Can You Run an NCIC Background Check on Yourself?

You cannot run an NCIC background check on yourself. The National Crime Information Center is closed to the public and available only to authorized criminal justice personnel. What you can do, and what usually answers the question behind the search, is order an FBI Identity History Summary Check for $18. It pulls your criminal history from the same fingerprint-based federal system that feeds NCIC.

Why NCIC Is Closed to the Public

The FBI has operated NCIC since 1967 as a nationwide system for federal, state, tribal, and local criminal justice agencies to exchange information quickly.¹ It holds wanted persons, missing persons, stolen property, protection orders, and criminal history records, among other files.² Because the system contains active warrants and other live operational data, access is restricted to trained law enforcement users. There is no public portal and no self-service query.

The Identity History Summary is the closest thing available to you. It draws from the Interstate Identification Index, the fingerprint-based criminal records exchange that feeds into NCIC, so the criminal history portion of what an officer sees when your prints are run is the same information you receive.

How to Request Your FBI Identity History Summary

The FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division handles these requests. Every method requires your fingerprints and the $18 FBI fee.³ You have three ways in.

By Mail

Download the Applicant Information Form from the FBI’s site and have your fingerprints rolled on a standard FD-1164 card. A local police department or sheriff’s office will usually do this for a small fee. Mail the form, the card, and your $18 payment to the CJIS Division. Payment must be a credit card (on the FBI’s payment form), a certified check, or a money order payable to the Treasury of the United States. Personal checks, business checks, and cash are rejected.⁴ This is the slowest route. The FBI processes requests in the order received, does not expedite, and returns results by U.S. First-Class Mail.³

Through a Participating Post Office

Some U.S. Post Offices offer digital fingerprinting for this program, which skips the ink-and-card step. Register with the FBI’s Identity History Summary Check program online first, then register with USPS Fingerprinting Services using your FBI order confirmation number, and bring a valid ID to your appointment. USPS charges $50 for the fingerprinting, on top of the FBI’s $18.⁵ Not every location participates, so confirm availability before you go.

Through an FBI-Approved Channeler

Channelers are private companies the FBI has authorized to collect fingerprints electronically, forward them to CJIS, and return your results. This is generally the fastest option. The channeler collects the FBI fee plus its own service fee, which varies by company. The FBI publishes a current list of approved channelers on its site.⁶ You typically receive the report electronically, with the option of a mailed copy.³

What Your Report Will Show

The Identity History Summary lists criminal history information tied to your fingerprints. Each arrest entry includes the name of the agency that submitted the prints, the arrest date, the charges, and the disposition if the FBI has it.⁷ Dispositions cover outcomes like convictions, acquittals, and dismissals. The report can also carry caveat or notice information, such as a warning about an active warrant pulled from NCIC or a sex offender registration status.⁸

The report only reflects what agencies have formally sent to the FBI. A local arrest that was never forwarded to the federal system will not appear. If nothing has been submitted for your prints, the report says so.³

What Your Report Will Not Show

The Identity History Summary is not a full NCIC printout, and several categories of NCIC data sit outside it:

Stolen property records. NCIC tracks stolen vehicles, firearms, and other serialized items, but those records attach to the property, not to your fingerprints.
Civil protection orders. Restraining and protective orders live in a separate NCIC Protection Order File that law enforcement and the National Instant Criminal Background Check System can query. They are not part of the fingerprint-based criminal history.
Missing person records. These files serve a different purpose and have no connection to your personal record.

If your real question is whether a specific warrant or protection order sits in a law enforcement database, the Identity History Summary may not answer it, even though warrant caveats do sometimes appear.

Adding a State Criminal History Check

The FBI report covers what agencies nationwide have submitted federally, but it can miss arrests that never made it up to the federal system. Most states let you request your own record from the state police, state bureau of investigation, or a similar agency. State checks usually cover in-state arrests and court records and are often faster and cheaper than the FBI process.

If you want the fullest picture of what an employer or licensing board might see, run both the state check and the FBI Identity History Summary. Regulated industries often demand the FBI check specifically; other employers use commercial screeners that pull from different databases entirely.

Fixing Errors on Your Report

Errors are common, and missing dispositions are the usual problem: an arrest shows up but the dismissal or acquittal that followed was never reported to the FBI. You have two ways to correct it.

The first is to contact the law enforcement agency or court that originally submitted the data. Most states route corrections through their State Identification Bureau, which then notifies the FBI to update the federal record.³ The originating agency has the case file, so this is often the most effective path.

The second is to submit a challenge to the FBI’s CJIS Division, either electronically at edo.cjis.gov or by mailed written request. Include supporting documentation such as court records showing a dismissal or expungement. The FBI will contact the relevant agencies to verify and will notify you of the outcome.⁷

Expungements and Sealed Records

A state expungement or sealing order does not automatically remove an entry from the FBI’s database. The two systems do not sync in real time, and the gap catches people off guard.

For a state-level arrest, questions about expungement or sealing should go to the State Identification Bureau in the state where the offense occurred. Those laws vary widely, and the state bureau is the one responsible for notifying the FBI. For a federal arrest, the data comes off only when the submitting agency requests removal or when the FBI receives a federal court order that specifically states expungement.³

If a record was expunged or sealed at the state level and it still appears on your Identity History Summary, order a fresh copy and then run the challenge process with your court order attached. Do not assume the update has already happened.

1
Federal Bureau of Investigation. NCIC Turns 50
2
United States Department of Justice Archives. Organization and Functions Manual 11 – FBI Cooperative and Information Services
3
Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions
4
Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Request Checklist
5
USPS.com. USPS Fingerprinting Services Registration
6
Federal Bureau of Investigation. List of FBI-Approved Channelers for Departmental Order Submissions
7
Federal Bureau of Investigation. How to Challenge and How to Obtain Your FBI Identity History Summary
8
U.S. Department of Justice. Job Aid – How to Read an Identity History Summary