Security guard license requirements, state by state.

What it takes to get a security guard license in each US state - training hours, background checks, application fees, and the separate armed-guard endorsement. Some states call it a guard card; this site maps whichever term applies locally.

Status: GetSecurityGuardLicense is in active development. State-level data collection is underway and the first state pages are scheduled to publish in August 2026. This page describes what the site covers and how its data is sourced.

What this site covers

Each state page will set out the requirements a prospective security guard has to meet in that jurisdiction, presented in a consistent format so states can be compared directly:

Required training hours and approved providers
Background check and fingerprinting rules
Application and licensing fees
Armed guard endorsement requirements
Renewal cycles and refresher training

How the data is sourced

Requirements come from primary sources — the state licensing board, agency or statute that actually sets the rule — rather than from other summary sites. Every figure is traceable to the document it came from, and each state page carries the date its data was last checked against that source.

Where a state's rules are ambiguous, portal-locked, or genuinely absent, that is stated plainly rather than filled with an estimate. Terminology also differs between states, so each page uses the term that state actually uses for the credential and notes the equivalent elsewhere.

Corrections

Licensing rules change, and boards revise fees and requirements without notice. If something here is out of date or wrong, corrections are welcome at editor@getsecurityguardlicense.com and are checked against the primary source before publication.