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Checking a guard or a security company in Alabama

This page is for whoever is doing the checking — a client, a property manager, a company vetting a subcontractor. It tells you what a guard and a guard company are supposed to hold in Alabama, and walks you to Alabama Security Regulatory Board (ASRB)’s own records to confirm it.

tessura is not a Alabama agency and issues nothing. Every link below goes to the regulator, and the regulator’s answer is the one that counts.

Getting licensed yourself instead? The Alabama requirements, training hours, and application steps →

Check the guard

Alabama issues a credential to the guard, so you can check the person in front of you.

What they should hold

Every guard working a postSecurity Officer License8 hrs of training · renews every 2 years
If they carry a firearmArmed Security Officer License12 hrs of training · renews every 2 years

Armed work: Armed officers must be at least 21, complete 4 additional hours of board-approved armed training, and qualify with an approved firearms course. Renewal adds 2 extra hours of armed refresher training.

Ask for the number

A bare five-digit number with no letter prefix, e.g. 59921

Live ASRB Licensee Search results for surname "Smith", whose "License #" column returned 34218, 53308, 31191 and 59921. Two later attempts were turned away by the Cloudflare Turnstile on this form without reaching a result.

How to check it

  1. Ask the guard for the full legal name on their ASRB card and, if they have it, the five-digit licence number.
  2. Open asrb.alabama.gov, choose LICENSEES, then click "Security Guards Search" — the "Contract Security Companies Search" link sits above it and returns only companies.
  3. Wait for the Cloudflare box under the form to read "Success!", then enter the surname in "Last Name" (add "First Name" if it is common), or paste the number into "License Number", and set "License Type" to Unarmed or Armed to match the post.
  4. Click Search and scroll past the form to the results table.
  5. Find the row matching your guard and confirm "Status" reads Active. The board warns in red on its own page that "Closed" or "Denied" means the person has no licence — and note that denied applications still show issue and expiry dates, so read the Status column rather than the dates.
  6. Check the expiration date is in the future, and check the board’s separate disciplinary-action PDFs at asrb.alabama.gov/disciplinary/ — discipline does not appear in the search results.
Open the ASRB Licensee Search (reached from asrb.alabama.gov → Licensees → Security Guards Search) →

Shows licence status · shows the expiry date · expects you to pass a “verify you are human” check.

If the lookup finds nothing: Alabama Security Regulatory Board, phone (334) 420-7234, fax (334) 263-6115, PO Box 309536, Montgomery AL 36130-9536. Disciplinary actions are posted separately at https://asrb.alabama.gov/disciplinary/

Check the company

Alabama Security Regulatory Board (ASRB) licenses the firm itself here. This is the check most people skip, and it is usually the more important of the two.

What the firm must holdContract Security CompanyIssued by Alabama Security Regulatory Board (ASRB)

We hold this state’s roster, so you can search it here first: 184 companies that Alabama Security Regulatory Board (ASRB) listed as currently licensed when we read it on September 14, 2026.

Search Alabama licensed companies →

Our copy is a snapshot. For anything you are about to sign, confirm it at the regulator using the steps below.

How to check it

  1. Ask the company for the exact legal name on its licence and its Contract Security Company number. A company that cannot produce a number for a licence it claims to hold has told you something.
  2. Open the Alabama Security Regulatory Board (ASRB) lookup and search for that name.
  3. Search the legal name, not the name on the uniform or the invoice. Brand names, DBAs, and the name on the truck are often not the licensed entity.
  4. Read the status and the expiry date, not just the presence of a record. An expired or suspended licence still returns a result.
  5. If nothing comes up, ask which entity holds the licence and in which state, then check that name. If the answer does not resolve, treat the licence as unconfirmed and call Alabama Security Regulatory Board (ASRB) before signing.
Open the Alabama Security Regulatory Board (ASRB) lookup →

Ask for insurance properly

A licence says the state let them operate. Insurance is what stands between you and a claim, and it is the easier of the two to fake — a certificate is only true on the day it was printed.

Alabama requires it by law

$2,000,000 for bodily or personal injury and $200,000 for property damage, with general liability, personal injury and workers’ compensation endorsements — the highest mandated liability limit of any state checked so far.

Licensees file certificates of insurance with the board, and a policy may not be modified or cancelled without 30 days’ prior notice to the board.

If it lapses: The board receives 30 days’ notice of any cancellation and can act on the licence. The statute sets out no automatic-suspension mechanism.

Ala. Code §34-27C-6 — https://asrb.alabama.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Law9.3.19.pdf

A certificate of insurance (COI) that names your business as an additional insured, not just the certificate holderCertificate holder means you were mailed a copy. Additional insured means their policy actually answers for you if you are pulled into a claim.
General liability, and workers’ compensation at your state’s statutory limitsIf a guard is hurt on your property and the company carries no workers’ comp, the claim tends to land on you. Ask for commercial auto too if they run patrol vehicles.
The policy number and the effective and expiry dates, on a certificate dated within the last monthAn undated or months-old certificate is the single most common tell. The dates let you ask the insurer about the right policy.
The name, agency, and direct phone number of the broker who issued it — then call themThe broker can confirm the policy is in force today. The certificate PDF cannot, and a forged or stale one looks identical to a real one.
A contract term requiring written notice to you before the policy is cancelled or non-renewedStandard certificates promise notice to the insured, not to you. Putting the duty on the company in the contract is what makes a mid-term cancellation a breach.
A fresh certificate part-way through the term, not only at signingRe-asking at 60 or 90 days costs you an email and defeats the whole get-the-COI-then-drop-it pattern.

tessura does not verify anyone’s insurance and has no access to insurers’ records. This is guidance for doing it yourself, not a statement about any company on this site. It is also not legal advice — for a contract of any size, have your own counsel or broker set the limits.

Where this comes from

Alabama requirements last reviewed August 28, 2026. Some details on this state are still pending a second check against the primary source. Rules change — the regulator’s page is authoritative if it disagrees with ours.

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