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Checking a guard or a security company in Oregon

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 Oregon, and walks you to Oregon Dept. of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST)’s own records to confirm it.

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

Check the guard

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

What they should hold

Every guard working a postUnarmed Private Security Professional Certification14 hrs of training · state exam · renews every 2 years
If they carry a firearmArmed Private Security Professional Certification38 hrs of training · state exam · renews every 2 years

Armed work: Armed professionals (21+) add a 24-hour Firearm Basic Course and complete an annual marksmanship qualification plus an armed refresher.

Ask for the number

Six digits, e.g. 094223

Live PS IRIS Employee Search results for "Smith, John", returning DPSST PS identification numbers 094223, 061387 and 124339.

How to check it

  1. Ask the guard for their name and their six-digit DPSST Private Security identification number.
  2. Open bpl-orsnapshot.net/IRIS_PublicInquiry/PrivateSecurity/EmployeeSearch.aspx, leave the radio on "Employee Name" or switch it to "DPSST PS Identification Number", type the name as "Last, First" and click Find.
  3. Do NOT read the "Status" column as a certification status. DPSST states it is the person’s EMPLOYMENT status with that employer — Active or Inactive — so a guard whose certification has lapsed can still show "Active" beside a security company’s name.
  4. Use the "Agency Name" column for something it is genuinely good for: confirming the guard is employed by the company that actually sent them to your site.
  5. Click the hyperlinked name to open the record, then confirm the certification itself is current with a future expiry, and that an Armed Private Security Professional certification is present for any armed post.
  6. Do not reject a record showing a Temporary Work Permit (TWP) or a Form PS-20 marked "In Process" — both are lawfully eligible to work while the certification is pending.
Open the DPSST Private Security Information Records Inquiry System (I.R.I.S.) →

Shows licence status · shows the expiry date.

If the lookup finds nothing: If I.R.I.S. does not answer the question, DPSST directs people to its records request page at https://www.oregon.gov/dpsst/Pages/PublicRecords.aspx. For a company rather than a person, the separate Private Security Entity search is at https://www.oregon.gov/dpsst/psentity/pages/entity_license_search.aspx (program line 503-378-8531 ext. 2, PSE@dpsst.oregon.gov).

Check the company

Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) 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 holdPrivate Security Entity (PSE) LicenseIssued by Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST)

How to check it

  1. Ask the company for the exact legal name on its licence and its Private Security Entity (PSE) License number. A company that cannot produce a number for a licence it claims to hold has told you something.
  2. Open the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) 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 Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) before signing.
Open the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) 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.

Oregon requires it by law

$1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate — the highest hard minimum found in any state. Must cover public liability, personal injury and property damage across all services provided, naming the entity as primary insured.

Bond: A corporate surety bond is one of three ways to prove ability to pay employee wages — an irrevocable letter of credit or a cash deposit are the alternatives. This is a wage-protection instrument, not public liability, and no amount is published.

Proof is filed at application and cover must be maintained at all times, but the notification runs the wrong way: it is the ENTITY, not the insurer, that must tell DPSST within 10 business days of a cancellation or change of carrier. A company that drops cover and stays quiet has simply committed a second violation.

If it lapses: Failure to maintain cover and failure to make the 10-day report are both rule violations exposing the entity to suspension or revocation. Not automatic.

Or. Admin. R. 259-059-0120 — https://www.oregon.gov/dpsst/psentity/pages/application.aspx

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

Oregon 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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