How to become a security guard in South Carolina

Every South Carolina credential

All 7 individual credentials this regulator issues to security workers, from the entry-level card to specialty and instructor registrations. Rows marked ◇ are drafted from the regulator’s pages and await our reviewer’s sign-off.

Steps to get started

1. Get hired by a SLED-licensed security company; you register separately with each company you work for.
2. Complete at least 4 hours of SafeguardSC Primary Basic training and its written exam, plus 2 hours of company orientation, with the company's certified training officer.
3. Submit the registration application with fingerprints, a color photo, a SLED-approved drug screen and the fee ($65 unarmed, $110 armed).
4. Work up to 30 days after SLED receives the application, without arrest authority or a firearm, until the card issues.
5. Renew every year; SLED must receive the renewal 30 to 60 days before the card expires.

Security Officer Registration (Unarmed): Requires age 18+, U.S. citizenship, a SLED-approved pre-employment drug test, fingerprints and a color photo, and no felony or crime of moral turpitude; SLED also lists a pending disqualifying charge, a military discharge other than honorable, and holding a conflicting position (active law enforcement, reserve officers, jailers, state constables, federal officers including military police) as ineligible. Training is at least 4 hours of SafeguardSC Primary Basic by the company's SLED-certified training officer with a written exam, plus at least 2 hours of orientation and post-specific training, completed before the application is filed and before work at a client site (Reg. 73-420). An officer may then work up to 30 days after SLED receives the application, with no arrest authority and no firearm, and must stop if the card has not issued by then (S.C. Code 40-18-80). Registered officers have the arrest authority of a sheriff's deputy only on the property where they are employed (40-18-110). Register separately with each company; carry the card on duty; report your own arrest to SLED within 72 hours. Renewals must reach SLED 30 to 60 days before expiration, or the card becomes invalid (Reg. 73-408). Keep your own training records; a new employer retrains you if they cannot be produced.

Private Investigator Registration (Employee): S.C. Code 40-18-80(B): within 30 days of hire, a Private Investigation licensee (or the employee) must register the employee with SLED; same chapter and agency as security officer registration. Annual registration; fingerprints and photo required. No statutory training-hour minimum found. Note the PI business license itself ($350, 3 years' experience, $10,000 bond) is a company credential and is not modeled.

Security Training Officer (SafeguardSC Classroom Instructor): SLED-certified company training officer who delivers SafeguardSC Primary Basic / Primary Plus to security officers. Must be a currently registered security officer with a licensed company, complete the SLED instructor program at a participating Technical Education College (TEC listings show a 40-hour course with written exam and teaching presentation; tuition ~$599 is paid to the college, not SLED), and attend a one-day annual in-service at a TEC with proof submitted at registration renewal. SLED's Primary Basic manual sets Primary Basic at a minimum 4 classroom hours + 2 additional hours.

Working armed in South Carolina

Armed officers must be 21+ and able to possess firearms legally, complete at least 4 hours of SLED-approved firearms training with a range qualification (80%, 40 of 50 hits) for each make, model and caliber they carry, and requalify every year. Handguns only unless SLED approves a rifle or shotgun for a site, carried openly in uniform.

Armed Security Officer Registration: Requires age 21+ and eligibility to possess firearms, on top of the unarmed requirements and training. Before carrying on duty, complete at least 4 hours of SLED-approved firearms training from a certified Security Firearms Training Officer or a certified law enforcement firearms instructor, including a supervised range qualification (Reg. 73-420); the SafeguardSC course of fire is 50 rounds with 80% (40 hits) to pass. Qualify, and requalify every year, with each make, model and caliber you carry, and submit the documentation with each registration (SLED memo of June 13, 2016; S.C. Code 40-18-100). Firearms are handguns only unless SLED approves a rifle or shotgun for a specific site. Armed officers carry openly, in uniform, in a belt holster at the waist; a concealed armed permit is discretionary and requested each year.

Security Firearms Training Officer (SafeguardSC Firearms Instructor): Formerly 'SLED Level II/III instructor'. Conducts firearms training, qualification and annual requalification for armed security officers. Must hold a current armed registration, complete the SLED firearms instructor program at a participating TEC (TEC listings show 40 hours; range qualification minimum 80%), and requalify/attend firearms in-service annually at a TEC; proof of recertification is submitted to SLED at renewal (SLED Keel memo 6/13/16).

Security Weapons Permit: Statutory permit (S.C. Code 40-18-100(A)) SLED grants to a registered/licensed security officer aged 21+ to carry a particular type of firearm on duty. One-year term; renewal must re-authorize the firearm type and requires proof of proficiency (40-18-100(B)); annual firearms requalification is delivered by a certified Security Firearms Training Officer under SafeguardSC. In practice it is bundled into the $110 armed registration (SFA), but it is a distinct credential.

Security Concealed Weapons Permit: Discretionary SLED permit (S.C. Code 40-18-100(D)) allowing a registered security officer to carry a firearm, concealed or not, while out of uniform or off duty when SLED finds it helps the officer perform assigned duties; SLED may restrict the authority.

Keep your South Carolina credential alive

The free wallet computes your renewal deadline from South Carolina's rules and reminds you at 60, 30, and 7 days. Exam prep for South Carolina follows.