Hiring security in Alaska? Here's who regulates it, what a company and its guards must be licensed to hold, how armed guards are permitted, and how to verify a license yourself in minutes.
Hiring a security company in Alaska? Confirming its license is the single most important check you can make — it's what tells you the provider is lawful, insured, and accountable, and it shields you from the negligent-hiring liability that comes with putting an unvetted, uninsured operation on your property. This guide covers who regulates security in Alaska, what a company and its guards must hold, how armed work is permitted, and exactly how to verify a license yourself.
In Alaska, security is regulated by Alaska DPS. A company must hold a Security guard agency license, and guards hold a Security guard license (every individual guard, not just the agency). There is no public register that answers this for you — see the verification steps below.
What makes Alaska different
Alaska licenses both the agency and every individual guard — nobody may even be EMPLOYED as a guard until the commissioner licenses them — and the training load is heavier than most buyers expect: eight hours before assignment, 40 hours of in-service training within the first 180 days, and an eight-hour refresher every year that a guard can fail their way out of a licence by skipping. Insurance is guard-level too, so a lapse in the employer's policy obliges the guard to surrender their card. Two caveats: an employer needs no licence for its own employees doing unarmed plant security on its own premises, and there is no public licence database at all, so verification means contacting DPS directly. SOURCING NOTE: the regulation figures above were read from an archived compilation of 13 AAC 60 that self-declares currency through June 2006 — the live state endpoint is a JavaScript shell with no retrievable data. Confirm with DPS before relying on the exact numerals.
Alaska is the only state in this data set where the buyer commits the crime. Under AS 18.65.500, a person who “hires another person to guard a person in this state with arms or deadly weapons … without a written permit from the commissioner of public safety, is guilty of a misdemeanor” — up to 60 days and $1,000. The offence attaches to whoever does the hiring, not merely to the provider, so an Alaska company that engages armed executive protection without confirming that commissioner's permit has exposed itself, not just its vendor. Everything else here is heavier than buyers expect. Alaska licenses the agency and every individual guard, and nobody may even be employed as a guard until the commissioner licenses them. The training load is real: eight hours before assignment, 40 hours of in-service training within the first 180 days, and an eight-hour refresher every year (13 AAC 60.110). Two structural gaps matter commercially. There is no public licence database of any kind — verification means contacting DPS directly, so any vendor claim of “state licensed” is unverifiable by you without a phone call. And an employer needs no licence at all for its own employees doing unarmed plant security on its own premises, so the in-house/contract distinction decides whether any of this applies.
Who regulates security in Alaska
Private security in Alaska is regulated at the state level by the Alaska Department of Public Safety, Alaska State Troopers — Permits & Licensing Unit. A legitimate firm holds a Security guard agency license from Alaska DPS, meaning it has cleared the state's ownership, background-check, insurance, and record-keeping requirements. That license number is the first thing to confirm — ask for it in writing and verify it yourself on Alaska DPS Permits & Licensing (no public lookup — contact the unit directly) rather than trusting a certificate on the wall. The licensing authority can also suspend or revoke a license for misconduct, so a live status check tells you not just whether a firm is licensed, but whether it's in good standing.
Guards and training
Individual officers in Alaska generally must hold a Security guard license (every individual guard, not just the agency), and the state requires at least eight hours of general preassignment training before a temporary permit or an application, plus at least 40 hours of in-service training within 180 days after employment covering law of arrest, law of search and seizure, duties to the employer and client, fire prevention, first aid and patrol techniques, plus an annual refresher of at least eight hours on those topics — 13 AAC 60.110(c) provides that failure to pass the refresher course “may be grounds for revocation”, permissive rather than automatic. A valid company license doesn't guarantee every officer on the roster is credentialed and trained, so confirm the guards actually assigned to your site hold current registrations — verifying the company and the people are two separate checks.
Armed guards and firearms in Alaska
Arming a guard in Alaska takes more than the base credential: an armed officer needs a security guard license endorsed as armed, governed by 13 AAC 60.085 — note that 13 AAC 60.045 is the armed security guard AGENCY licence, and DPS's own form 12-183 (rev. 01/2025) miscites .045 for the individual firearm qualification, so a document citing .045 for an individual is following the regulator's error. Armed coverage also raises your exposure — a firearms incident can reach the client through vicarious-liability and negligent-hiring theories, and standard general-liability policies often exclude firearms — so confirm the specific armed credential (not just the base registration) and the firm's firearms coverage, and reserve armed posts for a documented threat. Our armed vs. unarmed guide covers the decision in depth, and you can compare armed security services directly.
Alaska separates the guard credential from the carry regime completely, and the two run on opposite logics. The statute is deliberately open-ended: AS 18.65.470 says only that guards “may not be armed with a firearm for the purpose of protecting property until they have completed firearms training acceptable to the commissioner.” The mandatory content lives in the rule, not the statute — 13 AAC 60.085 requires at least eight hours of pre-assignment training from a certified instructor, covering use of firearms under state and federal law, handling, and safety and maintenance, plus demonstrated competence with any firearm issued. Critically, that competence must be maintained “during an annual practice firing review,” failing which “that individual's license as an armed security guard is subject to revocation.” Meanwhile the civilian side requires nothing: Alaska is a permitless-carry state, and the optional concealed handgun permit under AS 18.65.700–.790 exists mainly for reciprocity. It requires age 21, 90 days' residency and a handgun course completed within the 12 months immediately preceding application — and that course is specified by topic, not by hours or round count. The permit expires on the holder's birthday in the fifth year. The renewal contrast is the point a buyer should hold onto: AS 18.65.725 sets a closed list for renewal and subsection (d) forbids the department from asking for anything beyond it. So the civilian permit involves no requalification ever after the initial course, while the armed guard licence requires an annual practice firing review. The guard credential is the stricter instrument, which is the reverse of what most buyers assume.
| On-duty carry | Permitless carry for anyone 21 or older: under AS 11.61.220(a)(1) a person 21+ carrying a concealed deadly weapon commits an offence only by failing to inform a peace officer of it on contact, or failing to secure it at the officer's direction; AS 11.61.220(a)(6) makes concealed carry an offence for those under 21. Separately, an armed guard needs firearms training “acceptable to the commissioner” before being armed to protect property (AS 18.65.470), supplied by 13 AAC 60.085. AS 18.65.500 additionally requires a written permit from the commissioner of public safety to HIRE an armed bodyguard — the penalty falls on the hirer |
| Armed permit | Two separate things. The security credential is an armed security guard licence under 13 AAC 60.085 (individual) and an armed security guard agency licence under 13 AAC 60.045 (the agency). The civilian concealed handgun permit under AS 18.65.700 is optional and not a security credential: age 21, resident for the 90 days preceding application, and a handgun course under AS 18.65.715. It expires on the holder's birthday in the fifth year following issue |
| Requalification | Armed guards: competence with any firearm issued must be maintained at an ANNUAL practice firing review, or the armed licence is subject to revocation (13 AAC 60.085(3)). All guards additionally sit an eight-hour annual refresher (13 AAC 60.110(c)). The civilian permit is the opposite — the AS 18.65.715 course must be completed within the 12 months before the original application, but AS 18.65.725 sets a closed renewal list and subsection (d) bars the department from requiring anything beyond it, so there is no re-shoot at renewal |
| Other weapons | Alaska treats these as a distinct statutory category. AS 11.81.900 defines a “defensive weapon” as an electric stun gun, or a device to dispense mace or a similar chemical agent, that is not designed to cause death or serious physical injury — and “defensive weapon” is expressly carved OUT of the concealed-carry offence in AS 11.61.220(a)(1) and (a)(6), which reach a “deadly weapon, other than an ordinary pocket knife or a defensive weapon.” So OC spray and stun guns sit outside the concealed-weapon rules that bind handguns, including for those under 21. A baton is not a “defensive weapon” and may fall within “deadly weapon.” No Alaska statute was found licensing private possession of batons, OC or electronic control devices |
What security guards can and can't do in Alaska
AS 12.25.030(a) is unusually broad on its face: “A private person or a peace officer without a warrant may arrest a person (1) for a crime committed or attempted in the presence of the person making the arrest; (2) when the person has committed a felony, although not in the presence of the person making the arrest; (3) when a felony has in fact been committed, and the person making the arrest has reasonable cause for believing the person to have committed it.” Note there is no petty-offence carve-out in (1), unlike several other states — but under (2) and (3) a felony must actually have been committed, so a reasonable but mistaken belief that any crime occurred is not covered. Subsection (b) — domestic violence and the mandatory-arrest circumstances — is expressly limited to peace officers. Retail detention is AS 11.46.230, and its framing is the part buyers miss: it is titled “Reasonable detention as defense” and operates “In a civil or criminal action,” so it reaches both exposures, but it is a defence to be pleaded and proved, not an immunity that prevents suit. It protects detention “by a peace officer or by the owner of the commercial establishment or the owner's agent” — a contracted guard firm acting for the store is inside the words “the owner's agent,” which is not true of every state's merchant statute. On force, AS 11.81.350(c) is the provision that actually reaches a contract guard: “A person in possession or control of any premises, or a guest or an express or implied agent of that person, may use (1) nondeadly force … to terminate … criminal trespass in any degree upon the premises; (2) deadly force … to terminate … a burglary in any degree occurring in an occupied dwelling or building.” The “express or implied agent” clause is the hook. Subsection (a) allows nondeadly force against an unlawful taking or damaging of property generally, and (f) removes any duty to retreat.
How to verify a security license in Alaska
Verification takes only a few minutes and is the check that protects you:
- Get the license number in writing from the provider — don't accept a logo or a verbal claim.
- Know what the official source can and cannot tell you — Alaska DPS Permits & Licensing (no public lookup — contact the unit directly). Because it will not confirm a security provider for you, ask the firm for the authorization it actually holds and confirm that with the body that issued it.
- Confirm the record is active, unexpired, matches the exact legal business name and address, and shows no disciplinary action.
- Verify the officers — confirm each holds a current Security guard license (every individual guard, not just the agency), plus the armed credential for any armed post.
- Confirm insurance and subcontracting — request a current certificate of insurance and confirm it meets or exceeds comprehensive liability cover for death, injury, false arrest, detention or imprisonment, malicious prosecution, libel, slander, defamation and violation of right to privacy, at a minimum of $100,000 per person and $200,000 per occurrence, plus $100,000 per occurrence of property damage, with 30 days' notice to the department before cancellation (13 AAC 60.120), plus workers' compensation, and ask in writing whether any of your posts will be subcontracted to another firm.
Re-verify at renewal. Renewal in Alaska: two years, with a $50 renewal fee. A credential can also be suspended between renewals, so a check isn't one-and-done — re-check at renewal time and before signing a new contract.
Our national guide on how to verify a security company's license explains what to look for on the record; our hiring guide and cost guide cover the rest of vetting and pricing.
Misdemeanor. A violation of the security guard statutes or their regulations is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than 60 days, a fine of not more than $1,000, or both. Alaska assigns no class letter here. (AS 18.65.480). And the exposure isn't only the provider's — an operator who puts an unlicensed, uninsured guard on site inherits the negligent-hiring liability, which is exactly what a two-minute license check prevents.
Hire a licensed security company in Alaska
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Frequently asked questions
Who licenses security companies in Alaska?+
How do I verify a security company's license in Alaska?+
What do armed security guards need in Alaska?+
Can security guards carry guns in Alaska?+
Can a security guard detain or arrest you in Alaska?+
What's the penalty for hiring an unlicensed security company in Alaska?+
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