Colorado Security Guard License Verification: Denver and Colorado Springs

Colorado security guard license verification is handled city by city, not by the state. There is no statewide registry or state licensing board, so the first step is identifying which municipality issued the license. Denver and Colorado Springs both run free online portals where anyone can look up a guard’s current status in seconds. Greeley and Pueblo also license guards locally but don’t offer the same online search tools.

Why There Is No Statewide Lookup

Colorado regulates private security guards entirely at the local level. A 2023 review by the Colorado Office of Policy, Research and Regulatory Reform confirmed that “at least four local governments currently have a licensure requirement for private security guards individually, including: Colorado Springs, Denver, Greeley, and Pueblo.”¹ A 2021 bill to create statewide licensing, HB21-1120, was killed in the House Judiciary Committee.²

Because licensing is local, a guard credentialed in Denver has no automatic authority in Colorado Springs. Each city sets its own standards. When you’re verifying, find out where the guard was licensed before searching anywhere.

How to Verify a Denver Security Guard License

Denver’s security guard licensing sits under Chapter 42, Article V of the Denver Revised Municipal Code and is administered by the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection.³ The city publishes a public dataset of active private security employer licenses and their associated guards through the Colorado Information Marketplace.⁴

For individual records, use Denver’s online Permitting and Licensing Center:

Go to the portal at aca-prod.accela.com/DENVER and select the Licenses module.⁵
From the Record Type dropdown, choose “Security Guard License” to filter out unrelated permits.
Search by record number, business name, or address. Spelling has to be exact; the system matches your input literally.
Click a result to see the license status, expiration date, and associated employer.

The search is free. Fees apply only to applying for or renewing a license, not to looking one up.

How to Verify a Colorado Springs Security License

Colorado Springs licenses private security officers under City Code Section 2.3.211, administered through the City Clerk’s Office.⁶ Every licensed officer must carry an ID card showing their name, photo, license number, expiration date, signature, and employer. If you’re verifying in person, that card is the quickest cross-reference against what the portal shows.

The city uses an Accela-based portal:

Visit aca-prod.accela.com/COSPRINGS and select the Licensing module.⁷
Under General Search, choose “Security License” from the Record Type dropdown. Related options include “Security License Application” and “Security License Renewal.”
Enter the business name, record number, or other identifying information.
Review the status and expiration date on the record.

Colorado Springs security licenses run for one year from issuance and expire automatically unless renewed.⁸ A firearm or conducted energy weapon endorsement expires at the same time as the base license, so an “active” base license doesn’t automatically mean the weapon endorsement is current — the record shows both.⁶

Greeley, Pueblo, and Cities Without Local Licensing

Greeley and Pueblo also license guards locally.¹ Neither offers the same online search available in Denver and Colorado Springs, so verification runs through the city clerk’s office directly. Call and ask for the records custodian for security guard licenses.

For municipalities that haven’t adopted a security guard ordinance, there is no local license to look up. That’s worth knowing before you assume a guard in a smaller city holds any municipal credential. The absence of a record in Denver’s or Colorado Springs’ portal does not necessarily mean the guard is unlicensed; it may mean they were licensed somewhere else, or that no license was ever required where they work.

How to Read the Results

The status field is the headline. An active status means the license is current and the guard is authorized to operate in that city. An expired status means the opposite — and in Denver, working with an expired license is explicitly unlawful under Section 42-141 of the municipal code.⁹

Revoked or suspended is more serious than expired. The Colorado Springs code specifically contemplates suspension and revocation as actions a city can take against a license before its natural expiration date.⁶ A guard with either status has had their authority formally pulled by the city.

Check the expiration date even when the status reads active. A license expiring in two weeks tells a different story than one renewed last month. Denver guards can begin renewal up to 90 days before expiration, so a near-term deadline without a visible renewal in progress is a yellow flag worth asking about.⁹ It’s also worth confirming the employer listed on the record matches the company that sent the guard; in Denver, each guard is tied to a sponsoring Private Security Employer licensee.¹⁰

Why Employers Should Run the Check

For businesses hiring security personnel, verification is a basic liability shield. Negligent hiring claims become a real risk when an employer places someone in a role involving force or public safety without checking credentials. Courts look at whether the employer knew or should have known the person was unfit, and whether that unfitness connects to the harm that followed. Security positions sit at the high end of that risk scale because the job involves authority, physical presence, and sometimes weapons.

The defense is simply doing the check. An employer who pulls up the municipal portal, confirms active status, saves a screenshot, and dates the record has done what courts expect. Skipping that step when the database is free and public is hard to justify after the fact. Denver reinforces this by requiring the employer itself to hold a Private Security Employer license and to sponsor each guard individually, which creates a paper trail tying employer diligence to each guard’s credentials.¹¹

1
Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies. 2023 Sunrise Review – Private Security Guards
2
Colorado General Assembly. HB21-1120 License Private Security Guards
3
City and County of Denver. Security Guard Amendments and Notifications
4
Colorado Information Marketplace. City of Denver Security Guard Licenses by Business
5
City and County of Denver. Denver Permitting and Licensing Center
6
American Legal Publishing. Colorado Springs Code of Ordinances – 2.3.211 Private Security Officer Licenses
7
City of Colorado Springs. City of Colorado Springs Permits, Licenses, and Records
8
City of Colorado Springs. Security License
9
City and County of Denver. Renewal Security Guard Application
10
City and County of Denver. Private Security Employer
11
City and County of Denver. Private Security Employer