California raises guard training to 42 hours starting in 2029

New security guards in California will need 42 hours of skills training instead of 32, and every guard will need 12 hours of refresher training a year instead of 8. Governor Gavin Newsom signed the bill, SB 1203, on September 30, and the changes start on January 1, 2029.

The bill appears on the list of bills Newsom signed in his September 30 legislative update. It is now Chapter 1016, Statutes of 2026, according to CalMatters Digital Democracy.

What changes in 2029#

The bill summary on CalMatters Digital Democracy sets out the changes:

• Initial training. Today a guard must complete 32 hours of training in security officer skills within 6 months of initial registration. The bill raises the required hours of security guard training to 42.
• Yearly training. The annual requirement goes from 8 hours of review or practice of security officer skills to 12 hours, and 4 of those hours must be on de-escalation skills.
• In the classroom. The guard training must be taught through traditional in-person classroom instruction, as the law defines it.
• Paid time. A company licensed as a private patrol operator must make sure the security skills training happens and must pay employees for it. For proprietary private security officers, the guards a business hires for its own sites, the time spent at annual training must be paid by the employer.

Some details are left to the full law text, which the summary marks "as specified."

Why lawmakers did it#

The bill's author, Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas, called it the Stand for Security Act. Her office says "California's 330,000 licensed security officers currently out-number sworn police officers by nearly four to one."

It was not the only guard bill signed that day. The governor's list also includes SB 1148 by Senator Roger Niello, on security guard training.

What it means for your company#

• 2029 sounds far away. Your contracts do not. Multi-year contracts signed now will still be running when the new hours start. Price in the extra paid training time per new hire and per guard each year.
• Turnover makes it bigger. Every guard who leaves takes their training hours with them, and the next hire starts the longer course from the beginning.
• Plan for classrooms. If your training leans on online courses today, find out early what in-person classroom instruction will mean for you, and where and when you will run it.
• Track hours per guard. You will need to show who completed which hours, including the de-escalation hours, every year.
• Read the final text. Before you change your training plan, check the chaptered law with the state's guard licensing bureau or an attorney.

For keeping that record, Guardix assigns training courses with due-date reminders and issues PDF certificates (training), and it stores each officer's licenses and certificates with their expiry dates (documents and certifications).