Armed Security License Renewal Class in McKinney, Texas

An armed officer’s continuing education has to come from a department-approved school. Not from your corporate training department, and not from a CE credit bought elsewhere. Here is where that rule comes from and what it means for a McKinney roster.

Why can’t we run this training internally?

Because the exemption that would let you stops short of your armed people. Texas allows an in-house continuing education exemption for companies with ten or more licensed employees, and along the US‑75 corridor a fair number of McKinney and Collin County employers clear that bar easily. Corporate campuses, medical office developments, data and telecom facilities, and the retail and mixed-use centers that have followed the residential growth north. Those same organizations usually have a real internal training function. It does not matter here. §35.162(d) states plainly that the in-house exemption does not apply to commissioned security officers or personal protection officers.

Nor can you buy your way around it externally. §35.162(f) provides that continuing education credits earned through outside entities may not be used to satisfy the requirement for commissioned security officers or personal protection officers. And §35.161(g) requires that the education be taught by department-approved training schools and instructors. Three provisions pointing the same direction: for anyone carrying a firearm on post, the hours come from an approved school or they do not count.

How many hours, and what counts as done?

§35.161(g) sets six hours of continuing education for commissioned security officers and personal protection officers, satisfied by completing the renewal portions of the Level III or Level IV training course, as applicable. A commissioned security officer also has to submit a firearms proficiency certificate with the renewal application, which is a separate deliverable from the classroom hours.

Plan both. Our online armed security renewal course covers the online training only and runs 100% online; the in-person firearms qualification is not included and must be scheduled separately once the online portion is complete. For posts where a shotgun is authorized, §35.146(b) also specifies a biennial familiarization of six rounds of “00” buckshot in connection with renewal of a commissioned security officer.

Whose responsibility is the proof?

Shared, and worth putting in writing internally. §35.161(a) establishes three things at once: a renewal application may not be submitted until the required minimum hours have been earned; proof of completion must be maintained by the employer in the employee’s personnel file; and the licensee indicates completion on the renewal application. On top of that, §35.161(m) requires attendees to keep their certificates of completion for two years and furnish copies to the department on request.

The certificate itself has a defined content standard. §35.162(b)(3) requires it to show the attendee’s name and license number, date of attendance, number of hours and courses attended, signed and dated by the school director, with the school keeping its records for two years. Ours is issued as the PSP 31. A supervisor filing these should check for the license number and the hours specifically. Those are the fields a thin certificate tends to omit.

Can we put the whole team through at once?

Only if their expiration dates line up, and they usually do not. §35.161(n) makes continuing education valid only if completed within the two-year period preceding the license’s current expiration date. That is a per-license validity window, not an organizational renewal cycle. Officers hired at different times carry different windows, and hours completed outside an officer’s own window are simply not usable toward that renewal.

Who on our roster is actually covered?

• Commissioned security officers (Level 3): covered, and they owe the firearms proficiency certificate as well.
• Personal protection officers (Level 4): covered. This is the executive protection credential, relevant to McKinney employers running protective details for leadership, and it is a distinct license rather than a rank above Level 3.
• Noncommissioned officers: not covered. §35.161(b) specifically exempts them from continuing education, so an unarmed officer holding a Level 2 license has nothing to complete.
• Long-lapsed returners: §35.141(d) requires someone inactive or expired and not employed in the industry for three years or more to submit current training certificates, so the full Level 3 course may be the right path instead of a renewal.
• Military service members: §35.182 gives them two additional years to complete a continuing education or other renewal-related requirement, and §35.181 waives late-renewal penalty fees for them.

Every provision cited here is in 37 TAC Chapter 35, and licensing itself is administered by the Texas DPS Private Security Bureau. Our full class list shows what else we run if you are building out a team rather than renewing one.