How to determine a Private Investigator is legit

Imagine hiring an individual to investigate a case for you, only to learn that this individual is not licensed in the State of Texas. How do you determine if an individual has a private investigator’s license? In Texas, every private investigation has to be licensed by the Texas Department of Public Safety- Private Security Board. We are also required to carry insurance for the business, and each investigator is required to have a license if they are performing an investigation. Each private investigation company is issued a license number, and our license number is A19977.

So how do you know if the person you are talking to is legit? Before hiring a private investigator, I encourage you to go to the TXDPS website and check to see if the individual has a license. The website for this is https://tops.portal.texas.gov/psp-self-service/login/auth. After checking this information and verifying that they do have a license, call the company that their license is held. So, for example, Haywood Sawyer works for On Call Investigative Solutions, LLC. Call the company to verify that the company is working on the case. In Texas, it is illegal for an individual to do work “on the side” and not under the company that their license is under.