Anyone who has worked a refinery or terminal contract in Corpus Christi knows what an approved vendor list is. Level 3 training runs on the same principle: and the approval you need to check is the school’s, before you pay a cent.

Only an Approved School Can Deliver It

Level 3 is not a course a provider assembles. The material is prepared by and obtained from the Texas Department of Public Safety, and it may only be taught by a DPS-approved school with a DPS-approved instructor. Two conditions, both required. A school that is approved but puts an unapproved instructor in the room has not delivered a valid Level 3 course, and neither has a well-run company with excellent trainers that is not an approved school.

The contrast with the unarmed course is sharp and worth understanding, because it is the source of most bad assumptions. For Level 2, a licensed company is permitted to use its own designee to train its own officers in-house. For Level 3, that option does not exist. There is no in-house designee route to a commission. If your employer tells you they will handle your armed certification internally, that is not a thing the rules allow, and the certificate will not support a commission application.

What the Commission Actually Is

37 TAC §35.141(a)(2) requires the Level 3 training course for anyone seeking a security officer commission, the credential that allows an officer to carry a firearm on duty, and for personal protection officers. Completing the course is not the same as holding the commission. DPS issues the commission on application, and under §35.81(a) that application requires copies of both the Level 2 and the Level 3 certificates of completion, along with the other items DPS lists. Officers who threw away their Level 2 paperwork years ago find that out at the worst possible moment.

One more distinction to keep straight: Level 3 is the commissioned security officer course; Level 4 is not a senior version of it. Level 4 is the separate personal protection officer course, executive protection work, carrying a minimum of fifteen classroom hours under §35.141(a)(3). Different course, different credential, different job.

Part 1 Online, Part 2 on the Range

Part 1 is classroom: the law governing armed security work, use of force, the duties that attach to a commission, and the written examination. ETXSTA runs Part 1 100% online, which for a coastal-bend officer working turnaround schedules is the difference between fitting training in and putting it off another year. Part 2 happens in person and covers defensive tactics, firearms handling and the firearms proficiency exam.

Be clear on what you are buying: the online course price covers the online training only. The in-person firearms qualification is scheduled separately and is not included, and no part of the online half puts a firearm in your hands. Any provider that is vague about that split is one to ask harder questions of.

The Exams

• Written. Under §35.144(c), the minimum passing grade on Level 3 and Level 4 school examinations is 75%: higher than the License to Carry written test threshold, which is exactly why LTC holders should not coast through Part 1.
• Handgun. The firearms proficiency exam is close to identical in format to the Texas LTC proficiency exam. Under §35.145 the qualification may use the DPS Primary Issued Handgun Qualification Course or the DPS Approved LTC Course.
• Shotgun, optional. §35.146 sets out a shotgun course of fire for commissioned security officers, so you have the option to qualify with a shotgun in addition to a handgun.

Armed Posts on the Coastal Bend

Corpus Christi is a port and energy city first, and the armed security demand reflects that: refinery and terminal access control, pipeline and midstream facilities, marine and dockside contracts, plus the ordinary commercial base of hospitals and medical districts, banking branches and high-value retail that any city this size carries. Industrial clients here are used to documenting who is on site and under what authority, so a commissioned officer with clean, verifiable paperwork is genuinely more employable than one without, and since the commission follows the officer rather than the employer, it travels with you between contractors along the ship channel.

After You Qualify

Your certificate of completion is referred to as PSP 30. Under §35.147, an approved school issues the original certificate to a qualifying student within seven days of qualifying and retains training records for 24 months: another reason the approved-school requirement matters, since records that have to survive two years need to sit with an entity the state actually holds responsible. Later on, the renewal course is what keeps the commission current.

The governing rules are public in 37 TAC Chapter 35, licensing questions belong with the Texas DPS Private Security Bureau, and our FAQ page handles the cases that come up most.