To obtain your criminal record, submit a fingerprint-based request to the FBI for federal history and to the criminal history repository in each state where you’ve lived or been arrested for state-level history. The FBI charges $18 for what it calls an Identity History Summary Check. State fees and turnaround times vary. Plan for fingerprinting either way.
What Shows Up on the Record
A criminal history record documents arrests, the charges filed, how each case was resolved (conviction, dismissal, acquittal), and any sentence imposed. If a conviction led to incarceration, correctional intake and release dates should appear too.1Bureau of Justice Statistics. Use and Management of Criminal History Record Information: A Comprehensive Report
Routine traffic tickets and parking violations do not appear. Traffic-related crimes like DUI, reckless driving, hit-and-run, or driving on a revoked license do. The FBI’s system keeps felonies and “serious or significant” misdemeanors and excludes most traffic offenses and petty infractions.1Bureau of Justice Statistics. Use and Management of Criminal History Record Information: A Comprehensive Report
Federal and state records are not the same file. Each state maintains its own database, usually through a state police agency or bureau of investigation, and holds only arrests and outcomes from that state. The FBI’s national database is built from fingerprint submissions sent in by law enforcement agencies across the country, so a federal Identity History Summary can include arrests from multiple states plus any federal offenses. It’s usually the most comprehensive single source, but only to the extent local agencies actually forwarded their data. For a complete picture, request both.
How to Request Your FBI Record
The FBI offers two submission methods for an Identity History Summary Check. Electronic requests come back faster than mail.2Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions
Electronic Submission
You can visit a participating U.S. Post Office to have your fingerprints captured digitally and sent to the FBI along with your request. The other route is an FBI-approved channeler, a private company authorized to collect prints and submit them electronically on your behalf. Channelers deliver results more quickly and may charge a service fee on top of the $18.3Federal Bureau of Investigation. List of FBI-Approved Channelers for Departmental Order Submissions
Mail Submission
A mail request needs three things in the envelope.
- A completed fingerprint card. The FBI accepts the standard FD-258 or the FD-1164 civil fingerprint card. The FD-1164 can be printed from the FBI’s website. For the FD-258, a local law enforcement agency or a private fingerprinting service can roll your prints for a small fee. The cards themselves are free from the FBI.4Federal Bureau of Investigation. Applicant Fingerprint Form FD-258
- Payment of $18. The FBI does not accept personal checks, business checks, or cash. Pay by money order, certified check, or credit card.2Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions
- Your Social Security number written on the fingerprint card, if you want it printed on the response.
Send it through a trackable service so you have proof of delivery. The FBI processes requests in the order received and does not offer expedited handling. No specific turnaround time is published, but mail submissions take noticeably longer than electronic ones.2Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions
How to Request Your State Record
Every state has a central repository for criminal history, typically the state police, a bureau of investigation, or a department of public safety. The process almost always requires fingerprinting, a completed application form (usually downloadable from the agency’s site), and a fee. Fees range from free in some states to roughly $25 in others.
Turnaround varies just as widely. Some states return results in a few business days through electronic fingerprint systems; others still require mail-in submissions that can take several weeks. Check your state repository’s website for the current form, fee, and submission method. If you’re not sure which agency handles the records in a given state, the FBI publishes a State Identification Bureau listing with contact information for each one.
If you’ve lived or been arrested in more than one state, you’ll need to submit a separate request in each. A state repository holds only its own records.
Your Right to See and Correct the Record
Federal regulation gives you the right to obtain a copy of your own criminal history, review it, and ask for corrections. Each state has a parallel process for its own records.5eCFR. Title 28 CFR 20.34 – Criminal History Record Information
When your record arrives, read it line by line. Start with the identifiers: name, date of birth, any assigned numbers. Then check every entry. The most common problems are dismissed charges still shown as open, wrong disposition dates, and arrests that belong to someone else with a similar name.
Challenging an FBI Entry
Challenges to an FBI Identity History Summary are free. Write to the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division, identify the entries you believe are wrong, and attach supporting documents such as certified court dispositions. The FBI forwards the challenge to the agency that originally submitted the data and asks that agency to verify or correct it. Once the originating agency responds, the FBI updates the file. Average turnaround for a challenge is about 45 days.6eCFR. Title 28 CFR 16.34 – Procedure to Obtain Change, Correction, or Updating of Identification Records2Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions
You can also go straight to the originating agency, which is often faster when the mistake is clearly local data entry. Courts and arresting agencies tend to respond more quickly when you arrive with a certified court disposition in hand.
When the Arrest Isn’t Yours
Identity theft produces a distinct kind of error: someone else’s arrest appears under your name. File a police report documenting the identity theft, then contact the law enforcement agency that made the arrest and present that documentation. Sometimes the agency can correct the record directly. If it can’t, you may need to petition a court for a finding of factual innocence and use that finding to clear the record at both the state and federal level. This takes longer, and an attorney’s help is often worth it.
Who Else Can Pull Your Record
Third parties like employers and landlords generally need your written consent or specific legal authorization to obtain your criminal history. The information is treated as confidential, and unauthorized disclosure carries consequences under federal and state law. The process above is for getting your own copy; a background check company’s report on you is a separate document produced under a different set of rules.