2017 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 40 - Professions and Occupations
CHAPTER 18 - PRIVATE SECURITY AND INVESTIGATION AGENCIES
Section 40-18-50. Contract security business license; application; bond; renewal; qualifications of licensees; display of license; arrest of licensee; exemptions.

(A) Any person engaged in the contract security business in an individual, self-employed capacity, or as an officer or principal of a corporation, or who furnishes security officers for a fee must make application in writing to SLED for a contract security business license and pay an annual license fee which must be set by regulation.

(1) If the applicant company is an association or corporation, the chief executive officer of the association or corporation must be the applicant or must designate in writing the corporate officer or principal who is the applicant.

(2) If the applicant company is a partnership, each partner must complete an application form.

(3) The application for license must be made, under oath, on a form approved by SLED. The application must state the applicant's full name, age, date and place of birth, current residence address, residence addresses for the past ten years, employment for the past ten years, including names and addresses of employers, the applicant's current occupation, including the name and address of the current employer, the date and place of any arrests, any convictions for violations of federal or state laws, and any additional information SLED may require. Each applicant must submit with the application one complete set of the applicant's fingerprints on forms specified and furnished by SLED and one color photograph of the applicant's full face, without head covering, taken within six months of the application.

(B) The applicant must post a ten thousand dollar bond with SLED in a form approved by the Attorney General in favor of the State. The bond must be issued by a surety insurer licensed to transact surety insurance in this State. The surety on the bond may cancel the bond upon giving thirty days' notice to SLED, and the surety is relieved of liability for a breach of condition after the effective date of the cancellation.

(C) SLED must grant a license to the applicant to conduct the security business stated in the application upon satisfaction of the competency and integrity of an applicant, or, if the applicant is an officer of an association, partnership, or corporation, upon satisfaction of the competency and integrity of any officers, principals, and partners. Licensure is for one year and application for renewal must be on a form approved by SLED. Issuance of the license authorizes establishment by the licensee of the number of branch offices the licensee considers feasible.

(D) SLED may grant a license to a person who:

(1) is a least twenty-one years of age;

(2) has a high school diploma or equivalent;

(3) is a citizen of the United States;

(4) has not been convicted of a felony or crime involving moral turpitude;

(5) is of good moral character;

(6) has not been discharged from military service with other than an honorable discharge;

(7) does not unlawfully use drugs;

(8) does not use alcohol to such a degree as to affect adversely his ability to perform competently the duties of a security company licensee, has not been adjudicated an incapacitated person without being restored to legal competency, and who has no physical or mental impairment which would prevent him from competently performing the duties of a security company licensee;

(9) has satisfied SLED that the applicant security business has or will have a competent certified training officer and an adequate training program with a curriculum approved by SLED, or that adequate training will be obtained from another approved source;

(10) has had at least two years of experience as a supervisor or administrator in industrial security with a licensed security business, a security program approved by SLED, or as a sworn member of a federal, state, county, or municipal law enforcement agency; and

(11) meets other qualifications SLED may establish by regulation.

(E) Immediately upon the receipt of the license certificate issued by SLED pursuant to this chapter, the licensee must post and at all times display the license in a conspicuous place at his place of business. A copy or duplicate of the license certificate must be conspicuously posted at each branch office. The licensee must immediately notify SLED of the address of each branch office opened or closed.

(F) Licensees must make business records available for inspection during normal business hours. The Chief of SLED or his designee may conduct inspections as necessary to ensure compliance with this chapter and SLED regulations.

(G) A licensee who is arrested must report the custodial arrest to SLED within seventy-two hours of the arrest.

(H) A person is exempt from the provisions of this section if he receives compensation for private employment on an individual, independent contractor basis as a patrolman, guard, or watchman and if he has full-time employment as a law enforcement officer with a state, county, or municipal law enforcement agency. For this exemption to be valid, the person must not be employed by another law enforcement officer.

(I) A person is exempt from the provisions in this section if:

(1) the person is employed solely as a nonuniformed, unarmed fire watchman, gatekeeper, or security officer;

(2) the person is without delegated or assigned arrest authority; and

(3) the employer is not a private investigation or security business.

HISTORY: 2000 Act No. 372, Section 1; 2002 Act No. 339, Section 32.