Denver Guard License Renewal: Refresher, Documents, and Fees

A Denver security guard license renewal is filed online through the city’s Permitting and Licensing Center, costs $25, and must be submitted every year. You can start as early as 90 days before your expiration date, and the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection (formerly Excise and Licenses) aims to complete an initial review of a complete application within seven business days.¹ Miss the expiration date and you cannot legally work until the license is reissued.

When to Renew

Licenses expire annually. The 90-day early window is the easiest path: it leaves room to schedule training, get a fresh employer letter, and order a background check without pressure.

If you miss your expiration date, a 90-day grace period follows, but with penalties and an immediate stop-work rule:¹

Days 1 through 30 past expiration: 20% penalty on top of the $25 fee.
Days 31 through 90: 50% penalty.
After day 90: renewal is no longer available. You must apply for a new license from scratch, including a new background check and the full initial training requirement.

The Eight-Hour Refresher Training

Before you can submit the renewal, you need to finish an eight-hour renewal training course from a provider on Denver’s approved list.² Certificates from unapproved providers are rejected, so check the list before enrolling.

Timing matters. Your training certificate has to be dated within 90 days of the renewal application. Finishing the course months in advance will not carry you through to filing day.

Documents You Need

Every document goes into the portal as a PDF or JPG. Three items are required for every security guard renewal:

Your eight-hour renewal training completion certificate, dated within the past 90 days.
A letter of hire from your current or intended employer, dated within the past 60 days. A fresh letter is required even if nothing about your job has changed.
A Colorado Bureau of Investigation background check completed within the past 60 days, uploaded as a single file.

You also have to disclose every criminal conviction, deferred judgment, and pending charge that has come up since your current license was issued. Omissions get caught against state databases and can be treated as independent grounds for denial, even when the underlying offense would not have disqualified you on its own.¹

Extra Documents for Endorsements

Guards who carry firearms, work in plainclothes, or handle an explosive detection canine have to upload additional paperwork on top of the standard package:

Plainclothes endorsement: an employer letter requesting the endorsement, dated within the past 60 days.
Firearm endorsement: an employer request letter (within 60 days) and a firearm training certification completed within the past six months.
Combined firearm and unlimited plainclothes: all firearm endorsement documents plus a copy of your concealed handgun permit.
Explosive detection canine endorsement: an employer request letter (within 60 days) and a valid explosive detection canine certificate.

Armed guards face a federal layer as well. Anyone convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence is permanently prohibited under federal law from possessing firearms or ammunition, with no security-professional exception.³ A conviction that might not block a standard guard license can still end a firearm endorsement, and state expungement does not restore federal firearm rights.

How to Submit and Pay

All renewals go through Denver’s Online Permitting and Licensing Center. Log in, open the Business Licenses tab, find your license on the My Records page, and click Renew Application in the Action column. The system walks you through uploading documents and updating your information.⁴

If you need to pause partway through, the system holds your draft for 30 days. After that, it is discarded and you start over.¹

The fee is $25. A replacement badge adds $5. Credit and debit card payments carry a 2.5% service fee; paying by electronic check avoids the surcharge.⁴

Processing Time

The department’s target is an initial review of a complete application within seven business days. Incomplete applications and anything that requires police review take longer.¹ A missing document or an unreadable scan is the most common reason reviews stall, so check every upload before you submit.

What Can Disqualify a Renewal

Colorado law bars anyone convicted within the past ten years of crimes related to violence or unlawful sexual behavior from holding a security guard license, and the rule applies to renewals the same way it applies to first-time applicants. The ten-year clock runs from the date of conviction.⁵

Denver’s municipal code separately lists a prior conviction for working without a required license as grounds for denying a future application.⁶

Working on an Expired License

Denver’s municipal code makes it unlawful to work as a security guard without a current license.⁶ State penalties escalate: a first offense of working as an unlicensed guard is a class 2 misdemeanor, and a second or subsequent offense is a class 6 felony. Administrative fines run from $50 to $5,000 per violation.⁵ Most security companies pull guards from assignments the day a license expires rather than risk their own exposure.

Appealing a Denial

If a renewal is denied without a hearing, you can request one in writing from the Director of the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection using the city’s standardized appeal request form for individuals.⁷ The hearing is your chance to challenge the basis for the denial. If the problem is background-check information or how a prior case was recorded, pulling the court records and disposition documents before the hearing will put you in a stronger position.

1
City and County of Denver. Renewal Security Guard Application
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City and County of Denver. Security Guard Training Providers
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922
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City and County of Denver. Denver’s Permitting and Licensing Center
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Colorado General Assembly. HB21-1120 License Private Security Guards
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City and County of Denver. Denver Revised Municipal Code Article V – Licensing and Regulation of Private Security Businesses and Private Security Guards
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City and County of Denver. Request for Appeal Hearing – Individual