- The Pass Rate Reality: What's Actually Published
- The Three Domains That Determine Your Score
- What the Retake Rules Reveal About Difficulty
- Application Mechanics That Affect Exam Readiness
- Fee and Renewal Comparison
- Mapping Study Time to the Domains That Matter
- Who Actually Sits for This Exam
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Kansas does not publish a numeric pass rate for the KS-PD exam - treat "pass rate" claims elsewhere with caution.
- You get two reexaminations, each within 30 days of a failure notice, before a denial and 12-month wait.
- The exam covers three domains: the Licensing Act, Kansas Administrative Regulations, and Criminal Carrying of a Weapon under K.S.A. 21-6302.
- Three failed attempts triggers denial of your application and a 12-month restriction before you can reapply.
The Pass Rate Reality: What's Actually Published
If you searched for "KS-PD pass rate 2026" expecting a clean percentage, here's the honest answer: the Kansas Attorney General's Private Detective Licensing Unit, which administers the exam under K.S.A. 75-7b20, does not publish a public pass/fail statistic for this credential. There is no released cohort data, no year-over-year percentage, and no official breakdown by domain. Any number you see floating around that claims to be "the KS-PD pass rate" should be treated skeptically, because it isn't sourced from Kansas's own statute or administrative rules.
What we can do - and what this article does - is look at the structural signals built into the licensing process itself: how many reexamination attempts you're allowed, what triggers a denial, and how the exam content is organized. Those mechanics tell you far more about realistic difficulty than a guessed statistic ever could. For a broader look at how tough the exam actually is to prepare for, see How Hard Is the KS-PD Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026.
The Three Domains That Determine Your Score
Under K.A.R. 16-3-1, the Attorney General sets the time and location for the examination and oral interview, and the content of that exam is drawn directly from the Private Detective Licensing Act and applicable administrative regulations. In practice, candidates should organize their preparation around three distinct content areas.
Domain 1: The Private Detective Licensing Act (K.S.A. 75-7b01 et seq.)
This is the statutory backbone of the exam. It covers licensing categories, who must be licensed, the powers and limits of a private detective in Kansas, and the underlying framework the Attorney General uses to evaluate applicants.
- Definitions and scope of "private detective business" under the Act
- Licensing categories, including the distinction between an ordinary independent detective/agency employee and the specified agency officer, director, partner, or associate category
- Grounds for denial, suspension, or revocation of a license
Domain 2: Kansas Administrative Regulations (K.A.R. 16-1-7 through 16-6-3)
This domain tests your familiarity with the regulatory detail that fills in the statute's gaps - application procedure, financial security requirements, reference and fingerprint submission rules, and renewal mechanics.
- Reference certificate requirements: at least five qualifying nonrelative references who have known the applicant for five years or more, notarized and dated within four months of the Attorney General's receipt of the application
- Financial security minimums (at least $100,000 via bond, liability insurance, or cash deposit) and the covered-agency-employee exception
- Correct citation practice: current regulations use K.A.R. 16-2-1a, not the older 16-2-1(a) format
Domain 3: Criminal Carrying of a Weapon (K.S.A. 21-6302)
Private detectives operate in contexts where weapons law knowledge matters. This domain focuses on the current statutory language, not outdated subsection references.
- Elements of criminal carrying of a weapon under current K.S.A. 21-6302
- Why relying on the obsolete 21-6302(d)(3) citation found in older study materials can cost you points
- How weapons-law knowledge intersects with a licensed detective's day-to-day conduct
For a full domain-by-domain breakdown with study weighting, read KS-PD Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 3 Content Areas. If you want to know the specific score threshold examiners use to determine pass or fail, see KS-PD Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass.
What the Retake Rules Reveal About Difficulty
Because there's no published pass rate, the retake policy is the clearest quantitative signal Kansas gives candidates about how the exam is expected to perform. The rule is specific: two reexaminations are permitted, and each must occur within 30 days after notification of the preceding failure. That means a candidate who fails the first attempt has a narrow, defined window to restudy and retest - not an open-ended runway.
If a candidate fails all three attempts (the original plus two reexaminations), the application is denied outright, and Kansas imposes a 12-month restriction before that person can reapply. This is a meaningful consequence: a full year outside the licensing pipeline, plus the need to resubmit fees, references, and background materials from scratch.
Key Takeaway
Treat your first attempt as the one that counts. The 30-day reexamination window is too short to relearn an entire domain from zero - plan your initial study cycle assuming you get one real shot, with retakes as a safety net rather than the plan.
This structure is why generic test-prep advice falls short for the KS-PD exam. A candidate who under-prepares on Domain 3's current statutory citations, for example, risks a fail that then has to be corrected within 30 days - a tight timeline for mastering weapons-law nuance. Building domain fluency before the first sitting is far more efficient than trying to cram between attempts.
Application Mechanics That Affect Exam Readiness
The exam doesn't exist in isolation - it's one piece of a larger licensing process defined by K.S.A. 75-7b20, which also requires an oral interview and a background investigation. Several application requirements directly shape how ready you are on test day:
- Age and citizenship: applicants must be at least 21 years old and U.S. citizens.
- Education: a high-school diploma or equivalent is required.
- Character and background: photographs, fingerprints, and background review are part of the file the Attorney General reviews alongside your exam performance.
- References: at least five qualifying nonrelative references who have known you for five years, with notarized certificates dated within four months of the Attorney General's receipt of your application.
- Financial security: at least $100,000 through an eligible bond, liability insurance, or cash deposit, subject to the statutory covered-agency-employee exception.
Candidates who leave reference notarization or financial security arrangements until the last minute often end up rushing exam prep too - the two processes compete for the same weeks. For the complete eligibility checklist, see KS-PD Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Fee and Renewal Comparison
Fees vary by license category, and understanding which category you fall into affects both your budget and your motivation to pass on the first attempt - since a denial after three failures means resubmitting fees a year later.
| License Category | Initial Application Fee | Renewal Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Ordinary independent detective or agency employee | $250 | $175 |
| Specified agency officer, director, partner, or associate | $100 | $100 |
Licenses are valid for two years, and renewal requires eight approved continuing-education hours. That renewal cycle is worth planning for now, even before you sit the exam, since continuing education obligations continue long after you pass. A full cost breakdown, including how fees interact with financial security requirements, is available in KS-PD Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
Mapping Study Time to the Domains That Matter
Rather than generic weekly study templates, the most efficient approach for the KS-PD exam is to sequence your review around the three domains in the order they tend to trip up candidates: statutory framework first, regulatory detail second, and weapons law last, since it's the most narrowly scoped.
Domain 1 - The Licensing Act
- Read K.S.A. 75-7b01 et seq. in full, noting licensing categories and denial grounds
- Distinguish the ordinary independent detective category from the specified agency-principal category
Domain 2 - Administrative Regulations
- Memorize reference, notarization, and financial-security thresholds
- Drill correct current citations (K.A.R. 16-2-1a) versus outdated formats
Domain 3 - Criminal Carrying of a Weapon
- Study current K.S.A. 21-6302 language and elements
- Flag and discard any study material still referencing the obsolete 21-6302(d)(3) subsection
Integrated Review
- Run through practice questions covering all three domains together
- Revisit weak spots using short, spaced review sessions rather than one long cram
Spaced repetition works here specifically because the exam draws from three fairly distinct legal sources - you're not reinforcing one subject repeatedly, you're keeping three separate bodies of law fresh simultaneously. For a step-by-step prep plan built around this same structure, see KS-PD Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt, and for a condensed reference during your final review, try KS-PD Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts. You can also run realistic practice questions at the main practice test site to get a feel for question phrasing before test day.
Who Actually Sits for This Exam
The KS-PD exam isn't a general security-industry credential - it's specifically the gateway to a Kansas private detective license issued by the Attorney General's office. Candidates typically fall into two groups mirroring the fee categories above: individuals pursuing an independent or agency-employee license, and principals of established agencies applying under the specified officer/director/partner/associate category.
Both groups face the same three-domain exam content, the same oral interview requirement, and the same background investigation standard under K.S.A. 75-7b20 - the fee difference reflects license category, not exam difficulty. If you're weighing whether this path fits your career goals, Is the KS-PD Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 and KS-PD Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis cover the practical tradeoffs, while KS-PD Jobs outlines where licensed detectives typically find work in Kansas.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. The Attorney General's Private Detective Licensing Unit does not release a public pass/fail percentage for the exam. Base your expectations on the retake rules and domain structure rather than unverified statistics.
You're permitted two reexaminations after an initial failure, each within 30 days of being notified of the previous failure. Failing all three attempts results in denial and a 12-month wait before reapplying.
Three domains: the Private Detective Licensing Act (K.S.A. 75-7b01 et seq.), Kansas Administrative Regulations (K.A.R. 16-1-7 through 16-6-3), and Criminal Carrying of a Weapon (K.S.A. 21-6302).
Older guides sometimes cite K.A.R. 16-2-1(a) or the obsolete K.S.A. 21-6302(d)(3) subsection. Current materials use K.A.R. 16-2-1a and the current K.S.A. 21-6302 - relying on outdated citations can lead to wrong answers.
No. The $250 ordinary applicant fee and $100 specified agency-principal fee determine license category and cost, not exam content - both categories are tested on the same three domains.
Understanding the KS-PD exam's real structure - three defined domains, a strict retake window, and no published pass-rate benchmark - is a far more reliable foundation for preparation than chasing a number that doesn't officially exist. For related background, browse What Is KS-PD? and KS-PD Certification, or start practicing directly at the practice test hub.