TN Private Investigator cheat sheet

The governing statute is the Tennessee Private Investigators Licensing and Regulatory Act, Tenn. Code Ann. Title 62, Chapter 26, Part 2.

The Tennessee Private Investigation and Polygraph Commission, housed in the Department of Commerce and Insurance, adopts rules, issues licenses, and hears disciplinary cases.

Regulated activity includes furnishing information for hire about a person's identity, habits, conduct, whereabouts, affiliations, or character.

License categories are separate for individual investigators, investigation companies, and polygraph examiners; each carries its own application and renewal requirements.

Persons exempt from licensure include attorneys and their employees, insurers and adjusters acting in the ordinary course of business, and government employees performing official duties.

Grounds for discipline include fraud or misrepresentation in obtaining a license, conviction of specified crimes, and dishonest or unprofessional conduct.

Performing investigative services for compensation without a license is a statutory violation and also subjects the actor to Commission enforcement action.

Commission rules are published in the Tennessee Rules and Regulations; the statute controls if a rule conflicts with it.

A case plan states the client objective, scope, legal constraints, budget, timeline, information sources, and the evidence required for each element of proof.

Element-mapping rule: if no admissible evidence has been identified for an element of the claim, the plan is incomplete.

Commit the plan to writing and revise it when new facts change scope; unbilled scope creep creates both billing and liability exposure.

Order of effort: public records and background first, then canvass and witnesses, then subject contact last, so the subject is not alerted early.

Counter confirmation bias by actively seeking and documenting evidence that contradicts the working theory.

Technique limits: no trespass, no computer intrusion, no pretext used to obtain protected financial or telephone records.

Contemporaneous field notes showing date, time, place, and source are the primary record; the report is built from those notes, not from memory.

Chain of custody must show an unbroken record: collector, date, time, location, description, each transfer with signatures, and storage location.

Assign a unique item number at seizure and record it on the item, in the log, and on every photograph of the item.

Seal packaging and write initials and date across the seal; any later break in the seal must be documented by the person who opened it.

Photograph the item in place before moving it, then photograph it close-up, then photograph it after packaging.

Package biological or damp items in paper after air-drying; use plastic only for dry, non-biological items.

For digital evidence, create a forensic image through a write-blocker and record the hash (SHA-256 or MD5) at acquisition.

The best evidence rule favors originals; when a copy is used, document why the original was unavailable and how the copy was authenticated.

The duty to preserve attaches when litigation is reasonably anticipated; destroying potentially relevant material after that point risks spoliation sanctions.

A surveillance plan lists subject description, vehicle and plate, known addresses, likely routes, cover, communications, and an abort criterion.

Mobile surveillance uses a team that rotates positions; the lead hands off rather than following through turns that expose the tail.

Log time, location, subject action, and vehicles contemporaneously; note every gap in observation and its cause.

Static surveillance suits a fixed address; mobile surveillance is used to establish movement between locations.

Ask open-ended questions first and narrow progressively; avoid leading questions that suggest the desired answer.

Cognitive interview sequence: reinstate context, request everything remembered, then vary the order and perspective of recall.

Miranda warnings bind government agents; a private investigator generally need not give them unless acting at police direction.

Report format is chronological, first person, and factual, distinguishing observed facts from reported statements, with no conclusions or opinions.

Investigators may not display badges, uniforms, or vehicle markings implying law enforcement authority, nor state or imply that they are police officers.

Work only toward lawful objectives; decline any assignment whose purpose is to harass, intimidate, or defraud.

Confidential client information is disclosed only to the client and to persons with a legal need to know, absent a court order.

Disclose and withdraw from engagements with a conflict of interest, including representing two adverse parties in the same matter.

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act bars obtaining financial information by false pretenses; the DPPA limits access to motor vehicle records to permitted purposes.

Recording is governed by federal and Tennessee wiretap law; one-party consent applies only where the investigator is a party to the communication.

Represent the license accurately in advertising, client contact, and testimony; the Commission can discipline misrepresentation of credentials.