What Is the Interstate Identification Index (III)?

The Interstate Identification Index, known as III or “triple-I,” is the FBI’s national pointer system that links criminal history records held by the FBI and participating states into one searchable network. It doesn’t store your full criminal file. It stores your identifiers and a set of pointers that tell an authorized user which agencies hold records on you, then routes the query to those agencies. When a background check runs against your fingerprints, this is the system doing the work.

How the Pointer System Works

When an authorized agency queries the III, the system checks the FBI’s index and returns a list of pointers showing which repositories hold records on you. The requesting agency then contacts each of those repositories to pull the actual records. The FBI describes it as “an index pointer system that ties computerized criminal history record files of the FBI and the centralized files maintained by each III participating state into a national system.”¹

The queries travel across the National Crime Information Center network, which connects federal criminal justice agencies with state and territorial systems.² Each state keeps control over its own records. The FBI maintains the map.

Some states go a step further and participate in the National Fingerprint File program. In those states, the FBI keeps fingerprints for identity verification but the state alone maintains and disseminates the criminal history record.³ The practical effect on you as the record subject is minimal, but if you need to correct an entry that originated in a National Fingerprint File state, the state repository is the sole custodian and the fix has to happen there.

What Your III Record Contains

Your III record is a condensed timeline of every arrest cycle tied to your fingerprints. It carries your full name, aliases, date of birth, race, sex, and sometimes your Social Security number. Alongside those identifiers, it tracks each encounter with the criminal justice system: the charges filed, the dates, and the outcomes, whether the case ended in conviction, dismissal, or acquittal.

It’s a summary, not a case file. There are no witness statements, no police reports, no transcripts. Each entry points to the agency holding the underlying documents.

Who Can Access Your Record

Access is controlled by 28 CFR Part 20. Criminal justice agencies are the primary users, querying the system for investigations, prosecutions, and vetting their own personnel. The regulations also permit access for a limited set of civil purposes:⁴

Federal agency requests authorized by statute or executive order.
Licensing and employment background checks authorized under Public Law 92-544 or other federal legislation.
Firearms purchases run through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
Private contractors operating under specific agreements with criminal justice agencies for the administration of criminal justice.

Every request has to fit one of the approved categories. A private employer can’t call the FBI and ask for your record. The request has to flow through a channel that federal law authorizes, and the data can only be used for the purpose it was requested under.

How to Request Your Own Identity History Summary

You have the right to see what the FBI holds under your fingerprints. The FBI calls this an Identity History Summary Check, and the fee is $18, payable by credit card or money order. Personal checks, business checks, and cash are not accepted. If you can’t afford the fee, contact the FBI at (304) 625-5590 or identity@fbi.gov to request a waiver before submitting.⁵

Three submission routes are available:

Electronic submission through the FBI, followed by an in-person fingerprint capture at a participating U.S. Post Office. This is the fastest option.
An FBI-approved channeler. Twelve private companies are currently authorized to collect your fingerprints, submit them electronically, and return your results. Channelers charge their own service fee on top of the FBI’s, typically in the range of $50 to $85.⁶
Mail. Get printed on a standard fingerprint card at a local law enforcement office or private service, then mail the card to the FBI CJIS Division at 1000 Custer Hollow Road, Clarksburg, WV 26306.

The FBI doesn’t publish fixed processing timelines and doesn’t expedite. Electronic submissions move faster than paper. If you’re on a deadline for a job or licensing requirement, pay for the speed.

Correcting Errors on Your Record

Errors are common, and the most frequent one is a missing disposition. An arrest shows up, but the dismissal or acquittal that followed never made it into the system. Federal regulations require contributing agencies to submit dispositions within 120 days, and compliance is uneven.⁷ The result is a record that looks like an open charge when the case was actually resolved.

Under 28 CFR 16.34, you can challenge any entry you believe is incorrect or incomplete. Two paths are open. You can contact the state or local agency that originally submitted the record and ask them to correct it directly. Or you can send your challenge to the FBI CJIS Division (ATTN: SCU, Mod. D-2, 1000 Custer Hollow Road, Clarksburg, WV 26306), which will forward it to the originating agency and update the federal record once that agency responds.⁸ The FBI’s average response time for a challenge is about 45 days from receipt.⁵

If the originating agency stalls or refuses, the Privacy Act adds leverage. Under 5 U.S.C. § 552a, you can request amendment of any federal record about you. The agency must acknowledge your request within 10 business days, and either make the correction or explain in writing why it refused and how to appeal. If the appeal also fails, you can file a statement of disagreement to be attached to your record, and you have the right to seek judicial review.⁹

Why State Expungements Sometimes Don’t Reach the FBI

A state expungement doesn’t automatically clear your FBI record. The FBI cannot expunge or seal an entry without a request from the contributing state agency. If a state court grants your expungement but the state repository never notifies the FBI, the arrest still appears on your Identity History Summary. Expungement means the record is deleted from the FBI’s system entirely. Sealing is different: the state tells the FBI which categories of requesters can and cannot see the information, so a sealed record may still surface in certain authorized queries.

After any expungement or sealing, order your Identity History Summary and confirm the change is reflected. If it isn’t, the fix has to originate with the state. The FBI won’t act on a court order you send directly.

What to Do When a Firearms Purchase Is Denied

When a licensed dealer runs a NICS check, the system queries your III record. If it finds a prohibiting entry, even one based on stale or incomplete information, the sale is denied. The FBI NICS Section must respond to your request for the reason within five business days.¹⁰

You can file a formal challenge through the FBI’s Electronic Departmental Order website or by mail. The FBI has 60 calendar days to respond. If the denial is sustained, they give you the name and contact information of the agency holding the prohibiting record, and you take it up with that agency. Once you have documentation showing the record is wrong, you submit it to the FBI in a new challenge, and they verify it with the originating agency.¹⁰

If administrative channels don’t fix it, 18 U.S.C. § 925A lets anyone denied a firearm due to erroneous information from a state, a subdivision, or NICS file a civil action for a court order correcting the record or approving the transfer. The court may award attorney’s fees to the prevailing party.¹¹

Employment and Trusted Traveler Programs

Federal employment decisions draw on your III record, but a criminal history rarely creates an automatic bar. The Office of Personnel Management uses a whole-person analysis, weighing the relationship between the past conduct and the position, how long ago it occurred, and its seriousness. A few statutory exceptions do apply: treason convictions bar federal employment outright, the Bond Amendment restricts national security positions, and a misdemeanor domestic violence conviction prohibits employment in any position requiring the handling of firearms or ammunition.¹²

Trusted Traveler Programs check your record too. CBP states you may be ineligible for Global Entry if you have any criminal conviction, pending charges, or outstanding warrants, including DUI offenses. Violations of customs, immigration, or agriculture laws in any country, being the subject of an ongoing law enforcement investigation, or having been denied a firearms purchase can also disqualify you.¹³ A dismissed charge that looks unresolved because the disposition never made it into the system can quietly cost you a benefit like Global Entry.

Ongoing Monitoring Through Rap Back

A background check isn’t always a one-time event. The FBI’s Rap Back Service retains your fingerprints after certain employment or licensing checks and continuously matches them against new criminal activity. If you’re arrested later, the subscribing agency gets an automatic electronic notification.¹⁴

On the civil side, Rap Back monitors people in positions of trust: federal employees, licensed professionals, anyone whose initial background check was tied to employment or a government benefit. On the criminal justice side, it tracks probationers, parolees, registered sex offenders, and individuals subject to immigration enforcement orders. Notifications can include arrests, case dispositions, wants and warrants, sex offender registry changes, and death records.¹⁴ If you hold a professional license or a job that required a federal background check, your record is being watched, not just checked once.

When Someone Else’s Arrests Show Up on Your Record

If someone has been arrested using your identity, your FBI record may contain entries that belong to another person. The FBI maintains an Identity Theft File within NCIC for exactly this situation. You report the identity theft to law enforcement and provide your name, date of birth, Social Security number, the type of identity theft, and a password. With your consent, the agency enters your information so that future law enforcement encounters can distinguish you from the imposter.¹⁵

The password, and your fingerprint and photograph where available, are used during police encounters to verify you’re the real person. You can withdraw consent in writing at any time. The FBI removes entries after five years unless you confirm the theft is still ongoing. Separately, you should still challenge any arrest entries on your Identity History Summary that resulted from someone else using your name. The standard 28 CFR 16.34 challenge process applies to those the same as to any other error.⁸

1
Federal Bureau of Investigation. Interstate Identification Index and National Fingerprint File
2
Federation of American Scientists. National Crime Information Center (NCIC) – FBI Information Systems
3
eCFR. 28 CFR Part 905 – National Fingerprint File Program
4
eCFR. 28 CFR Part 20 – Criminal Justice Information Systems
5
Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions
6
Federal Bureau of Investigation. List of FBI-Approved Channelers for Departmental Order Submissions
7
eCFR. 28 CFR 20.37 – Responsibility for Accuracy, Completeness, Currency, and Integrity
8
eCFR. 28 CFR Part 16 Subpart C – Production of FBI Identification Records
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 552a – Records Maintained on Individuals
10
Federal Bureau of Investigation. Requesting Reason for and/or Challenging a NICS-Related Denial
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 925A – Remedy for Erroneous Denial of Firearm
12
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. I Have Been Arrested and Have a Criminal Record – Will That Automatically Keep Me From Getting a Federal Job?
13
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Eligibility for Global Entry
14
Federal Bureau of Investigation. Privacy Impact Assessment – NGI Rap Back Service
15
Federal Bureau of Investigation. NCIC Identity Theft