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Checking a guard or a security company in Ohio

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 Ohio, and walks you to Ohio Private Investigator Security Guard Services (PISGS)’s own records to confirm it.

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

Check the guard

Ohio registers guards through their employer rather than issuing a card to the guard, which changes what you can check.

What they should hold

Every guard working a postRegistered Security Guard / Investigator Employee (PISGS ID Card)renews yearly
If they carry a firearmFirearm Bearer (FAB) Notation20 hrs of training · renews yearly

Armed work: Armed guards need a Firearm Bearer (FAB) notation requiring an FBI fingerprint check and completion of OPOTA-approved firearms training with annual requalification.

Ask for the number

14 digits beginning with the year of registration, e.g. 20191100345011

Live PISGS registrant search for surname SMITH, which returned Registration Numbers 20191100345011 (Adkins-Smith, Lauren / Contemporary Services Corporation) and 20211100413465 (Byersmith, Michelle / Securitas Security Services USA).

How to check it

  1. Ask for the registration card and note the 14-digit PISGS registration number. If the guard will be armed, check the back of the card for the current firearm bearer certification showing which weapons they are qualified to carry.
  2. Open the PISGS "Search for Registrants" tool at services.dps.ohio.gov/PISGS/mvc/Registrant. PISGS moved from the Department of Commerce to Ohio Homeland Security, so old com.ohio.gov links are stale.
  3. Enter the registration number for an exact match, or fill in First Name and Last Name; you can type the employing company into "Provider Name" to disambiguate common names. The tool requires JavaScript and is not supported on mobile.
  4. Click "View" on the matching row to open the Registrant Detail page, which shows Provider Name, registration number, status and expiration date.
  5. Confirm the status reads Active — not Expired or Terminated — the expiration date is in the future, and the Provider Name matches the company that sent the guard.
  6. Separately confirm that company holds a current PISGS licence using the "Search for Licensed Providers" tool on the same site.
Open the Ohio PISGS — Search for Registrants →

Shows licence status · shows the expiry date.

If the lookup finds nothing: Ohio PISGS, (614) 387-6171, PISGLR@dps.ohio.gov.

Check the company

Ohio Department of Public Safety, Private Investigator Security Guard Services (PISGS) 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 Provider (Class C / Class A)Issued by Ohio Department of Public Safety, Private Investigator Security Guard Services (PISGS)

We hold this state’s roster, so you can search it here first: 657 companies that Ohio Department of Public Safety, Private Investigator Security Guard Services (PISGS) listed as currently licensed when we read it on September 14, 2026.

Search Ohio 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 Security Guard Provider (Class C / Class A) number. A company that cannot produce a number for a licence it claims to hold has told you something.
  2. Open the Ohio Department of Public Safety, Private Investigator Security Guard Services (PISGS) 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 Ohio Department of Public Safety, Private Investigator Security Guard Services (PISGS) before signing.
Open the Ohio Department of Public Safety, Private Investigator Security Guard Services (PISGS) 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.

Ohio requires it by law

Comprehensive general liability of at least $100,000 per person and $300,000 per occurrence for bodily injury, plus $100,000 property damage, verified and certified by the insurer.

The strongest carrier duty found anywhere, because it is two-sided: the policy must contain a provision requiring the INSURER to notify the department no later than ten days BEFORE cancellation and no later than seven days AFTER a lapse. Advance notice catches a deliberate cancellation; the seven-day retrospective limb catches a silent non-payment lapse, which no advance-notice rule would ever see.

If it lapses: All licence holders must maintain the verified cover, and PISGS will not issue or renew without a current certificate on file. The sanction sequence after a lapse notice is not spelled out in rule.

Ohio Rev. Code §4749.03(A)(1)(d); Ohio Adm. Code 4501:7-1-05 — https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-administrative-code/rule-4501:7-1-05

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

Ohio requirements last reviewed August 28, 2026. Rules change — the regulator’s page is authoritative if it disagrees with ours.

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