A Nashville security firm with its state license on ice was still visibly on the job outside FirstBank Amphitheater on Tuesday, hours before a judge stepped in and temporarily turned the company’s credentials back on and set a fast-track hearing for June.
A Solaren Risk Management command truck and several company vehicles were parked in a wooded lot near the Franklin venue Tuesday afternoon, even as state records at the time listed the firm’s operating license as suspended. Later that day, a judge issued a temporary reinstatement and put the dispute on a quick timeline toward a June 1 hearing.
Investigators with WSMV reported tracking a Solaren truck on I‑65 South around 1:30 p.m. and following it into a wooded staging area outside the amphitheater. There, they found multiple Solaren vehicles, including a large command-center rig, set up near the venue. At that point, the state’s online licensing portal still showed Solaren’s private protective services license as suspended, even though company attorneys had already filed motions to review and appeal the ruling. The judge later set a June 1 hearing on the license.
State Ups the Penalty and Suspends License
The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance reviewed Administrative Law Judge Claudia Padfield’s findings and, after an appeal, increased Solaren’s civil penalty to $118,000 and ordered a 30-day suspension of the company’s contract security license. NewsChannel 5 reported that regulators adopted portions of Padfield’s order and reinstated counts alleging Solaren allowed non-certified individuals to wear police-style identification and use emergency lights.
What Regulators Say Solaren Did Wrong
The final order found that Solaren deployed people wearing “police” or “law enforcement” identifiers even when those individuals were not registered with the state’s Private Protective Services program, a move the department said put the public at risk. The order also took issue with company vehicles equipped with red and blue lights and said that outfitting “gives the appearance of the vehicles being from a law enforcement agency,” according to NewsChannel 5.
Company Pushback and Fallout
Solaren CEO Jack Byrd has filed motions asking the department to review and overturn the suspension, arguing in filings that the action has cost the company more than $30 million and led to 372 people losing their jobs. Byrd told WSMV he paid a $118,000 bond to get the suspension lifted. He also maintained that the Solaren crew seen at FirstBank Amphitheater was handling traffic control work that he says does not require the company’s private protective services license.
How We Got Here and What Comes Next
The current fight traces back to WSMV’s months-long “Thin Blurred Line” investigation and a 2025 ruling that originally set $64,000 in penalties after the Department first alleged 62 violations against the company. That history, combined with the department’s latest findings, means the case will likely continue through administrative and chancery court, a process company attorneys say they intend to pursue, according to WVLT.
The June 1 hearing will determine whether the temporary reinstatement sticks or the 30-day suspension snaps back into place. In the meantime, the dispute is shining a spotlight on a touchy question for Tennessee venues and law enforcement alike: where private security work ends, where official police authority begins, and whether concertgoers can expect to see private guards in police-style gear at big events down the road.
