Arlington alarm permit and false alarm fees
Arlington charges $50 a year for a commercial or residential permit. Its false alarm definition includes a response within 30 minutes, and the one-year count starts on the date of the first false alarm.
Checked against the city's published material on 14 September 2026. Ordinances change. Confirm anything you are about to act on with the city.
What it costs
| Annual permit, commercial | $50 |
|---|---|
| Annual permit, residential | $50 |
| Free burglar alarms, 12 months | 3 |
| 4th and 5th false burglar alarm | $50 |
| 6th and 7th false burglar alarm | $75 |
| 8th and every one after false burglar alarm | $100 |
Calculate false burglar alarm costs.
The part that catches people
The 30 minute clause. Arlington defines a false alarm as one where the responding officer finds no evidence of an attempted or actual intrusion, burglary, robbery or hostage taking, and the officer reached the site within 30 minutes of the city receiving the notification. If the response took longer than 30 minutes, it does not count against you.
When the count starts. The one-year period begins on the date of the first false alarm.
Permit fee exemptions. Residents over 65 and 100 percent disabled veterans pay no permit fee at their primary residence.
How this compares
Most cities in this comparison charge $50, then $75, then $100 for false burglar alarms. Grand Prairie charges $50 from the fourth through the tenth and lists suspension at the eleventh. Permit fees, separate alarm counts and response rules need their own check.
Compare all eleven Texas cities side by side.
Source
City of Arlington burglar alarm permit program. Primary source. City of Arlington alarm permits office.
Nearby cities
- Dallas keeps its $50 band through the sixth false alarm
- Fort Worth has a separate, cheaper count for manually activated alarms
- Irving can revoke an alarm permit
- Grand Prairie lists suspension at the eleventh false alarm
Recurring false alarms need a closer look. Start with the call list, the monitoring contract and the panel settings. Our alarm ordinance and nuisance alarm review traces which of the three is doing it. We do not install, service or monitor anything.