SACRAMENTO, Calif.-- As few as 2 percent of proprietary security guards in California are licensed to work in the state, officials say.

According to the California Bureau of Security and Investigative Services, only 4,200 proprietary officers out of an estimated 200,000 have complied with a 2005 law that requires them to undergo criminal background checks and register with the state.

"We're trying to get the word out to people who are employing proprietary guards in the state of California that they need to make sure they are hiring registered guards without criminal pasts," bureau spokesman Kevin Flanagan said.

But that's no easy task.

Right now, the BSIS has no way of tracking what businesses staff in-house security guards, and even when the bureau does find a company that's hired unlicensed guards, there's no penalty for the offense.

So for the past two years, the agency has targeted businesses that are likely to staff their own guards -- amusement parks, nightclubs and major retail outlets -- playing the only card it has left in the deck.

"It's a liability issue," Flanagan said. "If there's ever a problem, and unlicensed security officers are involved, that entity's liability is going to go through the roof."

Unlicensed contract guards are less of a problem, Flanagan noted, because they are accustomed to longstanding licensing laws and training requirements -- and contract security companies, which are easier to monitor, are penalized $5,000 for every unlicensed guard they employ.

Lawmakers last year agreed to form a committee to develop a licensing process for proprietary guards that falls more in line with that of contract guards. The committee includes representatives from Disneyland, Target, Staples Center and Marriot International.

Flanagan would not disclose details of the committee's proposal, but said that most notably, the licensing process would include a training component, which currently doesn't exist for proprietary guards.

If approved by the state, the new rules would take effect on July 1, 2009.

"It's only been a few years since the [2005] law was passed," Flanagan said. "But people need to get educated and learn that we've made some progress here, and that we're hoping to make more."