Unofficial questions in the three parts of the Missouri examination: statutes, board rules and general practice, each with its source.
60:00
Pick an answer, then press Check answer.Then you see Correct or Not quite, with the reason.Keys: A to D pick, Enter checks.
Print covers the next 50 questions. Share this set copies a link to the same questions in the same order.
Exam mode: 50 questions, 60 minutes, 35 right to pass (70%).
Your totals on this device
0answered
0right
none yetpercent right
none yetbest exam score
Seen 0 of 65 questions
More options
Which questions to ask
Missed and Flagged fill up as you go.
Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with the Board of Private Investigator and Private Fire Investigator Examiners. Bank checked October 16, 2026.
A licensed Missouri investigator wants to hire two investigators. What does RSMo 324.1114 require?RSMo 324.1114
After the commission finds grounds for discipline, what is the longest suspension RSMo 324.1134 allows?RSMo 324.1134
An employee leaves a Missouri licensee and hands back the pocket card. How long does the licensee have to send it to the board under RSMo 324.1124?RSMo 324.1124
For how long is a license issued under RSMo 324.1100 to 324.1148 valid?RSMo 324.1126
For how long must a Missouri licensee keep a complete record of business transactions under RSMo 324.1136?RSMo 324.1136
For how many agencies may an unlicensed agency employee work at one time under RSMo 324.1120?RSMo 324.1120
How long is a regular term on the Missouri board under RSMo 324.1102?RSMo 324.1102
How many board members must have been actively engaged in the private investigator business for the previous five years, under RSMo 324.1102 as amended in 2026?RSMo 324.1102
How old must a person be before a Missouri agency may hire that person as an employee under RSMo 324.1116?RSMo 324.1116
In RSMo 324.1100, what makes a person a "private investigator agency"?RSMo 324.1100
Show all 65 questions (55 more)
Missouri statutes: RSMo 324.1100 to 324.1148, continued
May a Missouri city make a state-licensed investigator pass a city examination or pay an occupational tax to practice?RSMo 324.1114
RSMo 324.1106 exempts a consumer reporting agency. Which federal definition does it borrow?RSMo 324.1106
RSMo 324.1132 requires which details in a Missouri investigator's advertising?RSMo 324.1132
RSMo 324.1142 makes it what grade of offense to knowingly falsify the fingerprints sent in with an application?RSMo 324.1142
To which body does the board take its case against a Missouri investigator under RSMo 324.1134?RSMo 324.1134
To whom may a Missouri licensee divulge information about a criminal offense under RSMo 324.1128?RSMo 324.1128
Under RSMo 324.1100, can a Missouri investigator's "principal place of business" be a home?RSMo 324.1100
Under RSMo 324.1103, who exercises all administrative functions for the board?RSMo 324.1103
What citizenship rule does RSMo 324.1108 set for a Missouri private investigator license?RSMo 324.1108
What does RSMo 324.1110 say the written examination is evidence of?RSMo 324.1110
What does RSMo 324.1128 say about a licensee's video of a person inside that person's own domicile, made without permission?RSMo 324.1128
What happens to a Missouri license that is not renewed within two years of its expiration?RSMo 324.1126
What is the least liability insurance RSMo 324.1108 lets a private investigator applicant show?RSMo 324.1108
When is a process server outside the private investigator business under RSMo 324.1106?RSMo 324.1106
When weighing a license request, what must the Missouri board consider under RSMo 324.1112?RSMo 324.1112
Where testing has been waived, what must a Missouri applicant show for the two previous years under RSMo 324.1110?RSMo 324.1110
Which arrest and use of force standards apply to a law enforcement officer working a private case in Missouri, under RSMo 324.1146?RSMo 324.1146
Which is required of every member of the Missouri board by RSMo 324.1102?RSMo 324.1102
Which of these is part of the "private investigator business" as RSMo 324.1100 defines it?RSMo 324.1100
Which person is NOT engaging in the private investigator business under RSMo 324.1106?RSMo 324.1106
Who goes to a licensee's place of business to gather records for the Missouri board under RSMo 324.1136?RSMo 324.1136
Who may submit a written report to a client under RSMo 324.1128?RSMo 324.1128
Board rules: 20 CSR 2234 16
20 CSR 2234-2.020 gives a Missouri investigator how many days to tell the board of a new legal name?20 CSR 2234-2.020
A Missouri agency is changing its name. Under 20 CSR 2234-3.020, when may it release printed materials in the new name?20 CSR 2234-3.020
A Missouri agency is sold. What does 20 CSR 2234-3.020 say about its license?20 CSR 2234-3.020
A Missouri investigator accepts a retainer in cash. What must be offered under 20 CSR 2234-7.010?20 CSR 2234-7.010
An agency investigator employee leaves a Missouri agency. How soon must the agency tell the board under 20 CSR 2234-3.010?20 CSR 2234-3.010
How many extra continuing education hours may a Missouri private investigator carry into the next two-year cycle?20 CSR 2234-6.010
How many times may a person sit for the Missouri examination within twelve months under 20 CSR 2234-5.010?20 CSR 2234-5.010
How much instruction time earns one hour of continuing education credit under 20 CSR 2234-6.010?20 CSR 2234-6.010
How must a complaint against a Missouri investigator be made under 20 CSR 2234-1.040?20 CSR 2234-1.040
In 20 CSR 2234-1.010, who is the "investigator-in-charge"?20 CSR 2234-1.010
The Missouri board writes to an investigator. When is a written reply timely under the code of conduct, 20 CSR 2234-7.010?20 CSR 2234-7.010
Once the board approves an application, how long does a Missouri candidate have to pass the examination under 20 CSR 2234-2.010?20 CSR 2234-2.010
What is the application fee for an individual investigator license in 20 CSR 2234-1.050?20 CSR 2234-1.050
Which applicant is exempt from the Missouri examination under 20 CSR 2234-5.010?20 CSR 2234-5.010
Which kind of course will the Missouri board not approve for continuing education, whatever its quality?20 CSR 2234-6.010
Whose Certificate of Insurance does the Missouri board refuse as proof of liability insurance under 20 CSR 2234-2.010?20 CSR 2234-2.010
General practice: Missouri laws an investigation must stay within 16
A Missouri agency denies an investigator's records request. What may the investigator ask for under RSMo 610.023?RSMo 610.023
A Missouri investigator, not acting under law, records a phone call she is herself a party to and does not tell the other person. Under RSMo 542.402 this is:RSMo 542.402
A store is open to the public. Under RSMo 569.010, when does a person who walks in "enter unlawfully"?RSMo 569.010
A witness lies under oath at a deposition. Under RSMo 575.040, which element makes the false testimony perjury?RSMo 575.040
An investigator asks a Missouri county for a public record under the Sunshine Law. By when must the custodian act on the request under RSMo 610.023?RSMo 610.023
An investigator taps a phone line to hear a call between two other people, neither of whom knows. How does RSMo 542.402 grade knowingly intercepting a wire communication?RSMo 542.402
An investigator tells a landlord he is a police detective to get a tenant's file, and the landlord hands it over. How does RSMo 575.120 grade this false impersonation?RSMo 575.120
How does RSMo 569.150 grade trespass in the second degree?RSMo 569.150
How does RSMo 610.011 tell courts and agencies to read the exceptions to Missouri's open records law?RSMo 610.011
How is an arrest made, according to RSMo 544.180?RSMo 544.180
RSMo 542.402 treats knowingly using what was learned from an unlawful telephone tap as:RSMo 542.402
Under RSMo 563.051, a private person making an arrest with no officer present may use deadly force when it is immediately necessary to arrest someone who, in the private person's presence:RSMo 563.051
Unfenced Missouri farmland has no signs. When does walking onto it become trespass in the first degree under RSMo 569.140?RSMo 569.140
What is the most a Missouri public body may charge per page for a paper copy no larger than nine by fourteen inches, under RSMo 610.026?RSMo 610.026
What must be true before a private person, acting on his or her own account, may use physical force to arrest someone under RSMo 563.051?RSMo 563.051
Whose investigations does Missouri's first degree stalking statute, RSMo 565.225, say it does not apply to?RSMo 565.225
How this list was compiled: Revised Statutes of Missouri, sections 324.1100 to 324.1148 (as amended through 2026 S.B. 1421) and sections 542.402, 544.180, 563.051, 565.225, 569.010, 569.140, 569.150, 575.040, 575.120, 610.011, 610.023 and 610.026, read on October 16, 2026 on the Revisor of Statutes site (https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneChapter.aspx?chapter=324); and the rules of the Board of Private Investigator and Private Fire Investigator Examiners, 20 CSR 2234-1 to 2234-7, read the same day in the Secretary of State's Code of State Regulations (https://www.sos.mo.gov/adrules/csr/current/20csr/20csr.asp#20-2234). The three topics and their shares follow the board's Exam Information page (https://pr.mo.gov/pi-exam-information.asp). Each question names its section or rule and links to it. Licence: Own work. Every question, wrong choice and explanation was written for this site from the text of the statutes and rules named under "source". Nothing comes from the Missouri examination, the board's study guide, a training class or a prep publisher.
How it works
This unofficial Missouri private investigator exam study guide works by questions: 65 of our own, split like the board's examination between statutes, rules and general practice. Not affiliated with the Board of Private Investigator and Private Fire Investigator Examiners.
Read the full guide
What the Missouri examination covers
The board's Exam Information page gives 100 questions: 50 on the statutes, 25 on the board's rules and 25 relevant to the general practice of private investigation. This bank keeps those shares.
Where the questions come from
Statute questions cite RSMo 324.1100 to 324.1148 as amended in 2026. Rule questions cite 20 CSR 2234. General practice questions cite Missouri statutes on recording calls, trespass, impersonation, stalking, arrest by a private person and open records.
What is left out
The board does not publish what its general practice questions ask, so investigative technique is not asked here.
Liability insurance of at least $250,000 comes before the license (RSMo 324.1108).
Keep a complete record of business transactions for seven years (RSMo 324.1136).
Sixteen hours of continuing education every two years; up to sixteen extra hours carry over (RSMo 324.1122; 20 CSR 2234-6.010).
Questions and answers
Is there an official Missouri private investigator exam study guide?
Yes, but it is not posted. The board's Exam Information page says the examination application and study guide materials are sent only after a person applies for a license and is found to lack the required experience. This page is separate from it.
How many questions are on the Missouri private investigator exam?
100, with two hours to finish and 70% to pass, according to the board's Exam Information page. Exam mode here is half that length: 50 questions in 60 minutes.
How much does the Missouri private investigator exam cost?
$80, paid with the examination application, according to the board's page and 20 CSR 2234-1.050. The same rule sets the application fee for an individual investigator license at $500.
Who has to take the Missouri private investigator exam?
Every applicant the rules do not exempt. 20 CSR 2234-5.010 exempts an applicant who shows two years of lawful practice within the past three, one eligible by reciprocity, and law enforcement officers under RSMo 324.1146.
How many times can you retake the Missouri private investigator exam?
No more than four times within a twelve month period, and a candidate must pass within one year of the date the application was approved (20 CSR 2234-5.010 and 2234-2.010).