This bill passed the Senate 27-1 and the House 38-30.
If you wish to become a police officer in Utah—and be vested with the power of the state—you must attend several hundred hours in training. If you wish to start your own business as a private investigator, you have to have 10,000 hours of previous investiative experience.
This odd disparity displays a profound misalignment in the state’s regulation of these two related industries. As of several years ago, the private investigator requirement was only 2,000 hours, until the Legislature increased it to 10,000 hours in 2011.
Senator Luz Escamilla is sponsoring Senate Bill 129 to cut this number in half. While 5,000 hours is still far too many, it’s certainly a step in the right direction; the private investigator requirement should be closer to that of a police officer, if not lower.
