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South Carolina security guard license lookup (SLED)

South Carolina has no public online search for individual guards. Here is how to confirm one with SLED instead, and how to check the company.

No online guard lookup in South Carolina

South Carolina publishes no public online lookup for individual guards, so you confirm a guard directly with SLED.

SLED Regulatory Services, 803-737-9000, 4400 Broad River Road, Columbia SC 29210.

South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) →
Step-by-step: how to look up a guard in South CarolinaExact steps to verify an officer with SLED5 steps
  1. Ask the guard to show their SLED registration card and note the name exactly as printed, the registration number, and the company named on the card.
  2. Establish which registration type applies: a guard supplied by a contractor holds a Contract Security Employee registration, while an in-house guard holds a Proprietary one. The card is tied to a single employer.
  3. Call SLED Regulatory Services on 803-737-9000 and ask them to confirm the registration is current and still associated with that company, there is no public online search for individuals.
  4. Separately check SLED’s published "Ineligibility List", linked from its Security Companies page, to make sure the person is not listed as ineligible for registration.
  5. Confirm in the same call that the registration is active and unexpired, and that firearms training is current if the guard will work armed.

Why there is no link to click: SLED registers individual security officers but publishes no licensee search. Its Security Companies page carries only application forms, training records, statutes, regulations and an Ineligibility List, there is no lookup for companies or individuals, so verification must go through SLED directly.

What credentials a guard should hold in South CarolinaSouth Carolina issues portable credentials directly to the officer2 credentials
Every guard working a postSecurity Officer Registration (Unarmed)6 hrs of training · state exam · renews yearly
If they carry a firearmArmed Security Officer Registration4 hrs of training · state exam · renews yearly

Armed work: Armed officers must be 21+ and able to possess firearms legally, complete at least 4 hours of SLED-approved firearms training with a range qualification (80%, 40 of 50 hits) for each make, model and caliber they carry, and requalify every year. Handguns only unless SLED approves a rifle or shotgun for a site, carried openly in uniform.

How to check the security company in South CarolinaThe South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), Office of Regulatory Services licenses the firm itself (Contract Security Business License)Agency license
What the firm must holdContract Security Business LicenseIssued by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), Office of Regulatory Services
  1. Ask the company for the exact legal name on its license. South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), Office of Regulatory Services does not publish license numbers here, so the name is what you can actually match.
  2. South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), Office of Regulatory Services publishes no public per-company lookup, so this cannot be done online.
  3. Contact South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), Office of Regulatory Services directly and ask them to confirm the license status for that exact legal name. Ask for the answer in writing if the contract is significant.
  4. Meanwhile, ask the company for a copy of the license itself and check that the name on it matches the entity that will sign your contract.

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), Office of Regulatory Services names the firms it licenses but publishes no license number; match on the legal name instead.

Ask for company insurance & bonding properlyHow to verify commercial general liability and workers' compensationCOI checklist
South Carolina does not require it

South Carolina sets no liability insurance minimum for a contract security business. Neither Title 40 Chapter 18 nor SLED’s checklists impose a limit, a $10,000 bond is the entire financial-responsibility regime. Any insurance a South Carolina guard company carries is contractual, not regulatory.

Bond: $10,000 surety bond posted with SLED in favour of the State, on a form approved by the Attorney General, from a surety licensed in South Carolina, re-posted at each annual renewal.

If it lapses: The sharpest automatic consequence found in any state. Regulation 73-410: cancellation of the bond results in immediate designation as CONDITIONALLY LICENSED; the company has ten days to file a replacement certificate; failure "will render the company license invalid and the company must immediately cease the activities for which it is licensed." No hearing required.

S.C. Code §40-18-50; S.C. Code Regs. §73-410, https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/south-carolina/R-73-410

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.

South Carolina license lookup: common questionsQuick answers on lookup timing, missing records, and armed permits4 questions
How do I look up a security guard license in South Carolina?

South Carolina publishes no public online lookup for individual guards. Note the guard’s full name and any registration number they give you, and ask SLED to confirm it. SLED Regulatory Services, 803-737-9000, 4400 Broad River Road, Columbia SC 29210.

What is a security guard license called in South Carolina?

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) issues the Contract/Proprietary Security Officer Unarmed, SLED’s own code is SNF. For armed work: Contract/Proprietary Security Officer Armed, SLED’s own code is SFA.

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

Companies need their own license from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), Office of Regulatory Services: Contract Security Business License. There is no public per-company lookup, so ask the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), Office of Regulatory Services to confirm the license for the company’s exact legal name.

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 South CarolinaRegulator links, licensing guides, and open jobs (last reviewed September 27, 2026)8 sources
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