Indiana does not license individual security guards. The Indiana Professional Licensing Agency (PLA), through the Private Investigator and Security Guard Licensing Board, licenses security guard agencies under Indiana Code 25-30-1.3. A security guard agency is any business that supplies guards for hire to protect people or property, or to prevent the theft or concealment of goods, money or valuable papers (IC 25-30-1.3-5).
Which rules apply to you
- Agency guard: you work for a company that supplies guards to clients. The agency needs a license; you do not.
- In-house guard at a plant or store: a factory or other business engaged mainly in manufacturing, assembly or processing raw materials can hire its own plant security guards, and a retail merchant can hire guards for its own store, without an agency license (IC 25-30-1.3-6). Your employer sets the requirements.
- Railroad police licensed under IC 8-3-17, and law enforcement officers on official duty, are outside the chapter as well.
What the agency must do when it hires you
- Take your photo within 30 days after you start (IC 25-30-1.3-13).
- Take a full set of fingerprints of both hands and keep it in your employee record.
- Answer for your conduct. An agency may employ as many unlicensed guards as it needs, but it is civilly responsible for their conduct while they act on its behalf.
- Keep a roster. On request, the agency gives the board a list of every unlicensed person it employs.
The agency law sets no minimum age, education or criminal history standard for agency employees, so each agency sets its own hiring bar.
Training
The agency law (IC 25-30-1.3) sets no training hours for guards. Your employer decides what training you get, so keep a copy of every certificate: those copies are your proof of training when you change jobs.
Check that your agency is licensed
- Running a guard agency without a license is a Class A misdemeanor, and the court also fines the operator the amount it earned doing the work (IC 25-30-1.3-23).
- An agency licensed in another state still needs an Indiana license to do business here (IC 25-30-1.3-15).
- Every licensed agency gets a pocket card, and it must show the card to a client on request (IC 25-30-1.3-12). Before you take a job, look the company up with the PLA's license verification.
Insurance that covers the work you do
Every agency must carry at least $100,000 of general liability insurance that covers false arrest, detention or imprisonment, malicious prosecution, and wrongful entry or eviction. The policy cannot exclude an injury caused solely by reasonable force used to protect people or property. The insurer must give the board 10 days' notice before the policy is cancelled, and an agency that lets coverage lapse has its license suspended (IC 25-30-1.3-16).
Weapons
- An agency license does not authorize carrying a weapon (IC 25-30-1.3-20), and there is no armed guard license.
- Handguns fall under Indiana's general law. An adult 18 or older who is not prohibited from having a handgun under state or federal law needs no state license to carry one. An optional license to carry is still available for carrying in states that honor it, through your local police chief or county sheriff (IC 35-47-2-3).
- Your employer and client decide whether a post is armed, and set their own firearms training and qualification rules.
Starting your own agency
- Who qualifies: you, or one officer of a corporation or one partner of a partnership, must be 21 or older and show the knowledge and skills to run an agency (IC 25-30-1.3-9). The PLA asks for 2 years of experience in security or investigations, verified as at least 4,000 hours of W-2 work (1099 work does not count), or a bachelor's degree or higher in criminal justice or a related field.
- Grounds for denial: a felony, a misdemeanor with a direct bearing on your ability to run an agency, a prior license refusal or revocation, unlicensed agency work, probation or parole, or an active warrant (IC 25-30-1.3-9).
- What you file: a $300 application fee ($150 within a year of the 4-year renewal date), criminal background checks from each city, county and state you lived in during the previous 7 years, a fingerprint-based check, the experience form, and a certificate of insurance naming the "State of Indiana" as an additional insured.
- After you are licensed: the license renews every 4 years (IC 25-30-1.3-17), cannot be transferred, and changes to your address, business name or officers go to the board within 30 days (IC 25-30-1.3-12). Every advertisement must show the agency's name and address as the board has them (IC 25-30-1.3-14).
How tessura helps
An Indiana guard has no state card to renew, but the rest still expires: CPR and first aid cards, an optional license to carry, and your employer's training and range qualifications. tessura is free for guards: keep every card and certificate in the credential wallet and get reminders at 60, 30 and 7 days before each one expires.
tessura is not affiliated with the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency or any state agency. Rules change, so confirm anything you rely on with the PLA.