Indiana Security Guard & Company License: Requirements & How to Verify (2026)

Hiring a security company in Indiana? 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 Indiana, what a company and its guards must hold, how armed work is permitted, and exactly how to verify a license yourself.

What makes Indiana different

Indiana is a pure agency-only state: it licenses the security-guard agency and issues no individual guard license, guard card, or state training or exam for line officers. That pushes all vetting and training onto the licensed employer, which makes two things the real gatekeepers — the mandatory $100,000 general-liability policy naming the State of Indiana as an additional insured, and the agency principal's roughly 4,000 hours (two years) of security-management experience. Any online claim of an Indiana "individual security guard license" with set training hours is confusion with another state; the board's rules explicitly do not authorize any licensee to carry a weapon. And since Indiana adopted permitless carry on July 1, 2022, armed authority for a guard flows from general firearms eligibility rather than any state security permit — though employers and insurers almost always require armed officers to be 21.

Who regulates security in Indiana

Private security in Indiana is regulated at the state level by the the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency, Private Investigator and Security Guard Licensing Board. A legitimate firm holds a Security Guard Agency license from Indiana PLA, 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 Indiana PLA — License Verification 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.

What each security credential authorizes in Indiana

"Licensed" alone doesn't tell you what an officer is actually cleared to do — Indiana uses more than one credential, and they aren't interchangeable. Here's what each one authorizes:

Guards and training

Individual officers in Indiana generally must hold a no individual guard license — guards are fingerprinted, vetted, and trained by the licensed agency, and the state requires no state-mandated training hours — training is set by the agency. 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 Indiana

Arming a guard in Indiana takes more than the base credential: an armed officer needs no state security firearm permit — armed authority follows general Indiana firearms law (permitless carry since July 1, 2022), with a minimum age of 21 (Indiana sets no armed-security age by statute; employers and insurers use 21). 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.

Indiana's Private Investigator and Security Guard Licensing Board does not issue or require a state armed-guard permit — carry authority for a working guard rests entirely on Indiana's general permitless-carry law (effective July 1, 2022), which lets an eligible adult 18 or older carry a handgun openly or concealed with no license at all, while armed guard work carries a minimum age of 21. A civilian Indiana License to Carry a Handgun (IC 35-47-2) is optional — useful mainly for out-of-state reciprocity — and does not by itself qualify anyone to work armed; the licensed agency's own fingerprinting/background vetting and training govern who it places on an armed post. Because there is no security-specific armed credential, Indiana sets no state firearms-requalification cadence, and baton/OC-spray/taser use and employer-owned-firearm rules are left to the licensed agency's own policy and any client contract.

What security guards can and can't do in Indiana

An Indiana guard has no police powers by virtue of the agency license — the licensing statute itself confers no arrest authority. A guard's arrest power is the same as any private person's under IC 35-33-1-4: you may arrest someone who commits a felony in your presence, or — if a felony was in fact committed — someone you have probable cause to believe committed it, and you may also arrest for a misdemeanor that is a breach of the peace being committed in your presence when the arrest is necessary to stop it; there is no citizen's-arrest power for ordinary misdemeanors or simple trespass. IC 35-41-3-3 limits the force used in making that arrest or preventing escape to what is reasonably necessary, and the arrester must notify and deliver the person to a law enforcement officer as soon as practical. Retail and loss-prevention guards more often rely on Indiana's merchant-detention statute, IC 35-33-6-2, which lets a store owner or agent detain a suspected shoplifter to check for unpurchased merchandise, verify identity, and call police for a reasonable time capped at two hours or the arrival of a law enforcement officer, whichever occurs first, and requires that a person under 18 be given a meaningful chance to consult a parent or guardian before any statement is taken. Indiana has no statewide special-police-officer or campus-constable commission scheme for private guards.

Local requirements in Indiana

Some Indiana cities layer their own rules on top of the state requirements. If your site is in one of these, confirm the local layer too:

• Indianapolis / Marion County: No separate city license for security guard companies as such; but a company that also monitors burglar/fire alarm systems must register as an alarm business under Code of Ordinances Ch. 811 — a one-year license renewable each January 1, with operational-information filing to the city's alarm administrator.

How to verify a security license in Indiana

Verification takes only a few minutes and is the check that protects you:

1. Get the license number in writing from the provider — don't accept a logo or a verbal claim.
2. Open the official source — Indiana PLA — License Verification, not a third-party directory.
3. Confirm the record is active, unexpired, matches the exact legal business name and address, and shows no disciplinary action.
4. Verify the officers — confirm each holds a current no individual guard license — guards are fingerprinted, vetted, and trained by the licensed agency, plus the armed credential for any armed post.
5. Confirm insurance and subcontracting — request a current certificate of insurance and confirm it meets or exceeds $100,000 in general liability naming the State of Indiana as an additional insured, plus workers' compensation, and ask in writing whether any of your posts will be subcontracted to another firm.

Re-verify at renewal. Renewal in Indiana: every four years. 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.

Find and compare licensed security companies in Indiana

Once you know what Indiana requires, comparing licensed providers is the next step. Browse security companies in Indiana by city — Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, South Bend, Gary, Evansville, Terre Haute, Lafayette, Anderson, and check each firm's license status on its profile before you shortlist.

Get free quotes from licensed Indiana security companies, or estimate pricing first with our security cost calculator.