What Disqualifies You From Being a Security Guard in Texas?

What disqualifies you from being a security guard in Texas is a specific list set out in the Texas Occupations Code and the Department of Public Safety’s administrative rules: certain criminal convictions, sex offender registration, a court finding of mental incompetency, a dishonorable military discharge, and lying on the application. If you want to carry a firearm on the job as a commissioned officer, the list grows to include federal firearm prohibitions, active protective orders, chemical dependency, and a broader mental health standard. Some bars last a set number of years. Others last as long as the underlying condition does.

Age and Basic Eligibility

You must be at least 18 to apply for a security officer position.¹ Personal protection officers must be 21.² There is no upper age limit. Missing the required training (Level II for all officers, Level III for armed officers) will also stop your application, though that is a fixable problem rather than a disqualification in the true sense.

Criminal Convictions

Criminal history is the most common reason applications get denied, and it works two ways: pending charges block you now, and past convictions block you for a set number of years.

Pending Charges

If you are currently charged with a Class A or Class B misdemeanor, or any felony that falls within the state’s disqualifying categories, you cannot receive a license while those charges are pending.¹ Acquittal or dismissal clears this barrier. A conviction moves you into the waiting-period rules below.

Disqualifying Offense Categories

DPS rules identify entire chapters of the Texas Penal Code as disqualifying when the offense relates to security work. Attempted offenses and helping someone else commit one count the same as the offense itself.³ The categories include:

Criminal homicide (Chapter 19)
Kidnapping (Chapter 20)
Sexual offenses (Chapter 21)
Assault (Chapter 22)
Robbery (Chapter 29)
Burglary and criminal trespass (Chapter 30)
Theft (Chapter 31)
Fraud (Chapter 32)
Arson and property damage (Chapter 28)
Bribery (Chapter 36)
Perjury (Chapter 37)
Obstructing governmental operations (Chapter 38)
Disorderly conduct (Chapter 42)

Waiting Periods

How long a listed conviction keeps you out depends on the grade of the offense:

Felony: 10 years from the date you finished your sentence, including probation or parole
Class A misdemeanor: 5 years from the date you finished your sentence
Class B misdemeanor: 5 years from the date of conviction

A felony or Class A misdemeanor not in the listed categories can still disqualify you for 5 years from the date the offense was committed if DPS decides it fails to relate to security work.⁴ The list is not exhaustive. DPS can find that an unlisted offense makes an applicant unfit after reviewing the circumstances.

Out-of-State and Federal Convictions

Convictions from other states and federal convictions count if the elements are substantially similar to a disqualifying Texas offense.³ DPS uses fingerprint-based background checks that pull nationwide criminal history, so a record from another state will surface.⁵

Sex Offender Registration

Anyone required to register as a sex offender in Texas or another state is disqualified.¹ This bar lasts as long as the registration obligation does, not a fixed number of years. Applicants denied only on this ground can request an evidentiary hearing before the Private Security Board, which weighs the time elapsed, evidence of rehabilitation, and the relationship between the offense and security work.⁶

Mental Incompetency Findings

For any security guard license, a court finding that you are incompetent because of a mental defect or disease disqualifies you unless competency has been legally restored.¹ A medical diagnosis alone is not enough at this level; it takes a formal judicial determination. For armed positions, the standard is broader (see below).

Dishonorable Military Discharge

A dishonorable discharge from the U.S. armed services disqualifies you from any Texas security guard license, armed or unarmed. A dismissal from a commissioned military officer position has the same effect. DPS is also authorized to treat other discharge types as disqualifying when the underlying circumstances are serious.¹ A general discharge under honorable conditions typically will not block your application. An “other than honorable” discharge could go either way depending on what DPS finds.

Fraud or Omissions on the Application

A false statement or a missing material fact on your application is grounds for immediate denial. DPS can also suspend or revoke an existing license after discovering fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation, so this exposure extends years beyond the initial filing.

Some applicants assume an expunged or sealed record does not need to be disclosed. Texas law generally lets you deny an expunged record on private-sector job applications, but DPS fingerprint checks may surface records that ordinary commercial checks miss.⁵ When a sealed record shows up and contradicts what you wrote, DPS treats that as a material omission.

Extra Disqualifiers for Armed (Commissioned) Officers

A commissioned security officer carries a firearm and must clear every requirement that applies to unarmed guards plus a separate set of additional bars. If you cannot qualify for a commission, unarmed work may still be open to you.

Federal Firearm Prohibitions

Anyone barred from possessing a firearm under federal or state law cannot receive a commission.⁷ Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), federally prohibited persons include anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison, fugitives, unlawful drug users, people committed to a mental institution, unlawful residents, dishonorably discharged veterans, and people subject to certain domestic-violence restraining orders.⁸

The category that catches people off guard is misdemeanor domestic violence. Under the Lautenberg Amendment, a conviction as minor as a Class C assault against a family member permanently bars firearm possession, which in turn permanently blocks a Texas security officer commission.

Protective Orders and Spousal Restraining Orders

An active court protective order, or a spousal restraining order that goes beyond dividing property, disqualifies you from a commission for as long as it is in effect.⁷ A restraining order limited to asset questions during a divorce does not trigger the bar. Once the order expires or is lifted, it no longer blocks you on its own.

Chemical Dependency

Texas treats chemical dependency as a standalone bar for commissioned officers and defines it in a testable way: two convictions within the 10 years before your application for a Class B misdemeanor or higher that includes alcohol or a controlled substance as an element.⁷ Two DWIs in a decade are the classic example. DPS can still make a chemical dependency finding on other evidence even without two qualifying convictions.

Marijuana Use

Marijuana remains a federally controlled substance. Anyone who uses it, including medical marijuana patients, is classified as an unlawful user under federal law and cannot possess a firearm.⁹ A current marijuana user cannot legally hold a Texas security officer commission, no matter how the substance is treated in the user’s home state. For unarmed positions, the firearm rule does not apply directly, but a marijuana possession conviction can still fall within the disqualifying offense categories.

Broader Mental Health Standard

For commissioned officers, you are considered incapable of sound judgment regarding firearms if any of these apply:

A licensed physician has diagnosed you with a psychiatric condition that substantially impairs judgment, mood, impulse control, or intellectual ability
You have such a condition in remission that is likely to return, or that requires ongoing treatment to stay in remission
A physician or court has declared you incompetent to manage your own affairs
You entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity in a criminal case

Commission applicants must also submit results from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, and results that flag psychological concerns can lead to denial even without a prior diagnosis.⁷

If Your Application Is Denied

You can request a preliminary hearing in writing within 30 calendar days of receiving the denial notice. If that goes against you, you have 15 calendar days from the determination letter to appeal to the State Office of Administrative Hearings.¹⁰ Miss either deadline and DPS can dispose of the case by default.

Denials based only on sex offender registration follow a different route. Instead of the administrative hearing process, you can appeal directly to the Private Security Board at one of its quarterly public meetings, where the board weighs time elapsed, your age at the time of the offense, and rehabilitation evidence.⁶

1
Texas Public Law. Texas Occupations Code Section 1702.113 – General Qualifications
2
Texas Department of Public Safety. Texas Private Security Statutes and Rules – Section 1702.204
3
Legal Information Institute. 37 Texas Administrative Code 35.4 – Guidelines for Disqualifying Criminal Offenses
4
Texas Department of Public Safety. Private Security Administrative Rules – Rule 35.4
5
Texas Department of Public Safety. Private Security
6
Texas Department of Public Safety. Private Security Administrative Rules – Rule 35.65
7
State of Texas. Texas Occupations Code Section 1702.163 – Qualifications for Security Officer Commission
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
9
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Identify Prohibited Persons
10
Texas Department of Public Safety. Private Security Administrative Rules – Rule 35.64