If you hold an instructor license, an investigator’s license, or a commissioned officer’s license in Texas, continuing education isn’t optional. Texas private security continuing education is a Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) requirement tied directly to your license renewal, and the rules differ depending on exactly which license you hold.
That last part trips people up. A Level III Classroom Instructor, a private investigator, and a commissioned security officer all owe continuing education under Texas law, but the hour counts, the subject matter, and the renewal mechanics are not the same for any of them. This guide breaks down what Texas DPS actually requires, who it applies to, and how to evaluate continuing education that will hold up when your renewal application is reviewed.
The demand for online security training has increased significantly for three reasons:
Quick Answer: Key Takeaways
- Continuing education requirements for Texas private security professionals, abbreviated CE in this guide, come from Texas Administrative Code (TAC) §35.161. The number of hours and the required subject matter depend on your specific license type.
- Noncommissioned security officers, Level II, are exempt from continuing education entirely.
- Instructor licenses, including Continuing Education Instructor, Level III Classroom Instructor, Level III Combined Firearm/Classroom Instructor, and Level IV Personal Protection Instructor, require 8 hours every two years: 7 hours related to the service provided, plus 1 hour of ethics.
- Commissioned security officers and personal protection officers (Level III and Level IV) satisfy a separate 6-hour requirement through the renewal portion of their Level III or IV course, not a standalone continuing education class.
- Private investigators, abbreviated PI in this guide, owe 18 hours if licensed under 15 years, or 12 hours if licensed 15 years or more, with most of that time dedicated to investigations subject matter.
- Continuing education must come from a department-approved school and must be completed within the two-year window before your license expires. Certificates must be kept for two years.
Who Needs Texas Private Security Continuing Education?
Not every private security license carries a continuing education requirement. Level II noncommissioned security officers are specifically exempt under §35.161. If that’s your only license, you can stop reading here as far as continuing education goes.
Everyone else licensed under the Texas Private Security Program needs to pay attention, including:
- Continuing Education Instructors
- Level III Classroom Instructors
- Level III Combined Firearm/Classroom Instructors
- Level III Firearm Instructors
- Level IV Personal Protection Instructors
- Commissioned security officers (Level III) and personal protection officers (Level IV)
- Private investigators
- Owners, partners, and shareholders who hold individual licenses as owners only
If you fall into more than one category, for example an instructor who also owns the school, you may owe continuing education under more than one part of the rule. Check the requirement for each license you hold rather than assuming one number covers everything.
Three Things People Confuse: Instructor CE, Officer Renewal, and Initial Training
Before getting into hour counts, it helps to separate three things that get lumped together in conversation but are treated differently under Texas law.
Initial training is the coursework you complete to earn a license in the first place, your original Level II, Level III, or Level IV certification, or your instructor certification. This is a one-time requirement per license type, not continuing education.
Continuing education for instructor and PI licenses is the ongoing requirement under §35.161 that keeps those licenses active. This is what most of this article covers.
The 6-hour renewal requirement for commissioned officers and PPOs is a different mechanism. Under §35.161(g), commissioned security officers and personal protection officers satisfy their continuing education by completing the renewal portion of the Level III or Level IV training course itself, not a separate CE class. It’s still continuing education under the same rule, but it’s bundled into the recertification course rather than sold as a standalone product.
Keeping these three apart matters because a trainer who also holds a Level III commission may genuinely owe two different things: 8 instructor CE hours under one part of the rule, and a Level III renewal course under another.
Texas DPS Continuing Education Requirements by License Type
Here’s how the hour requirements break down under 37 TAC §35.161.
License Type | Hours Required (per 2 years) | Composition |
Noncommissioned security officer, Level II | Exempt | No requirement |
Continuing Education Instructor | 8 | 7 hours related to service provided, 1 hour ethics |
Level III Classroom Instructor | 8 | 7 hours related to service provided, 1 hour ethics |
Level III Combined Firearm/Classroom Instructor | 8 | 7 hours related to service provided, 1 hour ethics |
Level III Firearm Instructor | 8 | 7 hours related to service provided, 1 hour ethics |
Level IV Personal Protection Instructor | 8 | 7 hours related to service provided, 1 hour ethics |
Owners, partners, shareholders (owner-only licenses) | 8 | 7 hours related to regulated service, 1 hour ethics |
Commissioned security officer (Level III) / PPO (Level IV) | 6 | Satisfied through the renewal portion of the Level III or IV course |
Private investigator, licensed under 15 years | 18 | 14 hours investigations, 2 hours ethics, 2 hours on the Act and Chapter 35 |
Private investigator, licensed 15 years or more | 12 | 8 hours investigations, 2 hours ethics, 2 hours on the Act and Chapter 35 |
A quick note on terminology. Texas DPS groups Continuing Education Instructor, Level III Classroom Instructor, Level III Combined Firearm/Classroom Instructor, Level III Firearm Instructor, and Level IV Personal Protection Instructor together under the same rule text, §35.161(c), covering “all individual license holders not otherwise addressed,” which is why they share the identical 8-hour, 7-plus-1 structure.
How Many CE Hours Do Texas Private Security Trainers Need?
For the instructor licenses listed above, and for owner-only individual license holders, the answer is 8 hours every two years. Seven of those hours need to relate to the type of regulated service your license covers, and one hour has to be ethics.
This is a meaningfully different requirement than what a private investigator owes. Where a PI’s hours are weighted almost entirely toward investigations-specific content, an instructor’s seven non-ethics hours simply need to relate to the type of service the instructor is licensed to teach. That gives instructors more flexibility in what qualifies, but it doesn’t remove the requirement, and it doesn’t change the ethics hour.
Private investigators, as the table shows, owe more hours and a more specific subject-matter breakdown. The 15-year mark matters here. A newer PI, licensed under 15 years, owes 18 hours total. A PI with 15 or more years of continued licensure owes 12. Both groups need 2 ethics hours and 2 hours specifically reviewing the Private Security Act and Chapter 35, with the remaining hours tied to investigations.
What Counts as Continuing Education?
Under §35.162, continuing education generally has to come from a department-approved continuing education school. That school is required to:
- Designate a school director responsible for compliance
- Maintain attendance records showing subjects taught, hours per subject, dates, and attendee license numbers
- Issue signed certificates of attendance showing the attendee’s name, license number, date, hours, and course
- Keep those records for two years and provide them to DPS on request
- Verify that course curriculum complies with Chapter 35 and that instructors are qualified
DPS also allows some continuing education credit to come from other approved sources, such as government agencies, institutions of higher education, or recognized professional associations. Credit earned this way carries its own restrictions and cannot be used to satisfy the commissioned officer or PPO CE requirement.
The practical takeaway for a Texas security trainer: don’t assume a course counts just because it’s security-related. It needs to come from an approved school, or an approved alternate source, and the certificate needs to reflect the specific details DPS requires.
Texas DPS Requirements for Continuing Education Schools
If you’re evaluating a continuing education provider, or you’re an instructor curious about what your own school is required to do, §35.162 lays out the obligations clearly. Approved schools must appoint a school director, maintain detailed attendance and curriculum records, issue proper certificates, and make records available to DPS on request. Licensed companies with ten or more licensed employees can also apply for a letter of exemption to provide their own continuing education internally, subject to similar recordkeeping obligations.
None of this is optional paperwork. If a school fails to meet these standards, DPS can cancel its certificate of approval, which puts every certificate that school issued at risk of rejection. That’s the real reason “is this school actually approved” is worth confirming before you enroll, not an abstract compliance concern.
How Continuing Education Affects Your License Renewal
You cannot submit a renewal application until your required continuing education hours are complete. That’s stated directly in §35.161(a). Your employer is also required to maintain proof of your continuing education in your personnel file, and you’ll need to confirm on your renewal application that you’ve completed the required hours.
Timing matters here in a way that catches people off guard. Continuing education only counts if it’s completed within the two-year period immediately preceding your license’s current expiration date. Hours earned too early, outside that window, don’t carry forward. If you’re a private investigator who fails to complete your required hours during your initial 24-month licensure period, you’re not eligible for a new or renewal application until the outstanding training is satisfied.
The practical advice here is simple: don’t wait until the final weeks before your expiration date. If a scheduling conflict, a full class, or a rejected certificate shows up in that window, you may not have time to recover. Once your continuing education is complete, renewal itself is submitted through the state’s Texas Online Private Security (TOPS) portal.
What Records Should You Keep?
Two separate recordkeeping rules apply here, and it’s worth understanding the difference.
- 35.161 and §35.162 require you, as the individual license holder, to keep your continuing education certificates of completion for two years and to furnish them to DPS on request.
- 35.111 is a separate rule that applies to your employer, not to you directly. It requires licensees and security departments to maintain employee records, including all continuing education certificates or proof of continuing education credits earned by the employee while employed (excluding commissioned officer and PPO training or proficiency certificates specifically), for two years from the employee’s last date of employment. §35.111 also covers other personnel documentation, such as pre-employment checks, duty assignments, and basic employee information.
In short: §35.161 tells you how many CE hours you owe and when. §35.162 governs the schools that can provide those hours. §35.111 is your employer’s recordkeeping obligation, not a continuing education requirement in itself. Keeping these three straight matters if you’re ever asked to produce documentation, since you and your employer may each be responsible for different pieces of the paper trail.
How to Choose Continuing Education That Holds Up
A few questions are worth asking before you enroll in any continuing education course:
- Is the school a department-approved continuing education school under §35.162, or does the course qualify under one of the recognized alternate sources?
- Does the certificate of completion include your name, license number, date, hours, and a course description tied clearly to your license type?
- Does the course actually address the subject matter your specific license requires, rather than generic content that may not satisfy the rule?
- If you’re a PI, does the course clearly break out investigations hours, ethics hours, and Act/Chapter 35 review hours, since these are tracked separately?
- Will the provider still be reachable if DPS has a question about your certificate later?
The worst outcome in this process isn’t a bad class. It’s a rejected certificate discovered close to your renewal deadline, with no time left to fix it.
Online vs. In-Person Continuing Education
Some continuing education content can be completed online, depending on the course and the school’s approval. What can’t shift online is anything tied to hands-on qualification, like firearms proficiency, which commissioned officers must still submit separately as part of their renewal. For instructor and PI continuing education specifically, confirm directly with the school whether a given course is approved for online delivery before you rely on it meeting your requirement.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Assuming any security-related course automatically counts as approved continuing education
- Waiting until the final 30 days before expiration to start hours
- Confusing the instructor CE requirement with the 6-hour officer/PPO renewal requirement, which work differently under the same rule
- Letting hours earned outside the two-year window count toward the current renewal
- Not keeping your own copy of certificates, even though your employer is separately required to maintain records under §35.111
Where AEPS Corp Fits
AEPS Corp is a Texas DPS-licensed training academy that has been operating in Texas since 2002, with hands-on training delivered through partner locations across the state. AEPS currently offers Level III and Level IV courses that include the renewal portion satisfying the 6-hour continuing education requirement for commissioned security officers and personal protection officers described above. AEPS also publishes a detailed guide to the Texas Level III recertification process if you want a full walkthrough before you start.
If you hold an instructor license or a private investigator license and have questions about how the continuing education requirements in this article apply to your specific situation, AEPS is a licensed Texas training organization with decades of experience in this regulatory space and can help point you in the right direction.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
It’s the ongoing training required under 37 TAC §35.161 to keep certain Texas private security licenses active, with hour requirements and subject matter that vary by license type.
Instructor licenses, including Continuing Education Instructor, Level III Classroom/Firearm/Combined Instructor, and Level IV Personal Protection Instructor, require 8 hours every two years: 7 hours related to the service provided and 1 hour of ethics.
Every two years, timed to your license’s expiration date. Hours must be completed within the two-year period preceding that expiration.
PIs licensed under 15 years owe 18 hours (14 investigations, 2 ethics, 2 on the Act and Chapter 35). PIs licensed 15 years or more owe 12 hours (8 investigations, 2 ethics, 2 on the Act and Chapter 35).
No. Commissioned security officers and PPOs satisfy their 6-hour requirement through the renewal portion of the Level III or IV course itself, not through a separate standalone continuing education class the way instructors and PIs do.
Some course content can be, depending on the specific course and school approval. Hands-on requirements, like firearms proficiency for commissioned officers, cannot be completed online.
At least two years, per §35.161 and §35.162. Your employer is separately required to retain related records for two years from your last date of employment under §35.111.
You cannot submit a renewal application until the required hours are complete. For private investigators specifically, failing to complete hours during the initial licensure period blocks new or renewal applications until the outstanding requirement is satisfied.
Ready to Talk Through Your Training Options?
Have questions about continuing education or which training may apply to your Texas security license? Contact AEPS Corp to discuss your training options.
Contact Information
Bobby Gideon
American Eagle Protective Services
902 Crystal Falls Pkwy, Leander, TX 78641
(512) 947-3272
bgideon@aepscorp.com
