Vermont One-Party

Licensing & Regulation

Vermont licenses PIs through the Office of Professional Regulation under 26 V.S.A. §3171 et seq. Applicants must be 18+, demonstrate two years of experience, pass an examination, submit fingerprints, and post a surety bond.

Physical Surveillance

Public surveillance is permitted. Vermont's stalking statute (13 V.S.A. §1062) constrains intrusive conduct. GPS tracking on a non-owned vehicle is risky.

Audio & Video Recording Consent

Vermont has no specific wiretap statute and is generally treated as a one-party-consent state by default under federal law, but Vermont Supreme Court case law (State v. Geraw, 2002) has recognized a constitutional expectation of privacy in some recorded conversations. Practitioners should treat Vermont as a borderline state and obtain consent where possible.

Domestic, Marital & Infidelity Investigations

Vermont allows both no-fault and fault-based divorce. Marital misconduct can affect maintenance. PIs document patterns. Accessing a spouse's accounts violates 13 V.S.A. §4101 et seq. (computer crime).

Cybersecurity, Hacking & Digital Investigations

13 V.S.A. §4101 et seq. parallels the CFAA. OSINT is permitted; pretexting is barred. Vermont has aggressive data-broker registration requirements.

Missing Persons, Skip Tracing & Harassment

Vermont State Police coordinate missing-persons cases. DPPA fully applies. Vermont's stalking statute is broad.