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Checking a guard or a security company in Arizona

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 Arizona, and walks you to Arizona Department of Public Safety, Licensing Unit’s own records to confirm it.

tessura is not a Arizona 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 Arizona requirements, training hours, and application steps →

Check the guard

Arizona 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 Guard Registration (Guard Card)8 hrs of training · renews every 2 years
If they carry a firearmArmed Security Guard Registration24 hrs of training · renews every 2 years

Armed work: Armed guards must be at least 21 and complete a 16-hour DPS-approved firearms training course on top of the unarmed curriculum.

Ask for the number

Exactly 7 digits, numbers only, no letter prefix (e.g. 1234567)

The live PSP status form's own field definition and validator: the 'Security Guard, PI, or Agency License Number' input is bound to a digits-only pattern with the error message 'only 7 digits'. No agency search results page was retrieved, so this is the form's rule rather than a sample number.

How to check it

  1. Ask the guard for their full legal name and the seven-digit number on their Arizona DPS guard card.
  2. Open psp.azdps.gov/securityLicense/securityStatus. The older webapps.azdps.gov address that search engines still surface now returns 404, and DPS has said the portal is mid-migration.
  3. Choose "Security Guard, PI, or Agency License Number" from the "Search by" menu, or "Security Guard or PI Name" if you only have a name, then fill the fields and click Search. You do not need to log in despite the Login and Sign up links.
  4. In the results table read the "Employee Type" column: "SG TAN" is the unarmed card and "SG GOLD" is the armed one, so an armed post needs a current SG GOLD row for that person.
  5. Confirm the Expiry Date is in the future. This is the decisive field, not the status word — DPS warns in its own notes that a record can read "Issued" while the licence has already expired, and an expired guard may not lawfully work.
  6. Watch out for volume: a common name returns many rows, most of them long expired. Match on the number or on name plus expiry rather than on the name alone.
Open the AZDPS Public Services Portal (PSP) — Security Guard License Status →

Shows licence status · does not show an expiry date.

If the lookup finds nothing: AZDPS PSP support: (602) 223-2999, option 8, or psphelpdesk@azdps.gov. SGPI Licensing Unit information: https://www.azdps.gov/services/public-services-center/licensing

Check the company

Arizona Department of Public Safety, Security Guard and Private Investigator Licensing Unit 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 holdSecurity Guard Agency LicenseIssued by Arizona Department of Public Safety, Security Guard and Private Investigator Licensing Unit

How to check it

  1. Ask the company for the exact legal name on its licence and its Security Guard Agency License number. A company that cannot produce a number for a licence it claims to hold has told you something.
  2. Open the Arizona Department of Public Safety, Security Guard and Private Investigator Licensing Unit 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 Arizona Department of Public Safety, Security Guard and Private Investigator Licensing Unit before signing.
Open the Arizona Department of Public Safety, Security Guard and Private Investigator Licensing Unit 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.

Arizona requires it by law

General liability of at least $100,000 per person and per occurrence with a $300,000 aggregate, from an insurer authorised in Arizona. Workers’ compensation is separately required whenever the agency has employees.

The insurer must give DPS written notice of any cancellation at least ten days beforehand, by certified mail, and DPS must be named certificate holder with current certificates refiled at each coverage renewal.

If it lapses: Cover must remain in force at all times as a condition of issuance and renewal; DPS is warned by the carrier before a cancellation takes effect.

A.R.S. §32-2613(C)(2)–(3); AAC R13-6-202 — https://www.azleg.gov/ars/32/02613.htm

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

Arizona requirements last reviewed September 14, 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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