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SB-1203 • 2026

Security services.

Security services.

Crime Education Firearms Healthcare Labor Taxes
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Smallwood-Cuevas
Last action
2026-04-24
Official status
Set for hearing May 4.
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary does not provide specific details about the establishment of a standard curriculum for training individuals on implicit and explicit bias or the use of firearms in various settings. This information is present in the official digest text but lacks sufficient detail to confirm its inclusion in the final version of the bill.

Security Services Training and Reporting

This legislation updates training requirements for private security officers, increases fines for non-compliance, and mandates detailed reporting on incidents involving firearms or physical altercations.

What This Bill Does

  • Requires proprietary private security officer applicants to complete a course in arrest powers and use of force before getting registered.
  • Increases the required hours of training from 32 to 34 for security guards and patrolpersons, focusing more on de-escalation skills.
  • Raises fines for employers who fail to maintain accurate records or provide necessary training to their employees.
  • Requires reports after incidents involving firearms or physical altercations to include details about the public member involved and whether the officer had proper training.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Proprietary private security officers and their employers
  • Security guards and patrolpersons

Terms To Know

proprietary private security officer
A person who works for a company to provide security services.
implicit bias
Unconscious attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unfair way.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify how the increased training requirements will be funded.
  • It is unclear if there are any exemptions for small businesses regarding the new reporting requirements.
  • The effective date of January 1, 2028, means that changes won't take place until then.

Bill History

  1. 2026-04-24 California Legislative Information

    Set for hearing May 4.

  2. 2026-04-22 California Legislative Information

    From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 4. Noes 1.) (April 21). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

  3. 2026-04-14 California Legislative Information

    Set for hearing April 21 in PUB. S. pending receipt.

  4. 2026-04-13 California Legislative Information

    From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on PUB. S. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (April 13). Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S.

  5. 2026-04-09 California Legislative Information

    From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on B. P. & E.D.

  6. 2026-04-09 California Legislative Information

    Set for hearing April 13.

  7. 2026-04-08 California Legislative Information

    Re-referred to Coms. on B. P. & E.D. and PUB. S.

  8. 2026-03-23 California Legislative Information

    From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on RLS.

  9. 2026-03-04 California Legislative Information

    Referred to Com. on RLS.

  10. 2026-02-20 California Legislative Information

    From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 22.

  11. 2026-02-19 California Legislative Information

    Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.

Official Summary Text

SB 1203, as amended, Smallwood-Cuevas.
Security services.
Existing law, the Proprietary Security Services Act, prohibits a person from engaging in the business of a proprietary private security officer or a proprietary private security employer unless registered with the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law makes a violation of these provisions an infraction, as specified. Existing law requires a person who is registered and hired as a proprietary private security officer to complete training in security officer skills within 6 months from the date upon which registration is issued, or within 6 months of their employment with a proprietary private security employer, as specified. Existing law prohibits a proprietary private security employer from engaging in specified acts and authorizes the Director of Consumer Affairs to issue a citation, which may include an order to pay specified administrative fines for a violation of these
provisions.
This bill would recast those training provisions to require the training to be 34 hours, to require an applicant for a proprietary private security officer registration to complete a course in the exercise of the power to arrest and the appropriate use of force as a condition of issuance of the registration, and to require a proprietary private security officer registrant to meet specified standards and requirements. The bill would also require a registered proprietary private security employee annually to complete a minimum of 8 hours of training dedicated to practicing deescalation skills, as specified.
This bill would increase the administrative fine that the director may impose upon a proprietary private security employer for failure to properly maintain accurate and current employment and training records or failure to administer to registered employees of the licensee the review or practice training, as
specified, from $500 to $1,000, and would specify that the fine is for each violation. The bill would require a private security employer to ensure that the security skills training occurs and to compensate employees for training, as specified. The bill would authorize the director to impose an administrative fine for a violation of these provisions not exceeding $10,000 per violation.
Existing law, the Private Security Services Act, requires the Director of Consumer Affairs to administer its provisions. Existing law prohibits a person licensed as a private patrol operator from engaging in specified acts. Existing law requires a person registered as a security guard or patrolperson, and their employer, to deliver to the director a written report fully describing the circumstances surrounding any discharge of any firearm or physical altercation with a member of the public in which they were involved while acting within the course and scope of their employment within
7 days after the incident, as specified. Existing law makes any person who violates any of these provisions relating to private patrol operator licensure guilty of a misdemeanor.
This bill would require the firearm discharge or altercation report to include the apparent race and gender of the member of the public and whether the security officer involved had received all required training at the time of the incident. The bill would also require the altercation report to specify whether a security officer required first aid or other medical attention. Because the bill would change the definition of a crime, it would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services to release a report annually with respect to these reports describing the circumstances surrounding the discharge of any firearm, or physical altercation with a member of the public containing specified information.
Existing law requires persons licensed under these provisions and persons who are employed and compensated by a licensee as a security guard or patrolperson, and who in the course of that employment or business carries a firearm, to undergo specified training in the exercise of the power to arrest and the appropriate use of force and a course of training in the carrying and use of firearms.
This bill would require the department to develop and establish by regulation a standard course and curriculum that shall include a minimum number of hours of instruction for training individuals on the role of implicit and explicit bias on racial profiling and the use of firearms in various settings.
Existing law requires each applicant for a security guard registration to complete a course in the exercise of the power to arrest and the appropriate use of force as a condition for the issuance of
the registration. Existing law requires a security guard registrant to, as specified, complete 32 hours of training in security officer skills within 6 months from the date of an initial registration, 16 of which are required to be completed within 30 days from the date that the registration is issued.
This bill would recast these training provisions, increase the required hours of security guard training to 34, and require that the training be conducted through traditional in-person classroom instruction, as defined. The bill would increase the requirement that a registrant annually complete 8 hours of review or practice of security officer skills to 16 hours, require that 8 of those hours be dedicated to deescalation skills, as specified, and make other conforming changes. The bill would require 2 hours of training to be dedicated to training employees on specified workers’ rights contained in a notice employers are required to provide employees as specified. The
bill would require a person licensed as a private patrol operator to ensure that security skills training occurs and to compensate employees for this training, as specified.
This bill, beginning on
July 1, 2027,
January 1, 2028,
would revise provisions that describe those entities that are qualified to administer, test, and certify the course of training in the exercise of the power to arrest and the appropriate use of force.
This bill would require the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services, if it adopts, modifies, or seeks to rescind a rule or regulation related to the provisions described above relating to the private security services to convene a training advisory committee to recommend requirements and share their
experience in the security industry, as specified.
Existing law authorizes the bureau to issue a firearm permit to an applicant who has satisfied specified qualifications, including satisfactory completion of a course of training in the carrying and usage of firearms in the format delineated in the bureau’s “Firearms Training Manual” which is required to be covered in class instruction totaling not less than 8 hours for the initial firearms qualification.
This bill would increase the class instruction requirement from 8 hours to 16.
Existing law authorizes the director to issue a citation to a licensee or registrant for violation of specified provisions which may contain an assessment of an administrative fine not exceeding $2,500.
This bill would increase the amount of the administrative fine that may be assessed by the director to
$10,000 per violation.
Existing law requires the Industrial Welfare Commission to conduct a full review of the adequacy of the minimum wage at least once every 2 years and to amend or rescind any wage order or portion of any order or adopt an order covering any occupation, trade, or industry not covered by an existing order.
This bill would require the commission to convene on or before July 1, 2027, to perform the duties and functions described above for the property services industry, as defined, and to issue a wage order specific to employees in that industry by June 30, 2028, as specified.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide
that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
Download Bill PDF