into how to become a private investigator in Arizona.

In addition, you need to have investigation experience that they deem to be actual experience. The agency license is also only given to an individual regardless of what type of business structure the company is (sole proprietor, LLC, etc…).

But like any state in the United States there will always be the same general requirements that need to be met which are:

Qualifications
Applications
Fees (because it has to pay for itself)
Become Licensed
Join an Association (not mandatory but recommended)

Let’s get into how to become a private investigator in Arizona.

Contents

1 Qualifications to Become a Private Investigator in Arizona
2 Fill Out the Application
3 Fees
4 Private Investigator Agency Cost
5 Private Investigator Employee Cost
6 Arizona Private Investigator Salary Expectations
7 How to Choose a Private Investigation Business Name
8 Association in Arizona
9 Licensing in the Surrounding States
10 Important Links

Qualifications to Become a Private Investigator in Arizona

There are always levels of experience and minimum qualifications within states that regulate private investigations. Arizona is no different and its requirements are pretty mainstream and reasonable.

As previously stated you need to have 3 years of verifiable experience. They state on their website that vague experience will not be accepted. They give the example of military service and providing a DD214. That alone will not be enough and you will have to show what investigations you performed while in the military.

Furthermore to have an agency or be an employee of an agency you must:

Be a minimum of 18 years old (work as a P.I.) ,21 Years old to Own an Agency
Be a legal citizen or legal residence who can legally work in the United States
Not be convicted of a felony or in the process of being convicted
May not have been convicted of a misdemeanor (which they detail)
Not be on parole
Be mentally stable
Not have a disability defined in section: 41-1461
Not having been convicted as someone working as a private investigator without a license (working illegally as a private investigator
And of course, not be a registered sex offender.

You do not need to have a physical location to have an Arizona Private Investigation Agency. This is not the norm in most states but I do think this is a good thing. You must however be licensed to conduct any work within the state.

You do not need an Arizona address or a Resident Manager to be licensed as a private investigation agency in Arizona.
Arizona department of public safety

Fill Out the Application

To get all the forms you need to apply for a new private investigation agency or to renew click here. Please note that you will need to get fingerprinted as well.

Don’t name your company without getting approval for your agency name. This is something I have never heard of before but I am sure they have their reasons. You can read more about this by clicking here.

Fees

Private Investigator Agency Cost

For a new agency, you must pay $272. If you get approved they request another $400 for the licensing fee and a Surety Bond in the amount of $2,500.

Private Investigator Employee Cost

As a new Private Investigator Employee, an application will need to be completed which indicates the agency the investigator will be working for among other questions that are asked.

The cost is $72.00 for a new private investigator employee to get registered.

After you have been approved and paid all your money to the regulating agency you can begin work as a private investigator for the Agency.

Arizona Private Investigator Salary Expectations

The median wage for a private investigator is $50,710 in Arizona which is a bit lower than the average across the United States. The population within Arizona in 2020 was 7.1 million. Even more interesting is that approximately 700 private investigators are working within the state as of 2021.

If you start a private investigation agency in Arizona, you will have a much better chance of breaking through the average salary in Arizona.

How to Choose a Private Investigation Business Name

Arizona provides some very helpful direction when choosing a business name. And while I discuss how to choose a private investigation business name here, I want to share some quick tips for you.

When choosing a business name, it may be helpful to make it obvious what you do as a business. For instance, using the word investigation or investigative will make it clearer to individuals searching for an investigator what your company does.

For instance, a company named Smith Investigative Services makes it clear what the company does.

In addition to choosing a name, be sure to see if the domain name is available for your private investigation company. An example would be www.smithinvestigativeservices.com or www.smithis.com. Take a look at the aforementioned articles in this section for more detail on these topics.A

Association in Arizona

Arizona has one association which is named the Arizona Association of Licensed Private Investigators or AALPI. The association appears also to have a healthy number of members as of February 2016. That is good news for someone that would like to ask questions specific to investigations in Arizona and it is a good networking opportunity.

Arizona doesn’t mess around when it comes to working as a private investigator and not being licensed. Please make sure to always be licensed when working in the state of Arizona. Experience needed to qualify for an investigative license will come through working for a company or working within a verifiable investigative environment.