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Minnesota security guard license lookup

Minnesota licenses security companies, not individual guards. Here is what to check instead.

No state guard license in Minnesota

Minnesota licenses security companies, not individual guards, so there is no guard record to look up. Check the company’s license instead.

Minnesota Board of Private Detective and Protective Agent Services, 1600 University Ave. Suite 200, St. Paul MN 55104: 651-355-0800, mn.pdb@state.mn.us.

Search Minnesota security companies on tessura

Our copy of the Minnesota Board of Private Detective and Protective Agent Services roster (September 21, 2026): 220 companies currently licensed as Protective Agent License.

What to check instead in MinnesotaExact steps to verify an officer with the Minnesota Board of Private Detective and Protective Agent Services6 steps
  1. Do not ask for a Minnesota guard license, employees of a licensed protective agent are not licensed. Ask instead for the employer's legal name, DBA and city.
  2. Open the PDB License Search linked from the Minnesota DPS 'License holders' page (https://pdb-licenseholders.netlify.app/) and type the company name or DBA into the single search box.
  3. Check the row that comes back: the License Type must be Protective Agent (Private Detective is a different service), the DBA should match the name on the uniforms and invoice, and note the Next Reissuance Date, that is the renewal marker this tool shows in place of an expiry.
  4. Ask each guard on site for the employer-issued identification card that Minn. Stat. § 326.336 subd. 2 requires them to carry at all times and present on request. It must show the license holder's name and Minnesota address, the employee's photograph and physical description, and be signed by both the employee and the license holder or qualified representative.
  5. Ask the agency to confirm the guard is past conditional employment, under § 326.336 a new hire may not work as a protective agent until the BCA criminal record report comes back clean, only be trained.
  6. If the company name does not resolve cleanly in the search, contact the Board before the guard starts.

Why there is no link to click: Minnesota licenses the protective agent BUSINESS, not the guard. A license holder 'may employ as many unlicensed persons as may be necessary' (Minn. Stat. § 326.336); employees carry an employer-issued ID card, not a state one. Watch for the wrong database: the PDB search looks like a name search and accepts a person's name, but the Minnesota House Research Department warns in its own publication that because most protective agents are LLCs or LLPs, 'running a name search in the board's licensee database may not inform the individual searching the database whether the named person has a protective agent license' unless that person happens to be the sole proprietor, qualified representative or Minnesota manager. Searching a working guard's name will almost always return nothing. Separately, a 'proprietary employer' using guards solely on its own property needs no license at all, so in-house guards will not appear anywhere.

What credentials a guard should hold in MinnesotaState credential classes and armed endorsements2 credentials
Every guard working a postProtective Agent Employee Pre-assignment Training Certificate (PPA, 12 hr)12 hrs of training
If they carry a firearmInitial Armed Training Certificate (IA, 6 hr) + annual Continuing Armed Training6 hrs of training

Armed work: Armed guards complete the one-time 6-hour board-certified Initial Armed (IA) course before working armed, then 6 hours of armed training a year (including range certification and first aid) on top of the 6 general hours. Carrying a pistol in public generally also requires a permit to carry from a county sheriff (Minn. Stat. 624.714).

How to check the security company in MinnesotaThe Minnesota Board of Private Detective and Protective Agent Services licenses the firm itself (Protective Agent License)Agency license
What the firm must holdProtective Agent LicenseIssued by the Minnesota Board of Private Detective and Protective Agent Services

We hold this state’s roster, so you can search it on tessura first. For anything you sign, confirm it at the regulator using the steps below.

  1. Ask the company for the exact legal name on its license and its Protective Agent License number. A company that cannot produce a number for a license it claims to hold has told you something.
  2. Open the Minnesota Board of Private Detective and Protective Agent Services 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 license still returns a result.
  5. If nothing comes up, ask which entity holds the license and in which state, then check that name. If the answer does not resolve, treat the license as unconfirmed and call Minnesota Board of Private Detective and Protective Agent Services before signing.
Open the Minnesota Board of Private Detective and Protective Agent Services lookup →
Ask for company insurance & bonding properlyHow to verify commercial general liability and workers' compensationCOI checklist
Minnesota does not require it

Insurance is one of two ways to prove financial responsibility. A protective agent may file an insurance certificate covering general liability, completed operations and personal injury (false arrest, defamation, wrongful entry) with NO dollar minimum stated, or instead file an annual CPA-signed net worth statement, from $10,000 with no employees up to $100,000 at 51 or more.

Bond: $10,000 surety bond running to the State of Minnesota, filed with the board, covering faithful observance of law and damages from any wilful and malicious wrong. Mandatory and separate from the financial-responsibility election.

If it lapses: The two-year license is effective only while the holder complies with the chapter, exposing a lapse to revocation. No automatic-suspension clause.

Minn. Stat. §326.3382 subd.3, https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/326.3382

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 legal advice.

Minnesota license lookup: common questionsQuick answers on lookup timing, missing records, and armed permits3 questions
How do I look up a security guard license in Minnesota?

Minnesota does not license individual security guards, so there is no guard record to look up. The license that exists belongs to the company, so check that instead.

How do I check a security company’s license in Minnesota?

Companies need their own license from the Minnesota Board of Private Detective and Protective Agent Services: Protective Agent License. Search the company’s exact legal name at pdb-licenseholders.netlify.app and read the status and expiry date on the record. tessura also keeps a copy of that roster, read on September 21, 2026, which you can search on this site.

Is tessura part of the state licensing agency?

No. tessura is not affiliated with any state licensing agency. Every lookup on this page belongs to the agency that runs it, and the agency’s record is the one that counts.

Official sources & more for MinnesotaRegulator links, licensing guides, and open jobs (last reviewed September 27, 2026)9 sources
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