Alaska licenses security guards through the Department of Public Safety, Division of Statewide Services. No one can be employed as a security guard until they hold a state license (AS 18.65.400), and working without one is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 60 days in jail, a $1,000 fine, or both (AS 18.65.480). No Alaska city adds a guard license of its own.
One group is excluded. An employer that uses its own employees for unarmed plant security on its own premises doesn't have to license them (AS 18.65.460).
Who qualifies
- You must be 18 or older and a U.S. citizen or a resident alien with a work permit (13 AAC 60.050).
- No felony conviction in the last 10 years, unless you have a full pardon.
- You affirm that you aren't addicted to or dependent on alcohol or drugs, and that no mental condition impairs your memory, reason, judgment or perception.
- The application asks for every arrest and conviction from the last 10 years, traffic citations included. DPS won't accept the form with that section blank. It also asks about domestic violence orders and domestic violence assault convictions.
- You list 3 character references who aren't related to you, and at least one must live in Alaska.
Training
Alaska's training comes in three stages (13 AAC 60.110):
1. Before you apply: at least 8 hours of general pre-assignment training on a guard's duties and responsibilities. 2. Within 180 days of being hired: at least 40 hours of in-service training covering law of arrest, search and seizure, duties to the employer and client, fire prevention, first aid and patrol techniques. 3. Every year: an 8-hour refresher on the same topics. Failing it can cost you the license, and your agency certifies it on your renewal.
How to apply
1. Get hired by a licensed agency and finish the 8 hours of pre-assignment training. 2. Fill out form 12-183 in black ink. Your signature must be notarized, and the agency's manager signs an indemnification agreement on the last page. 3. Attach a $50 check or money order for the license and a $47 one for fingerprint processing, both payable to "State of Alaska". Add proof of insurance, a waist-up photo taken within the last 30 days, a fingerprint card and, for armed guards, your firearms qualification. 4. Start work while you wait, for up to 30 days. Your agency can put you on post once it has checked that you qualify, sent in the completed application and fee, and marked you as temporary on the form (13 AAC 60.130).
Fees are going up. DPS says fingerprint processing fees rise by $3 on October 1, 2026, and guard application costs rise by the same amount. Check the current total before you mail anything.
Insurance: the license requires liability coverage of at least $100,000 per person and $200,000 per occurrence, plus $100,000 in property damage coverage (13 AAC 60.120). Most guards are covered by their employer's policy, and the agency files the certificate with your application. If that coverage ends, the agency has to tell DPS, and you have 30 days to return your license card unless you carry qualifying coverage of your own.
Keeping it
- The license lasts 2 years and renews for $50 (AS 18.65.430). DPS needs the renewal, form 12-183-1, at least 30 days before your license expires (13 AAC 60.080). It lists your arrests and citations from the last 2 years and every agency you worked for.
- Changing employers: report it to DPS within 5 days (13 AAC 60.140). The new agency files form 12-183-2 with proof of insurance.
- Your license card belongs to the state, and no one else may use or hold it (13 AAC 60.070).
- Uniform: "security" and the agency name must be visible on your uniform. You can't be called police, a police officer or a peace officer, and a company ID can't say the state licensed you (13 AAC 60.090 and 60.100).
- DPS can revoke a license for false statements, a felony or crime of moral turpitude while licensed, or knowingly impersonating a law enforcement officer (AS 18.65.440).
Arrests and detentions
A guard in Alaska has the arrest powers of any private person. You can arrest someone for a crime committed or attempted in your presence, or for a felony that has actually been committed when you have reasonable cause to believe that person did it (AS 12.25.030). In a store, detaining a suspected shoplifter in a reasonable manner, for a reasonable time and with probable cause is a defense if the person later sues or files charges (AS 11.46.230). Law of arrest is the first topic in the 40-hour training.
Armed guards
- Complete at least 8 hours of pre-assignment firearms training from a certified instructor, on firearms law, handling, and safety and maintenance, and show competence with every firearm you may be issued (13 AAC 60.085).
- Requalify at an annual practice firing review. Failing it puts the armed license at risk, and your renewal needs proof that you passed.
- Affirm that you aren't barred from having a firearm, including as a condition of probation or parole.
- Open carry unless you hold a permit. An armed guard on duty must be in company uniform and can't conceal the firearm without a concealed handgun permit from Alaska or another state (13 AAC 60.100). Alaska lets adults 21 and older carry concealed without a permit off duty (AS 11.61.220), but on the job the rule is the permit.
- An Alaska permit requires being 21 or older, 90 days of residency and a handgun course. You apply in person at an Alaska State Troopers office, and the law caps the fee at $99 (AS 18.65.700 to 18.65.720).
- Carrying a loaded firearm where liquor is sold for drinking on site is a misdemeanor unless a defense applies. One defense covers people working for the owner or lessee of the premises (AS 11.61.220). Ask your agency before taking an armed post at a bar.
Bars and events
If you check IDs at a bar or another liquor licensee, Alaska law treats you like a server. Complete a board-approved alcohol server education course and pass its test within 30 days of being hired. The card lasts 3 years. At a permitted event, you need a valid card before you check a single ID (AS 04.21.025).
Pay
Alaska's minimum wage rose to $14.00 on July 1, 2026, and goes to $15.00 on July 1, 2027 (AS 23.10.065). The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 2,100 security guards in Alaska in May 2025, at a median of $22.83 an hour. That is the highest median of any state (only D.C. is higher), $4.55 above the national guard median of $18.28, and a quarter of Alaska guards earned $29.04 or more.
Starting a security company
- License: a $200 application with proof of insurance, a description of your guard training program and a valid Alaska business license. Renewal costs $50, and DPS needs it at least 30 days before the license expires (13 AAC 60.020 and 60.040).
- Owners: each owner or partner and the qualified agent must be 18 or older and have no felony conviction in the last 10 years unless pardoned. So must corporate officers and anyone with more than a 20% stake (13 AAC 60.010).
- Qualified agent: a manager who lives in Alaska, runs the business and also applies for a guard license (13 AAC 60.020 and 60.900). A change of qualified agent costs $25, and a change of ownership needs a new $200 application.
- Reports: send DPS a list of your guards for the previous 6 months by March 31 and September 30 each year, and keep a record of every firearm your guards carry (13 AAC 60.140). Armed agencies also file their training program and their instructors' certifications (13 AAC 60.045).
- Name: no "police," and no "federal," "state," "Alaska" or a city or borough name used in a way that suggests a government connection (13 AAC 60.090).
How tessura helps
An Alaska license lasts 2 years, the renewal is due 30 days early, every guard owes an 8-hour refresher each year, and armed guards face an annual firing review. tessura is free for guards: keep your DPS license, training certificates, firearms qualification and alcohol server card in the credential wallet and get reminders at 60, 30 and 7 days before each one expires.
tessura is not affiliated with the Alaska Department of Public Safety, the Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office or any state agency. Rules change, so confirm anything you rely on with the Department of Public Safety, Division of Statewide Services.