Colorado has no statewide security guard license. The latest bill to create one, HB25-1262, was postponed indefinitely in committee on April 7, 2025, and an earlier attempt, HB21-1120, died in 2021. Licensing happens city by city, and the two biggest markets, Denver and Colorado Springs, both license individual guards and the companies that employ them.
Denver
Denver's Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection licenses security guards and private security employers under the Denver Revised Municipal Code (DRMC), chapter 42, article V. If you do security work in Denver, you need a guard license and a job with a licensed private security employer. Security work means observing and reporting unlawful activity, preventing theft, protecting people or property, detaining or ejecting people, or controlling access (DRMC 42-131). The job title doesn't matter; the duties do.
Who can't get a license (DRMC 42-142):
- Anyone under 18.
- A felony conviction, or release from incarceration for one, in the last 5 years.
- A misdemeanor or ordinance offense involving fraud, theft, deceit or misrepresentation in the last 5 years.
- Any offense involving violence against people or property, including domestic violence, in the last 5 years.
- A Denver guard license denied, suspended or revoked in the last 5 years.
- No job offer from a licensed employer.
How to apply. Everything goes through Denver's online Permitting and Licensing Center, and each document must be dated within 60 days of the application:
1. A letter of hire from a licensed private security employer. A bar or restaurant with in-house security status can't employ licensed guards until it holds a private security employer license. 2. A training certificate from an eligible training provider for at least 16 hours covering the duties of a security guard, communication, interaction with law enforcement and use of force (DRMC 42-134). Your employer can train you only if it is an eligible provider. 3. An FBI background check, from the FBI's site, Colorado Fingerprinting or IdentoGO. 4. A certificate of physical and mental fitness signed by a physician, physician assistant or registered nurse licensed in Colorado. 5. The affidavit of criminal and employment history, with 5 years of work or school history. 6. A copy of your ID and a passport-style headshot for the badge.
Fees: $25 to apply plus $25 for the license. The 2017 ordinance exempts veterans from the application fee (DRMC 32-95), and Denver's application page links its current fee-waiver rules.
Timing: Denver aims to review a complete application within 7 business days; a police review takes longer. Once approved, you get the license and a temporary badge by email. The temporary badge is good for 10 calendar days, so you can start work while the permanent badge is mailed.
Every year: the license lasts 1 year (DRMC 42-141). Renewal takes an 8-hour refresher, a new letter of hire and a Colorado Bureau of Investigation records check, each dated within 60 days, plus the $25 license fee. Denver says to apply 30 days before your license expires. Renew late and you pay a 20% penalty in the first 30 days and 50% from day 31 to 90; after 90 days you apply as new. You can't work while the license is expired.
On the job:
- Wear the approved uniform with patches showing "Security" or "Guard", your name and your employer's name. No "police" or "officer" on uniforms, badges or vehicles, and no emergency lights or sirens (DRMC 42-135). Working out of uniform takes a plainclothes endorsement.
- Carry your ID card and show it to police or city officials when asked (DRMC 42-132).
- Detain someone only for a crime committed in your presence, and release them to police immediately on request (DRMC 42-140).
- If force you use causes bodily harm, call Denver police immediately and notify the department within 72 hours. The same 72 hours applies to a conviction for a listed crime and to leaving an employer (DRMC 42-132). A new employer or endorsement must be approved before you start.
Armed work: carrying a gun on duty takes a firearm endorsement (DRMC 42-137). You must be 21 or older and send a letter of firearm endorsement request from your employer, plus a firearm training certification from a POST or NRA instructor: at least 5 hours of classroom and 3 hours of live fire, including a qualification course, with a range score of 80% or better within 6 months of applying. Each yearly renewal needs a new 80% score within 6 months, and the endorsement expires with the license. A concealed carry permit alone doesn't let you carry on duty. Carrying concealed takes the endorsement plus a concealed handgun permit, and open carry while working in plainclothes is unlawful (DRMC 42-140).
Colorado Springs
The City Clerk's Office licenses private security officers and contract security agencies under City Code 2.3.2.
- Who qualifies: 18 or older, and 21 for a firearm endorsement (2.3.204). A license can be denied for a felony, three or more misdemeanors within 5 years, a willful misrepresentation on the application, a past denial, suspension or revocation, or working without a license (2.3.214).
- Training: at least 8 hours of basic security training with a score of 75% or better. The course covers duties, ethics, communication, observation and reporting, evidence, the law, use of force, legal limits and working with police (2.3.213).
- Temporary permit: with a letter of hire and an initial criminal history review, you can work unarmed for up to 90 days while the license is pending, and must finish basic training within those 90 days (2.3.212). A guard licensed by another Colorado city can get a 72-hour temporary license.
- Fees: $110 a year plus a $7 background check. A late renewal adds $55, adding a second agency or changing employers is $15, and a duplicate is $5. Licenses last 1 year.
- Changes: tell the City Clerk within 10 days of a new name, address or employer (2.3.211).
- Armed work: a firearm endorsement takes at least 16 hours of firearms training (9 in the classroom, 4 of live fire, 3 on the qualification course) with a 75% score, plus 4 more hours for concealed carry. You requalify at 75% within 6 months before each yearly renewal, and your employer certifies you every year. No conviction for domestic violence, weapons or unlawful sexual behavior offenses (2.3.210). The only guns allowed are a double-action revolver (.38 or .357, 4 to 6 inch barrel, 6 rounds) or a semiautomatic pistol from .380 to .45, with factory ammunition only (2.3.213).
- Code update: the city is rewriting its private security code, and the proposed version was open for public comment through August 24, 2026. Check the City Clerk's page before you apply.
Everywhere else in Colorado
Outside a city with its own ordinance, there's no guard license to get. Your employer sets the training and background check, so keep a copy of every certificate. Other cities can adopt their own rules, so check with the city where the job site is before your first shift. Armed work outside a licensing city is governed by state and federal firearms law and your employer's policy; a concealed handgun permit comes from a county sheriff under state law.
How tessura helps
Denver and Colorado Springs licenses both expire every year, and armed renewals in both cities need a fresh range score from the last 6 months. tessura is free for guards: keep your city license, training and range certificates in the credential wallet and get reminders at 60, 30 and 7 days before each one expires.
tessura is not affiliated with the City and County of Denver, the City of Colorado Springs, or any state agency. Rules change, so confirm anything you rely on with the city that licenses your job site.