Can a Felon Be a Security Guard? Check Your State First

Possibly in Georgia and Vermont. In Georgia, unarmed guards are not registered with the Board, so the Board does not review their records, and the hiring company's policy decides. Armed and weapon-permit roles are registered, and the Board may deny for any felony. Vermont decides if the agency approves your record. Not in Minnesota, where any felony conviction makes an employee ineligible for protective agent work. For a non-felony conviction, Minnesota's answer is yes only if the offense is not disqualifying. This table is the starting point; each state is explained below. Rules and prices are as of October 2026.

Other states differ, including those people search for most often, such as New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and Florida. Contact that state's licensing agency before you pay for anything.

Because the course price is the money you lose if the answer is no, and the question can be settled first. Our own courses show the stakes: $65 in Georgia, $130 or $175 in Vermont, $185 in Minnesota (our course catalog, as of October 2026).

Vermont makes the comparison concrete. The OPR criminal backgrounds page sets the review fee at $25. By our arithmetic that is about 14% of the $175 licensed course and about 19% of the $130 registered course. If you later apply, OPR deducts the fee once from the license application fee, so a favorable answer costs you nothing extra.

Minnesota reverses the usual order. The Board's preassignment rule requires 12 hours of training within the first 21 days of employment, so the training follows the hire, and the employer's fingerprint check follows too. Our recommendation: in Minnesota, confirm that your conviction is not disqualifying and that an employer will hire you before you pay for the course.

It depends on the role. Unarmed guards are not registered with the Board, so the Board does not review their records, and the employer's hiring policy decides. Armed and weapon-permit roles require Board registration, and Georgia Rule 509-2-.07 lets the Board deny employee registration for any felony.

For registered roles, the Board must look at the nature of the crime, your age when it happened, the time since, evidence of rehabilitation and present fitness, and it may register you anyway.

Misdemeanors are handled more lightly. The same rule lets the Board register an employee with a misdemeanor conviction if the record does not prohibit a weapon permit.

Firearms are a hard line. The rule bars an exposed or concealed weapon permit for anyone convicted of a felony unless they provide proof of a pardon or restoration of civil rights that specifically restores the right to carry firearms.

Training is separate from registration. According to the Board's FAQ, unarmed guards are not registered with the Board but must be trained. The Board's training rule, Rule 509-3-.02, requires 24 hours of instruction for private security employees, effective January 1, 2022. Our steps for the training side are in how to get a Georgia security guard license.

A Second Chance Determination is a pre-application ruling from Vermont's Office of Professional Regulation (OPR) on whether your convictions would block a license. Under the OPR policy, OPR answers in writing within 30 days of receiving a complete request, with one of four outcomes:

1. The convictions would not affect eligibility.
2. The State would seek a warning or reprimand, but no restrictions.
3. The State would seek a warning or reprimand plus conditions on the license.
4. The State would oppose issuing the license.

The legal basis is 3 V.S.A. § 129a(a)(10), under which a license may be denied or restricted for a felony whether or not it relates to the work. According to its criminal backgrounds page, OPR weighs the nature of the conviction, time since, rehabilitation and connection to the profession.

The limits matter. The determination binds the State only for the license type you ask about and only for convictions you disclosed accurately. You cannot appeal it, though you may still apply and contest the decision at a hearing. A second request is allowed only on a compelling change in circumstances, so submit the full record the first time. Hypothetical questions are not accepted, and neither are requests from people who would be ineligible regardless of their record.

Once you apply, the OPR administrative rules require a "high standard as to character, integrity, and reputation," which a criminal background check can inform. They also require reporting any arrest, charge or conviction to OPR within 30 business days. The two license tiers are covered in Vermont security guard license: registered or licensed.

Minnesota writes the disqualification into statute and applies it to employees, so there is no weighing of the circumstances. Under Minnesota Statutes section 326.336, subdivision 1, the employer submits each new hire's fingerprints to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which forwards them to the FBI. Employees convicted of a felony or of an offense listed in section 326.3381, subdivision 3 are ineligible. The exception is misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor assault.

The listed offenses include criminal sexual conduct, assault, theft, burglary, robbery, unlawful weapons offenses, burglary tools violations and drug offenses. A conviction that falls in one of those categories is a problem, however long ago it happened. The question for an older record is whether the offense is on the list.

While the check runs, a new hire is a conditional employee and may not perform protective agent services (Minn. Stat. 326.336, subd. 1). The 12-hour preassignment training is due within 21 days of employment (Minn. R. 7506.2600). The employer must dismiss an employee convicted of a disqualifying offense. If your conviction is from another state, ask the Board how it applies before you enroll.

Ask one precise question, in writing if you can, and bring the paperwork that lets the agency answer it. This script works for any state:

Get the answer in writing and keep it with your enrollment records.

The course that fits is the one written for your state, because the training requirement follows the state's rule. All of our courses are self-paced, and prices are as of October 2026.

• Georgia: our Georgia Basic Security Officer Course is 24 hours and costs $65. It is approved by the Georgia Board of Private Detective and Security Agencies.
• Vermont: our Registered Security Employee Course is 8 hours and costs $130. Our Licensed Security Guard Course is 40 hours and costs $175. Both are approved by the Office of Professional Regulation.
• Minnesota: our Pre-Assignment Course for Protective Agents is 12 hours and costs $185. It meets the Board's pre-assignment training requirement.

A completion certificate is evidence of training, not a license. Course completion is not a guard license explains where training ends and state approval begins.

See every course in our course catalog. If you are unsure which course matches your state and role, call us at 832-922-1215.