Security guard license requirements in Texas (2026)

If you run a guard company in Texas — or you’re about to start one — the rules live in one place: the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Private Security Program (Regulatory Services Division), operating under Occupations Code Chapter 1702, the Private Security Act. This guide covers what DPS actually requires for unarmed guards, armed guards, and the company license itself, with every requirement linked to the regulator’s own pages.

Requirements checked as of September 15, 2026. Rules change; before you act on anything here, confirm it on the DPS Private Security Program site.

Who regulates guards in Texas

The DPS Private Security Program licenses the private security industry under Occupations Code Chapter 1702 and its administrative rules, 37 TAC Chapter 35 (DPS publishes both in one consolidated PDF). Like Florida — and unlike Georgia — Texas licenses both the company and every individual guard: the business holds a Class B Security Contractor Company license, every unarmed guard holds a non-commissioned security officer license, and every armed guard holds a security officer commission on top of it. All applications run through the Texas Online Private Security (TOPS) portal.

One structural rule to internalize first: under §1702.221 and Rule 35.2, an individual license only works through a licensed company — a guard cannot contract directly with a client, and an individual must be employed by a company license holder to hold the license at all.

Unarmed guards: the non-commissioned security officer license

Anyone employed as a security guard, watchman, or patrolman by a security services contractor must hold an individual license (§§1702.221–.222). The requirements:

At least 18 years old and not disqualified — no pending disqualifying Class A/B misdemeanor or felony charges, no sex-offender registration, not dishonorably discharged (§1702.113, applied to individual licenses by §1702.229).
Level II training, with the certificate submitted with the application. Per Rule 35.141, Level II may be taught by the employing licensed company’s own designee or by an approved school, using DPS’s current course materials.
Fingerprints and an FBI criminal history check (§1702.282; the fingerprint check runs $28.25).
Fee: $37 total ($30 license + $5 pocket card + $2 subscription).
Term: individual licenses expire 2 years from issuance (Rule 35.31(b)).

Texas does let a non-commissioned guard start work quickly — but only under a specific safe harbor. If DPS hasn’t shown the application complete within 48 hours of fingerprint submission, the guard may begin unarmed work if the employer runs the pre-employment background check of Rule 35.3 (criminal history and sex-offender registry, §1702.230(f)) and keeps the search results in the employee’s file — missing documentation is treated as a presumption the check never happened. This shortcut never applies to armed work.

Armed guards: the security officer commission

A guard may not carry a firearm on duty — and you may not employ one to — unless DPS has issued a security officer commission (§1702.161). The employer submits the commission application (§1702.162). The guard needs:

Level II plus Level III training. The Level III course must be taught by a licensed Level III school and instructor and runs a minimum of 45 hours, including classroom and range handgun instruction (the statute sets a 30-hour floor and requires 10–15 hours of in-person handgun proficiency and self-defense instruction — §1702.1675).
A written exam and live-fire qualification, demonstrated within the 90 days before the commission issues (§1702.1685).
The MMPI psychological test — proof of completion of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory is a statutory eligibility requirement (§1702.163(a)(5)); DPS does not maintain a list of providers, but any licensed psychologist or psychiatrist can administer it, and a valid MMPI does not expire.
Fee: $57 total ($50 + $5 pocket card + $2 subscription).

Unlike the unarmed 48-hour safe harbor, a commissioned officer must be approved by DPS before beginning employment in that capacity (§1702.282(b)). And once commissioned, the firearm rules are strict: on duty or traveling to and from post only, in a distinctive security uniform, weapon in plain view (§1702.169) — and only in the firearm category the officer actually trained on (Rule 35.7). Shotgun duty requires a separate course of fire (Rule 35.146).

Personal protection officers (armed bodyguard work) are a third layer: at least 21 years old, already commissioned, employed by a licensed company, plus the 15-hour in-person Level IV course in nonlethal defense and their own MMPI (§§1702.204–.205; Rule 35.91). The PPO license fee is also $57, and the license expires with the underlying commission (§1702.301(c)).

Starting a company: the Class B license

A guard company is a “security services contractor,” and operating one without a Class B company license is a crime (§1702.102). Class B covers guard, alarm, armored car, courier, electronic access, and locksmith services — DPS marks the authorized categories on the license, and working outside them draws the program’s largest scheduled fine ($5,000, Rule 35.52). Class C combines Class B with Class A private investigation authority. What a new owner needs:

A qualified company representative. For a guard company, Rule 35.122 requires this person to be at least 21, with three years of accumulated experience in the field and at least one year in a managerial or supervisory position. They must pass DPS’s company examination with at least 70% (§1702.117; Rule 35.42).
Insurance before eligibility. Under §1702.124, the application must include a certificate of general liability insurance with minimum limits of $100,000 per occurrence for bodily injury and property damage, $50,000 per occurrence for personal injury, and $200,000 aggregate. Knowingly operating without it is a Class A misdemeanor (§1702.3841).
Fingerprints for each officer overseeing security operations and each 25%+ owner (§1702.110; Rule 35.30), and a physical Texas address for the business and its records (§§1702.110(b), 1702.127(d)).
Fee: $412 total for Class B ($400 + $12 subscription); Class C is $556. Branch offices carry no fee but must be reported to DPS within 14 days (§1702.129).

Applications go through TOPS, per the company FAQ.

Renewals and continuing education

Texas runs the company and its people on different clocks:

Company licenses expire every year (Rule 35.31(a); the FAQ confirms annual expiration, renewable starting 180 days out).
Individual licenses and commissions run 2 years (Rule 35.31(b)).
Late renewal: up to 90 days late costs 1.5× the renewal fee; 90 days to one year costs 2×; past one year, the license cannot be renewed at all — the person starts over as a new applicant, exam and training proofs included (§1702.302).
Continuing education: commissioned security officers and PPOs owe 6 hours through the Level III/IV renewal course, plus a firearms proficiency certificate no more than 90 days old with the renewal application (Rules 35.83, 35.161(g)). Non-commissioned officers are exempt from CE (§1702.308(a)), but individually licensed owners owe 8 hours including one hour of ethics (Rule 35.161(b)).

Common pitfalls (from DPS’s own pages and rules)

An insurance lapse suspends the company automatically. Rule 35.27: suspension is immediate on failure to keep current proof on file, and you get 10 business days to prove there was no lapse — after that, reinstatement requires a new application and a $150 reinstatement fee.
Paying the renewal isn’t renewing. DPS’s FAQ warns a company renewal “will not be processed until your company is reflecting current insurance in our database.”
Guard transfers have a 14-day clock. A licensee or commissioned officer moving to your company transfers only if the new employer notifies DPS within 14 days, with the $17 employee information update fee (§§1702.167, 1702.234).
The uniform is regulated. Every guard’s outermost garment must show the company name, the word “Security,” and the guard’s last name (Rule 35.14) — a scheduled-fine violation.
Pocket cards must be on the guard. On duty, guards must carry the DPS-issued pocket card and present it to any peace officer or DPS representative on request (Rules 35.5(c), 35.82).
The one-year renewal grace period is a cliff. Work performed on an expired license is still a violation during the grace window, and past one year the license is dead (§1702.302; Rule 35.52).

Keeping all of this current is the actual hard part

Getting licensed once is a project; staying licensed is a system. A 20-guard Texas company is tracking an annual company license, insurance proof that suspends the whole business the day it lapses, two-year individual licenses for every guard, commissions with a firearms proficiency certificate that must be under 90 days old at renewal, MMPI records, Level II certificates for every hire, and a 14-day clock on every transfer in or out. Watchbill tracks every guard’s certifications and expiration dates in one place and warns you before anything lapses, so compliance stops living in a spreadsheet you check when you remember to. We’re onboarding independent guard companies now — start a free 30-day trial at getwatchbill.com.

Requirements change; verify with the Texas Department of Public Safety, Private Security Program before acting. This guide is educational, not legal advice.