Illinois § 10-5

§ 10-5.

Requirement of license. (a) It is unlawful for a person to act as or provide the functions of a private detective, private security contractor, private alarm contractor, fingerprint vendor, or locksmith or to advertise or to assume to act as any one of these, or to use these or any other title implying that the person is engaged in any of these activities unless licensed as such by the Department. An individual or sole proprietor who does not employ any employees other than himself or herself may operate under a "doing business as" or assumed name certification without having to obtain an agency license, so long as the assumed name is first registered with the Department. (b) It is unlawful for a person, firm, corporation, or other legal entity to act as an agency licensed under this Act, to advertise, or to assume to act as a licensed agency or to use a title implying that the person, firm, or other entity is engaged in the practice as a private detective agency, private security contractor agency, private alarm contractor agency, fingerprint vendor agency, or locksmith agency unless licensed by the Department. (c) No agency shall operate a branch office without first applying for and receiving a branch office license for each location. (d) It is unlawful for a person to operate live scan fingerprint equipment or other equipment designed to obtain fingerprint images for the purpose of providing fingerprint images and associated demographic data to the Illinois State Police, unless the person has successfully completed a fingerprint training course conducted or authorized by the Illinois State Police and is licensed as a fingerprint vendor. (e) No person shall operate a canine training facility unless licensed as a private detective agency or private security contractor agency under this Act, and no person shall act as a canine trainer unless the person is licensed as a private detective or private security contractor or is a registered employee of a private detective agency or private security contractor agency approved by the Department. (Source: P.A. 102-538, eff. 8-20-21; 103-309, eff. 1-1-24.)