Armed Security Guard or Private Investigator ($10,000) Bond - Statewide in Oklahoma
Table of Contents
Brief Summary
Check one thing before you buy. If you work for a CLEET licensed security or investigative agency, you probably do not need this bond. CLEET asks a new applicant for a letter of employment OR bond and insurance, and the statute puts the duty on agencies to make sure their employees meet the minimum coverage. The people who actually buy this are the self-employed and the independent operators. And if you are unarmed, your figure is $5,000 rather than $10,000.
Oklahoma licenses security guards and private investigators through CLEET, the Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training, under the Oklahoma Security Guard and Private Investigator Act. 59 O.S. 1750.5(J) requires all persons and agencies to maintain either general liability insurance or a surety bond, at minimum amounts of $100,000 for agencies, $10,000 for armed security guards and armed private investigators or a combination armed license, and $5,000 for unarmed security guards and self-employed unarmed private investigators who employ no other investigators. Neither a policy nor a bond may be modified or canceled unless ten days prior written notice is given to the Council.
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How to Apply for an Armed Security Guard or Private Investigator ($10,000) Bond:
- Check first whether you need this at all. CLEET accepts a letter of employment in place of a bond or insurance, and agencies must ensure their employees meet the minimum coverages.
- Confirm your tier. Armed security guard, armed private investigator or the combination armed licence is $10,000. Unarmed is $5,000. An agency is $100,000.
- Decide between a bond and a general liability policy. The statute allows either, and they do different jobs for you.
- Full legal name exactly as it appears on the CLEET application.
- Owner or applicant information and authorization for a credit review.
- Complete the bond application, review the quoted premium, and pay it.
- Confirm the bond wording carries the statutory conditions, that persons may recover for actionable injuries, loss or damage from willful or wrongful acts or omissions, that the state and its agents, officers and employees are protected from judgments, and that it is conditioned on faithful and honest conduct of the business.
- Confirm the surety will give the Council ten days prior written notice before any modification or cancellation.
- File the bond with your CLEET application along with the licence fee, $100.00 armed or $150.00 for the combination licence.
- Complete the required Phase training and exams. They are separate from this filing and do not replace it.
- Diary the expiration. The licence runs three years, renewal must reach CLEET within thirty days of expiry, and after that you reapply rather than renew.
Detailed Information About the Oklahoma Armed Security Guard or Private Investigator ($10,000) Bond:
Most armed guards never buy this
Start here, because it decides whether you should be on this page at all.
CLEET's own list of what a new individual application needs says: Letter of Employment or Bond and Insurance. At renewal the wording is the same shape, either a notice of employment or current bond and insurance. Or, not and.
The reason sits in the statute. 59 O.S. 1750.5(J) says security agencies and investigative agencies shall ensure that all employees of these agencies have met the minimum liability coverages prescribed in the section. The agency carries $100,000 and stands behind its people. So a licensed guard on an agency payroll files an employment letter and is done.
The person who genuinely buys this bond is the one with nobody above them. Self-employed. Independent contractor. Between employers at renewal time. If that is you, read on. If you have a job with a licensed agency, ask your employer for the letter before you spend anything.
It is a bond or insurance, your choice
Worth knowing because a lot of applicants assume the bond is compulsory.
The statute offers two routes. One is general liability insurance for bodily injury, personal injury and property damage, with endorsements for personal injury covering false arrest, libel, slander and invasion of privacy. The other is a surety bond that allows persons to recover for actionable injuries, loss or damage resulting from the willful or wrongful acts or omissions of the principal, protects the state, its agents, officers and employees from judgments against the principal or insured licensee, and is conditioned upon the faithful and honest conduct of the principal's business.
Read those two side by side and they are not the same product. The insurance pays your defence and your liability. The bond pays a claimant and then comes to you for the money. The bond is usually the cheaper filing, which is why people choose it, but it is not protection for you.
Three tiers, and $10,000 is the armed one
The amount is not a flat Oklahoma figure. The statute sets three.
Agencies, $100,000. Armed security guards and armed private investigators, including anyone holding the combination armed license, $10,000. Unarmed security guards and self-employed unarmed private investigators who employ no other investigators, $5,000.
Notice what the $5,000 tier actually says. It reaches unarmed guards generally, but on the investigator side it is limited to the self-employed investigator who employs no other investigators. An investigator with staff is running an agency, and an agency is the $100,000 tier.
So the question that sets your number is not what you call yourself. It is whether you carry a firearm and whether anyone works for you.
Ten days, not thirty
This one is short enough to catch people out.
Insurance policies and bonds issued under this section may not be modified or canceled unless ten days prior written notice is given to the Council. Most licence bonds run on thirty. Ten days is very little runway to replace coverage before CLEET knows your file has a hole in it.
If you change carriers, overlap the dates rather than cutting it fine.
Training is heavy, and none of it replaces the bond
Worth being blunt about, because the hours are substantial enough that people assume they must cover everything.
CLEET runs phased training. Phase I is 20 hours, Phase II is 20 hours, Phase III is 35 hours and Phase IV is 32 hours. An unarmed security guard takes Phase I and II. An armed security guard takes Phase I, II and IV, and sits two state exams, one on unarmed security and one on firearms competency. An unarmed private investigator takes Phase I and III. An armed private investigator takes Phase I, III and IV with examinations in investigator skills and firearms.
Continuing education runs 8 hours a year for security guards and 16 for private investigators, and it is required for renewal.
All of that is licensure. None of it satisfies 1750.5(J). You still file either the employment letter or the coverage.
Three years, and thirty days is the cliff
A CLEET security guard licence and a CLEET private investigator licence each run three years and expire exactly three years from the date of issue.
Renewal has to reach CLEET no more than thirty days after expiration. Past that you are not renewing, you are reapplying from scratch. A licence expired one to thirty days carries a $25.00 late fee on top of the renewal fee.
Fees are $50.00 unarmed, $100.00 armed, and $150.00 for the combination armed security guard and armed private investigator licence, on the original application and on renewal alike. A security agency or investigative agency licence is $300.00 for the original or each renewal.
CLEET, not OSBI
One piece of housekeeping that sends people to the wrong place. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation does not license security guards or private investigators. The Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training does, and the Council is the body entitled to the ten day cancellation notice on your bond.
Eligibility and Requirements for an Oklahoma Armed Security Guard or Private Investigator ($10,000) Bond:
- Either general liability insurance or a surety bond, at the licensee's choice, under 59 O.S. 1750.5(J).
- A minimum of $10,000 for armed security guards, armed private investigators and the combination armed licence.
- A minimum of $5,000 for unarmed security guards and self-employed unarmed private investigators who employ no other investigators.
- A minimum of $100,000 for security agencies and investigative agencies.
- Bond conditioned to allow persons to recover for actionable injuries, loss or damage from the willful or wrongful acts or omissions of the principal.
- Protection for the state, its agents, officers and employees from judgments against the principal or insured licensee.
- Conditioned upon the faithful and honest conduct of the principal's business.
- No modification or cancellation without ten days prior written notice to the Council.
- Name on the bond matching the CLEET licence application exactly.
Oklahoma Armed Security Guard or Private Investigator ($10,000) Bond FAQs:
Probably not. CLEET lists what a new individual application needs as a letter of employment or bond and insurance, and at renewal as either a notice of employment or current bond and insurance. Behind that, 59 O.S. 1750.5(J) makes security agencies and investigative agencies ensure that all their employees have met the minimum liability coverages. Ask your employer for the letter before you buy anything.
Because the amount tiers on whether you are armed. The statute sets $10,000 for armed security guards and armed private investigators, including anyone on the combination armed licence, and $5,000 for unarmed security guards and self-employed unarmed private investigators who employ no other investigators. Agencies are $100,000.
Not the $5,000 one. That tier is written for the self-employed unarmed investigator who employs no other investigators. Once you employ investigators you are running an investigative agency, and agencies carry $100,000. Sort out which licence you are actually applying for before you buy coverage.
Either. 59 O.S. 1750.5(J) allows general liability insurance for bodily injury, personal injury and property damage with endorsements covering false arrest, libel, slander and invasion of privacy, or a surety bond meeting the conditions in the same subsection. They are not equivalent for you. The policy defends and indemnifies you. The bond pays a claimant and the surety then seeks reimbursement from you. The bond is usually the cheaper filing and that is why most people pick it.
CLEET, the Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training. Not the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, which is where a lot of search results send people. The Council is also the body that must receive ten days prior written notice before your bond or policy is modified or canceled.
Ten days prior written notice to the Council. That is shorter than the thirty days most licence bonds run on, so if you are switching carriers, overlap the effective dates rather than letting one end as the other begins.
No. Training and coverage are separate requirements. Phase I is 20 hours, Phase II is 20 hours, Phase III is 35 hours and Phase IV is 32 hours, and an armed security guard needs Phase I, II and IV plus the unarmed security exam and the firearms exam. Completing all of it satisfies the training requirement and nothing in 1750.5(J).
You pay a premium rather than the $10,000. At this size the rate is driven mainly by personal credit, and $10,000 is a small exposure that is written routinely. Rates differ enough between applicants that quoting a percentage here would tell you nothing about your own file. Worth pricing the general liability policy at the same time, since the statute lets you satisfy the requirement either way and the two products protect you very differently.
Three years from the date it was issued, for both the security guard licence and the private investigator licence. Renewal must reach CLEET no more than thirty days after expiration. Beyond thirty days you are no longer eligible to renew and must apply for a new licence. A licence one to thirty days expired carries a $25.00 late fee.
$50.00 for unarmed, $100.00 for armed, and $150.00 for the combination armed security guard and armed private investigator licence, applying to both the original application and each renewal. A security agency or investigative agency licence is $300.00 for the original application or each renewal.
Eight hours during each licensing period for security guards and sixteen hours for private investigators. Proof of continuing education goes in with the renewal application, alongside either the notice of employment or the current bond and insurance.
