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Palm Beach County Alarm Permit: Cost, False Alarm Fees and How to Register
If the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office is your police agency (unincorporated areas, and the cities it patrols unless the city has its own alarm ordinance), a burglar alarm needs a PBSO alarm permit: $25 to start and $25 a year to renew. The first two false alarms in each permit year are free; after that fines run from $50 up to $500.[1,2]
The county ordinance sets the no-permit penalty at $250 plus court costs, but PBSO's current application form says $260 per alarm incident. PBSO's FAQ also says more than five false alarms in 365 days can suspend response, which the ordinance does not list. Confirm with the PBSO Alarm Unit before you rely on either figure.
Palm Beach County alarm permit at a glance
| Who needs a permit | Unincorporated Palm Beach County and county pockets, plus cities that contract with the Sheriff's Office as their police (unless the city has its own alarm ordinance). Other cities follow their own rules.[1,2] |
|---|---|
| Which alarms are covered | Any burglar (intrusion) alarm system, including robbery, panic and hold-up alarms. Fire alarms and mobile alarms are excluded (fire alarm permits come from Palm Beach County Fire Rescue). Gated communities with 24/7 private security that meet the county's definition are exempt.[1,2] |
| Residential permit fee | New: $25 Renewal: $25 · valid 12 months[1,2] |
| Fee exemptions | Alarms on publicly owned property must register but pay no application fee (all other rules and fines apply). Gated communities that meet the county's full "private security alarm system" definition (24/7 private security that responds first, no outside sounder, and the Sheriff's Office not called unless a crime or open door is found) are exempt from the permit. A burglar-alarm fine is not imposed if you prove your alarm company did not try to notify you before calling the Sheriff's Office. Users with excessive alarms may be sent to an alarm user's school, which can earn a credit toward outstanding fines (once in a lifetime, with repairs by a licensed company). No senior or low-income exemption is listed.[1] |
| Free false alarms | 2 in each permit year[1] |
| If you have no permit | Deputies are not dispatched to an alarm company's call that has no valid permit number. Robbery, panic, duress and hold-up alarms and 911 calls are still answered.[1] |
| Runs the program | Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office (PBSO), Alarm Unit[2] |
| When to apply | Before you operate the alarm: operating without a permit carries a $250 civil penalty plus court costs. The ordinance also says the application and $25 check must be mailed or delivered within 24 hours after an alarm is activated or reactivated. The Sheriff's Office does not respond to an unpermitted alarm activation.[1] |
False alarm fees in Palm Beach County
False alarms are counted over each permit year[1]. Each fee below is charged per false alarm.
Residential false alarms (with a permit)
If false alarms keep happening: Sources differ Under the ordinance, if a fine goes unpaid 30 days after notice the Sheriff's Office stops responding to burglar alarms at the address until all fines are paid (robbery, panic, duress and hold-up alarms and 911 calls are still answered), and a false statement on the application revokes the permit with a $500 civil penalty. PBSO's FAQ also lists more than five false alarms in 365 days as a reason for suspension, which the ordinance's response rule does not include. Separately, deputies won't respond to a second activation at the same address within eight hours unless a key holder is available.[1,2]
Charges without a permit
- Sources differ Civil penalty per false alarm dispatch to an alarm without a valid permit (revoked, suspended or never permitted): $250 plus court costs per false alarm dispatch (county ordinance) vs. $260 per alarm incident (PBSO's current application form). Confirm with the PBSO Alarm Unit.[1,3]
How to get or renew a permit in Palm Beach County
- Apply or renew online at alarms.pbso.org[4].
- Prefer paper? Download the application (PDF, July 2024)[3].
- Questions: call the PBSO Alarm Unit at (561) 688-3695[2].
- Mail payments to Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, Attention: Accounting, PO Box 24681, West Palm Beach, FL 33416-4681.[2]
- Give your permit number to your alarm monitoring company.
- Renew every year for $25; PBSO mails a renewal invoice during your renewal month. Once the renewal fee and any fines are paid, your false-alarm count resets to zero. If you don't pay within 30 days of the notice, the Sheriff's Office stops responding to alarms at the address until you pay.[1,2]
Who files: The alarm user (whoever controls the premises), not the alarm company. If an apartment complex provides alarms in its units, the complex gets a permit for every unit.[1]
Good to know
- Self-installed and self-monitored systems: Unmonitored alarms are covered too: the ordinance makes both monitoring companies and nonmonitored alarm users give the Sheriff's Office the permit number when an alarm is reported.[1]
- Panic and hold-up alarms: Under the ordinance, the Sheriff's Office provides its normal response to robbery, panic, duress and hold-up alarms that someone triggers on purpose, even at an address on no-response status, and false ones are fined on the same schedule. They are exempt from call verification. PBSO says silent, panic and hold-up alarms cannot be canceled once triggered.[1,2]
- Before police are sent: Monitoring companies must call the site and use Florida's enhanced call verification (Fla. Stat. 489.529) before asking for a deputy, except for robbery, panic, duress and hold-up alarms.[1]
- Not sure which rules apply to your address?: These rules apply if the Sheriff's Office is your police agency: unincorporated areas, county pockets, and cities that contract with PBSO for police service, unless that city has adopted its own alarm ordinance. If a city police department answers your 911 calls, or your PBSO-patrolled city has its own alarm ordinance, check with that city.[1,2]
Business and other non-residential alarms
Avoiding false alarms
- Make sure everyone who has a code knows how to disarm the system and cancel an alarm.
- Keep your monitoring company's contact list up to date so they can reach someone quickly.
- Let your monitoring company know before guests, contractors or pet sitters use the house.
- Check that doors and windows are fully closed before you arm the system.
- Replace low sensor batteries promptly.
Thinking about a professionally installed, monitored system? See how SafeStreets installation works.
SafeStreets serves this area: home security in West Palm Beach.
Sources
- Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners (via Municode), Palm Beach County Code Ch. 16, Art. III: Alarms — Ord. No. 08-038 (9-9-08). Secs. 16-53, 16-54, 16-57, 16-59, 16-62, 16-64. library.municode.com. Checked October 27, 2026.
- Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, Alarms Unit. Fines and fees; general information; FAQ. www.pbso.org. Checked October 27, 2026.
- Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, Burglar Alarm Permit (registration form 0009) — REV 07/2024 (file name). Paper application. www.pbso.org. Checked October 27, 2026.
- Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, Obtain Burglar Alarm Permit Online. Online registration and payment. www.pbso.org. Checked October 27, 2026.
Updates
- October 27, 2026 — first published from official sources.