MASSACHUSETTS SECURITY GUARD AGENCY LICENSE

The license. License to engage in the business of watch, guard or patrol agency (M.G.L. c.147 ss.22-30). Shares its statute, application questionnaire and fee line with the private detective license. The Employee Affidavit Form gives watch/guard company license numbers in the form 'LW0001A' (PI licenses 'LP0001A'). [1]

Who needs it. Any person who engages in, advertises or holds himself out as engaged in, or solicits the business of watch, guard or patrol agency, defined as including furnishing, for hire or reward, watchmen, guards, private patrolmen or other persons to protect persons or property or to prevent theft. Exempt (s.23): agents, employees or assistants of a licensee; a corporation whose resident manager, superintendent or official representative is a licensee; government employees on official duty; and in-house (proprietary) guards whose services are not let out to another for profit or gain, along with other listed exemptions. Penalty for unlicensed activity: fine of $200 to $1,000, up to 1 year imprisonment, or both. [1]

Local licensing. The agency business is licensed at the STATE level under M.G.L. c.147 ss.22-30 by the Colonel of the State Police. Massachusetts has no state guard card or individual guard registration. Instead, under c.147 s.28 each employee gives the licensee a sworn statement, which the State Police collect through the online Employee Affidavit Form. The licensee keeps the statements on file and produces them to the Colonel on demand. Armed employees need their own Massachusetts firearms license (the affidavit asks for a 'Firearm Identification Card or License to Carry License Number'). No municipal or county license for guard-furnishing companies appears in the state sources.

Your guards. No state guard card. Each employee completes the MSP 'Employee Affidavit Form' (forms.mass.gov/eopss-msp/form/13). It records the employer's company license number, the employee's identity, parents' names and birthplaces, and 3-year work history, felony and moral-turpitude disclosures, and any weapons carried (firearm, Electronic Control Weapon/Taser, OC spray) with the firearms license number. The employee also signs a release authorizing a State Police background review. [4]

Role

For an individual applicant, the applicant. For a corporation, its 'resident manager, superintendent or official representative', who must be a licensee (under s.23 the corporation itself is exempt if that person is a licensee). [1]

Experience

None required by statute for a watch, guard or patrol agency license. The s.24 experience rule (3 years as a detective, former federal investigator, former police officer above patrolman, or police officer with 10 years) applies only to private detective licenses. The combined online PI/WG form still asks every applicant about experience. [1]

Age & background

Good moral character. No felony conviction in any state. No conviction under M.G.L. c.272 s.99 or s.99A (interception of wire/oral communications); a license already held by such a person is revoked. The statute sets no minimum age for the licensee. The application questionnaire asks about felonies, weapons offenses, personal violence, dishonesty/fraud, moral turpitude, probation/parole/warrants, domestic violence, licensing discipline elsewhere, civil malpractice judgments, falsification, and any discharge other than honorable. [1]

• The application must include certifications from 3 reputable Massachusetts citizens who live in the community where the applicant lives, has a place of business or proposes to do business. Each must have known the applicant at least 3 years, have read the application, not be related to the applicant by blood or marriage, and attest that the applicant is honest and of good moral character. [1]
• Statements of fact in the application are made under oath. [1]
• The business name must be approved by the Colonel and may not contain the words 'police' or 'fire' or imply a government association. The license states the business name and principal office address and must be posted conspicuously in that office; failure to comply is cause for revocation. [1]
• The online 'Private Investigator & Watch Guard License Form' is required for every original and renewal application. [3]
• Weapons and equipment are limited to those authorized by the Colonel, and an authorized firearm must be loaded while on duty. Imitation firearms are prohibited. Badges are allowed only for uniformed guards or watchmen, worn on the left breast, and may not bear the word 'Police' or any state or municipal seal. ID cards must be in a form approved by the Colonel. Penalty for violating s.29: fine of up to $50. [1]
• Vehicles used in the business may not display 'police' or 'emergency'. [1]
• Strict labor-dispute limits (ss.27, 30). Examples: no entering workplaces to deal with organizing or labor conditions; no furnishing replacement labor or armed guards (other than guards already regularly employed) for property operated during a strike; no armed guards on highways for parties to labor disputes; no supplying weapons or tear gas to employers. Penalty under s.30: fine of $200 to $1,000, 6 months to 1 year imprisonment, or both. A s.27 violation means suspension of at least 1 year. [1]

Surety bond

$5,000 surety bond, executed by the applicant as principal and a surety company authorized in Massachusetts as surety, in a form the commissioner prescribes. It is conditioned on honest conduct of the business, and any person injured by the licensee's wilful, malicious or wrongful act (including an officer of an aggrieved labor union) may sue on it in their own name. The statute says the bond is given 'to the commissioner', while every other section names the colonel; see notes. [1]

• Initial license (Private Detective, Watch-Guard Patrol Agency): $550 [801 CMR 4.02, Department of State Police item (2)(a). Read from the LII secondary mirror, where both the current and prior quarterly versions show $550.] [2]
• Renewal: $150, annual [801 CMR 4.02 item (2)(b), LII mirror] [2]
• Statutory basis: the commissioner of administration sets the original and renewal fees under M.G.L. c.7 s.3B, which is why the amounts appear in 801 CMR 4.02. Late renewal: an applicant who renews more than six months after expiration pays the original-license fee. [1]

1. File the application with the Colonel of the State Police on the forms the Colonel furnishes, with statements of fact under oath. [1]
2. Complete the State Police Certification Unit's online 'Private Investigator & Watch Guard License Form', which covers experience, background, current employment and number of employees, and certify that the answers are true. [3]
3. Obtain certifications from three reputable Massachusetts citizens (known the applicant 3+ years, not related, attesting to honesty and good moral character). [1]
4. Give the $5,000 surety bond. [1]
5. Pay the initial license fee ($550 per 801 CMR 4.02, LII mirror). [2]
6. Once the license is issued, post it in a conspicuous place in the principal office. The license states the business name and the principal office address. [1]
7. Before anyone starts work, have each employee execute the sworn statement required by c.147 s.28 through the State Police online Employee Affidavit Form. The license questionnaire asks how many employees work under the license. [3]

Renewal

The license runs for one year, and the Colonel may renew it each year on a renewal form the Colonel furnishes. The renewal fee is $150 annual (801 CMR 4.02). Renewing more than six months after expiration costs the original-license fee. The online PI/WG questionnaire is required for renewals too. [1]

Disqualifiers & waivers

Licensee: a felony conviction in any state, or a conviction under c.272 s.99 or s.99A, bars licensure (a license already held is revoked in the s.99/99A case). The Colonel may revoke a license for cause at any time after notice and a hearing. Breaking the name or posting rules is cause for revocation, falsely claiming someone is or was an employee is cause for revocation, and a s.27 labor violation means suspension of at least 1 year after a public hearing. Employees: a licensee may not knowingly employ anyone convicted of a felony or any former licensee whose license was revoked, and no minor may be employed as an investigator or guard where firearms are required. No waiver or rehabilitation procedure appears in c.147 ss.22-30. [1]

• M.G.L. c.147, ss.22-30 — Part I, Title XX, Chapter 147: s.22 Definitions; s.23 Necessity of license, exceptions; s.24 Applications, qualifications; s.25 License, disqualification, duration, posting, name, renewal, revocation; s.26 Fees, bond; s.27 Labor-conditions prohibition; s.28 Assistants/employees; s.29 Badges, ID cards, weapons, equipment, vehicles; s.30 Prohibited acts [1]
• 801 CMR 4.02 (Department of State Police fee lines) — Executive Office for Administration and Finance, 801 CMR 4.00 Rates: fee schedule for licenses, permits and services (Department of State Police item (2): Private Detective, Watch-Guard Patrol Agency). [2]

1. M.G.L. c.147 ss.22-30 (Private detective business; watch, guard or patrol agency), malegislature.gov. An identical independent re-fetch is saved as sources/MA/v-mgl-147-22-30.txt. · retrieved 2026-11-09
2. 801 CMR 4.02 fee schedule (Department of State Police: Private Detective, Watch-Guard Patrol Agency), Cornell LII mirror, current and prior quarterly versions. Second copy saved as sources/MA/v-801cmr4-02-lii.txt. · retrieved 2026-11-09
3. MA State Police Certification Unit - Private Investigator & Watch Guard License Form (online). Second copy saved as sources/MA/v-msp-license-form.txt. · retrieved 2026-11-09
4. MA State Police - Employee Affidavit Form (M.G.L. c.147 s.28) (online). Second copy saved as sources/MA/v-msp-employee-affidavit.txt. · retrieved 2026-11-09
5. MA Legislature 194th General Court bill records (H.3640, H.1569, bill searches for c.147 / watch, guard or patrol agency) · retrieved 2026-11-09
6. MA Legislature 194th General Court (2025-2026) bill and session-law scan for c.147 ss.22-30: Acts 2025 and 2026 general acts full-text search; H.2178, H.2597, H.5386, H.5527, H.5562 · retrieved 2026-11-09
7. ref-malegislature-2026-scan · retrieved 2026-11-09

Compiled from the primary government sources above, retrieved on the dates shown. This page is a research summary, not legal advice. Confirm current requirements with the issuing authority before you file.