Most states require that persons conducting investigations in the private sector be licensed by a governing body. In Texas, the Private Security Bureau of the Texas Department of Public Safety licenses private investigators.
Essentially, the requirements for licensure as a Texas Private Investigator are:
- At least 18 years of age.
- No history of indictment or conviction for felonies, or misdemeanors involving moral turpitude.
- Mentally competent.
- No dishonorable military discharge.
- Not required to register as a sex offender.
Most people are surprised to learn that there is no specific experience or education required to become licensed as an investigator in Texas. As long as the applicant satisfies the above criteria, the decision regarding whom to license is left totally to the discretion and judgment of the manager of the investigations company that employs the person. For all you know, an individual licensee could be a rookie with no meaningful investigative background.
When an attorney hires an investigations company, it is essential that the individual conducting the investigation has a demonstrated capability in the specific area pertaining to the case. For instance, in a surveillance operation being conducted in support of high-stakes litigation, assigning someone with little or no background in shadowing people could produce results that compromise your standing and damage your reputation. Likewise, tasking a person lacking effective interviewing skills with obtaining information of value from a witness might waste the opportunity to achieve a position of superiority in a legal dispute.
It is a good idea to insist that only personnel possessing the requisite skill set be utilized to carry out a given investigative project. Otherwise, you could find yourself unwittingly funding an on-the-job training assignment.
The experts of ResultQuest® have decades of investigative experience and are skilled in many fields. Furthermore, our management will not assign any task to an unqualified investigator.
Call us at 713/781-9040 when know-how matters. It’s Your Move – Make it Count®.