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St. Louis Alarm Permit: Cost, False Alarm Fees and How to Register
The City of St. Louis requires every home and business alarm to be registered: $25 a year for homes, $50 for businesses (your monitoring company usually handles it). Your first false alarm each registration year brings a warning; then $25 for the 2nd, $50 for the 3rd and 4th, and $100 for the 5th through 7th. The city's fee table also lists $100 for the 8th, which the ordinance doesn't state. Police response is suspended for 30 days after the 4th and for 12 months after the 8th, each starting 14 days after written notice.[1,2,3]
St. Louis alarm permit at a glance
| Who needs a permit | These rules apply inside the City of St. Louis only, not in St. Louis County or county suburbs.[1] |
|---|---|
| Which alarms are covered | Any home or business burglar or robbery/panic alarm needs a permit, wired or wireless, monitored or not. Car alarms, medical alarms, and devices that don't alert outside the home or call police are not covered.[1,2] |
| Residential permit fee | New: $25 (Collected by alarm company for monitored systems) Renewal: $25 (Fee assessed annually) · valid 12 months (annual registration)[2,3] |
| Fee exemptions | We found no fee waivers for seniors or low-income owners. Alarms caused by crime, weather, power or phone-line problems, or cancelled before police arrive don't count as false alarms.[2] |
| Free false alarms | 1 in each registration year (the count restarts at each annual registration, except for an alarm on a 12-month suspension)[4,2] |
| If you have no permit | Police won't be sent to your alarm until the city has issued its alarm ID number and notified you and your alarm company. If your permit is suspended, police are sent only after a private guard responder (a guard company, your alarm company's guard, you, or someone you appoint) has inspected the site, confirmed an attempted or actual crime, and stays until police arrive. Duress, panic and hold-up alarms are exempt from that rule.[2,4] |
| Runs the program | City of St. Louis Department of Public Safety (Director's Office) - Alarm Registration and False Alarm Management (ARFAM) program[1,2] |
| When to apply | Register before the alarm goes live; police won't respond to an alarm that doesn't yet have a city ID number. Monitored systems are registered by the company at installation.[2] |
False alarm fees in St. Louis
False alarms are counted over each registration year (the count restarts at each annual registration, except for an alarm on a 12-month suspension)[2]. Each fee below is charged per false alarm.
Residential burglar alarms (with a permit)
| False alarm | Fee |
|---|---|
| 1st | Free[4] |
| 2nd | $25[2] |
| 3rd–4th | $50[2] |
| 5th–7th | $100[2] |
| 8th | Sources differ The city's fee table lists $100 for the 8th false alarm, but the ordinance sets the $100 fee only for up to three false alarms after reinstatement (the 5th to 7th) and doesn't state a fee for the 8th. Either way, the 8th false alarm leads to a 12-month suspension.[4,3,2] |
If false alarms keep happening: Your 4th false alarm in a registration year leads to a written notice suspending police response for 30 days, starting 14 days after the notice; you're reinstated after the 30 days only once your alarm company certifies you were retrained and the system works properly. More than 7 false alarms in a registration year (the 8th) leads to a 12-month suspension, also starting 14 days after the notice. Not paying fees can also suspend your permit: the city's page says false alarm fees are due within 15 days, while the ordinance says a required fee unpaid 30 days after notice leads to suspension.[2,4]
Charges without a permit
- $100 — charged as a court fine of at least this amount for each violation (failing to register violates the city ordinance). Each violation is a separate offense.[2]
How to get or renew a permit in St. Louis
- Apply or renew online at www.arfamservices.com[1].
- Prefer paper? Download the application (PDF)[1].
- Questions: call the city's alarm program (ARFAM) at 888-579-2727[1].
- Address: City of St. Louis - ARFAM, P.O. Box 790106, St. Louis, MO 63179-0106.[1]
- Give your permit number to your alarm monitoring company.
- Sources differ Permits renew every year for the same fee. The city's payment page says renewals are due within 15 days of the renewal date or the permit is suspended; the ordinance allows 30 days after notice. Pay promptly to be safe.[2,4]
Who files: If your alarm is monitored, your alarm company registers it and collects the fee; don't pay the city directly. If it isn't monitored, you register it yourself by mail.[1,5]
Good to know
- Self-installed and self-monitored systems: Self-monitored and unmonitored systems still need a permit if they sound or show outside the home; you register them yourself by mailing the city's form and fee.[1,2]
- Panic and hold-up alarms: Panic and hold-up alarms must be registered too. A panic button on a plain burglar system can't be used to request police dispatch, and panic/hold-up alarms still get police response during a suspension.[2]
- Before police are sent: Before asking police to respond, your alarm or monitoring company must make at least two attempts to check whether the alarm was set off by mistake; it can keep trying after police are sent. A call your alarm company cancels before police arrive doesn't count as a false alarm. If your permit is suspended, police come only after a private guard responder (which can be you or someone you appoint) inspects the site, confirms a crime and stays until police arrive; duress, panic and hold-up alarms are exempt from that rule.[2]
- Not sure which rules apply to your address?: Not confirmed. We did not find an official address lookup; if your mailing address says St. Louis but you live in St. Louis County, these city rules may not apply.
Business and other non-residential alarms
| Permit | Fee |
|---|---|
| New permit | $50 — Collected by alarm company for monitored systems[2] |
| Renewal | $50 — Fee assessed annually[2] |
| Alarm | False alarm | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Burglar alarms | 1st | Free[4] |
| Burglar alarms | 2nd | $25[2] |
| Burglar alarms | 3rd–4th | $50[2] |
| Burglar alarms | 5th–7th | $100[2] |
| Burglar alarms | 8th | Sources differ The city's fee table lists $100 for the 8th false alarm, but the ordinance sets the $100 fee only for up to three false alarms after reinstatement (the 5th to 7th) and doesn't state a fee for the 8th. Either way, the 8th false alarm leads to a 12-month suspension.[4,3,2] |
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 St Louis.
Sources
- City of St. Louis Department of Public Safety, Alarm Registration and Permit Fee. Department of Public Safety, Director's Office service page. www.stlouis-mo.gov. Checked October 28, 2026.
- City of St. Louis Board of Aldermen (copy hosted on the city's ARFAM vendor portal; document labels itself an unofficial electronic version prepared by the St. Louis Public Library), St. Louis City Ordinance 66264 (Floor Substitute Board Bill No. 03-436) - alarm ordinance text. Sections Two, Three, Five, Nine, Ten, Thirteen, Sixteen. www.arfamservices.com. Checked October 28, 2026.
- City of St. Louis via ARFAM program vendor portal, City of St. Louis Alarm Registration and False Alarm Management Service - fee and fine schedule — effective June 1, 2005 (as printed). Registration fee and false alarm incident fine schedule. www.arfamservices.com. Checked October 28, 2026.
- City of St. Louis Department of Public Safety, Pay False Security Alarm Service Fees (Alarm Fees and Payment). False alarm fee table, payment, suspension, appeals. www.stlouis-mo.gov. Checked October 28, 2026.
- City of St. Louis ARFAM program, Alarm Owner Registration Form (Alarm Registration and False Alarm Management) — form code APAF - 01222015 printed (not labeled as a revision date). Paper application for non-monitored systems. www.arfamservices.com. Checked October 28, 2026.
Updates
- October 28, 2026 — first published from official sources.