Hawaii registers every security guard with the Board of Private Detectives and Guards, part of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA). Since July 1, 2013, that includes guards employed directly by a business or a government agency, not only guards who work for a guard agency (HRS 463-10.5(a)). The card is the guard employee (GDE) registration.
Who needs to register
The Board counts you as acting in a guard capacity if you protect property, assets or people through a physical presence, by holding a post (a stationary guard or a bouncer, for example) or by patrolling and responding to alarms or incidents, and you observe and report for your employer. Employees who do this only incidentally to their main job aren't covered. The Board's examples:
- A store employee at the exit who checks receipts or memberships.
- A parking attendant who only controls entry and exit.
- A lifeguard.
- A ticket taker at an event.
- A property manager who oversees a guard contract.
The Board has also listed positions that do need to register, including State of Hawaii and university security officers, county park security officers, armored car guards, airport security officers, and retired police officers working as guards or executive protection agents. Federal employees guarding federal property are exempt, unless the employer is a subcontractor required to follow state law.
Current law enforcement officers, including reserve officers, can't hold any license under chapter 463 (HAR 16-97-8(b)).
Requirements
- 18 or older.
- A high school education or its equivalent. You can attest to it on the application, and a DD 214 showing at least 4 years of military service also counts.
- A U.S. citizen, a U.S. national, or authorized to work in the United States.
- Not presently suffering from a psychiatric or psychological disorder that is directly related and detrimental to guard work.
- No conviction that reflects unfavorably on your fitness to be a guard, unless it was annulled or expunged. If you have a conviction, the application asks for a signed statement, the court records and letters of recommendation, and the Board decides.
- 8 hours of classroom training from a Board-approved instructor before your first day, a written test, and 4 hours of on-the-job training supervised by someone who has met all the requirements (HRS 463-10.5(c)).
The 8-hour course
The law sets eight topics (HRS 463-10.5(d)): the legal limits on guards, including arrest, search and seizure, and use of force; access control, safety, fire and emergency response; homeland security; when and how to notify public authorities; observation and incident reports; patrolling; professional ethics; and professional image and aloha training. Classroom instruction can include two-way video, and the Board lists the approved providers who teach it remotely.
How to apply
1. Take the 8-hour course and keep the certificate. 2. Get fingerprinted at Fieldprint (fieldprinthawaii.com, code HI-DCCA-PDSG) for the FBI and Hawaii criminal history checks. You pay Fieldprint directly. 3. Within 30 days of fingerprinting, send the application (form PDG-30), the course certificate and the fee to the Board at P.O. Box 3469, Honolulu, HI 96801, or deliver it to 335 Merchant Street, Room 301. Late applications may need new fingerprints.
The fee depends on where you are in the 3-year cycle: $151 if approved between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025; $116 between July 1, 2025 and June 30, 2026; and $81 between July 1, 2026 and June 30, 2027. Checks are payable to "Commerce & Consumer Affairs". If you aren't registered within 1 year of filing, the application is abandoned and the fees are lost.
Renewal: every card expires June 30, 2027
Every guard employee registration expires on June 30 of the renewal year, whatever date it was issued: 2027, then 2030 and 2033 (HRS 463-10.5(g)). For 2027 the Board accepts renewals from May 3 to June 30 and mails a postcard reminder around May 1.
- $105 to renew as active, or $12 as inactive.
- 4 hours of Board-approved continuing education during the 3 years, including a refresher on professional image and aloha training. If you registered within 1 year before the renewal date (after June 30, 2026 for the 2027 renewal), you skip it the first time.
- Miss June 30 and the registration is forfeited, and you may not work as a guard. You can restore it in writing within 1 year ($120 active) with the continuing education done; after that you apply as a new applicant.
- Inactive status keeps your training on file while you aren't working as a guard.
Weapons need written permission
Hawaii guards may not carry firearms, batons, nightsticks, blackjacks, chemical sprays, stun devices or any other weapon unless the chief of police of the county, or the appropriate state agency, authorizes it in writing (HAR 16-97-17). That includes pepper spray and Tasers.
To carry a firearm or an electric gun on duty, you also need a county police permit to acquire under HRS 134-2 before you start (HRS 463-10.5(e)). That permit requires:
- Being 21 or older and a U.S. citizen, national or lawful permanent resident.
- A firearms course completed within the 4 years before the permit. One option is a course offered to security guards by a state or county law enforcement agency. A course taught by a county-certified instructor or a certified military firearms instructor needs at least 2 hours of range firing and 4 hours of classroom time on safe use and storage, mental health, suicide prevention and domestic violence, and Hawaii firearm law.
On the job
- You may arrest without a warrant anyone in the act of committing a crime (HAR 16-97-16(a), HRS 803-3).
- For good cause, you may stop and frisk a person on the premises you guard if you suspect a crime has been or is about to be committed (HAR 16-97-16(b)).
- You may not interrogate or question a person you have arrested or detained, or anyone found on the premises, and anyone properly arrested goes to the authorities right away (HAR 16-97-16(c)).
- Use of force follows HRS chapter 703.
Starting a guard agency
A guard agency operates under a licensed principal guard (the GD license). The principal needs experience equivalent to at least 4 years of full-time guard or investigative work, such as employment under a licensed guard, and must pass a PSI exam and a Board interview. Fees are a $50 application fee, a $50 exam fee and a license fee of $280 or $108 depending on the year it's issued. Principal and agency licenses renew by June 30 of every even-numbered year: $344 for a principal and $408 for an agency. The Board's site covers the bond, employee reporting and uniform rules.
How tessura helps
Every Hawaii guard card expires on the same day, June 30, 2027, and the 4-hour class has to be done before then. tessura is free for guards: keep your registration, course certificates and any weapons authorization in the credential wallet and get reminders at 60, 30 and 7 days before each one expires.
tessura is not affiliated with the Board of Private Detectives and Guards, DCCA or any state or county agency. Rules change, so confirm anything you rely on with the Board at 1-844-808-3222.