An FBI fingerprint check — officially called an Identity History Summary — shows the criminal history records that federal, state, local, and territorial agencies have submitted to the FBI and linked to your fingerprints. That generally means arrests, the charges filed, and the disposition of each case, along with any federal incarceration, pending cases, and parole or probation status on file. Because the match runs on fingerprints rather than your name, it is harder to confuse you with someone else. But the report is only as complete and accurate as what contributing agencies have sent in, and the gaps matter as much as the entries.
Arrests, Charges, and Dispositions
The core of the summary is arrest and conviction data pulled from the FBI’s Next Generation Identification (NGI) system. Each entry usually lists the date of the arrest, the arresting or reporting agency, the charges, and the disposition — how the case was resolved, whether by conviction, dismissal, acquittal, or otherwise.1Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks (Law Enforcement Requests)
The report can also reflect pending cases, current parole or probation status, and federal incarceration records. If you were ever arrested and fingerprinted, there is a good chance an entry exists — even if you were never formally charged, or the case was later dismissed. That arrest record stays on file unless the originating agency requests its removal or a court orders expungement.
The Missing Disposition Problem
Roughly half of all arrest records in the FBI system lack a final disposition. An entry might show an arrest for a felony but say nothing about the charges being dropped a week later. To a hiring manager or licensing board reading the summary, an incomplete entry can look worse than what actually happened. This is the single strongest reason to pull your own Identity History Summary before someone else does: you can identify missing dispositions and work with the originating agency to correct them before they cost you a job or a license.
What Does Not Appear
The check is a criminal history tool, not a full background dossier. It will not show civil matters like lawsuits, divorces, or bankruptcies. Traffic tickets, parking violations, and other minor infractions that did not involve an arrest and fingerprinting will not appear. Medical records, credit history, employment performance, and education history are outside its scope entirely.
It also will not capture every local offense. If a local agency never forwarded an arrest to the FBI, it is not there to be found. Some minor misdemeanors, sometimes called non-criterion offenses, are not stored in NGI at all. The result is a report that can be overbroad in one direction (old arrests with no outcomes) and incomplete in another (offenses that were never reported up the chain).
Expunged and Sealed Records
Expungement and sealing behave very differently in the FBI system, and the distinction is worth understanding before you assume something is gone.
In the FBI’s system, expungement means deletion. Once a contributing agency or a court orders an expungement and the FBI processes it, the record no longer exists in NGI.2Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions The FBI cannot initiate that on its own; the submitting agency or a court has to request it.
Sealing works differently. A contributing agency can seal an individual arrest entry and specify which categories of requests can still see it. A sealed record might be hidden from a standard employment screening but still visible to a law enforcement agency running a criminal justice inquiry. The contributing agency sets those access rules, not the FBI.2Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions
If you have had a record expunged or sealed at the state level, do not assume the FBI’s copy was updated automatically. Verify with the state identification bureau that the instruction was actually forwarded to the FBI. In many jurisdictions that hand-off does not happen on its own.
One term worth clearing up: there is no FBI designation called a “Level 2 check.” That phrase comes from certain state screening programs, most notably Florida’s, which package a state and federal database search together. It is not an FBI product with its own rules about what shows.
How to See Your Own Report
You can request your own Identity History Summary directly from the FBI under 28 CFR 16.30–16.34 for personal review, correction, or updating.3Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Review The mail-in method requires a completed fingerprint card (Form FD-258), an $18 processing fee, and a written request sent to the FBI CJIS Division in Clarksburg, West Virginia.2Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions Electronic submissions are also accepted, with some U.S. Post Office locations offering electronic fingerprinting.
A faster alternative is an FBI-approved channeler, a private company authorized to collect your fingerprints electronically, forward them to CJIS, and return results significantly faster than the mail route.4Federal Bureau of Investigation. Channeler FAQs The $18 FBI fee still applies, and the channeler adds its own service charge. Fingerprints themselves can be captured on a traditional ink FD-258 card or through a Live Scan device, which tends to produce cleaner images and fewer rejections for illegibility.5Federal Bureau of Investigation. Recording Legible Fingerprints
How to Correct Errors
If your summary contains inaccurate or incomplete information, federal regulations give you two routes.
The preferred route is contacting the agency that originally submitted the record, usually the arresting law enforcement agency or the court. That agency is responsible for verifying and correcting its own records and notifying the FBI of any changes.6eCFR. 28 CFR 16.34
You can also send a written challenge directly to the FBI CJIS Division at 1000 Custer Hollow Road, Clarksburg, WV 26306. The FBI will not unilaterally change a record. It forwards the challenge to the contributing agency and asks that agency to verify or correct the data, then updates its files based on the response.6eCFR. 28 CFR 16.34 Include supporting documentation with the challenge: court orders showing dismissal, proof of expungement, certified disposition records. The more specific the evidence, the faster the correction moves.
Why New Entries Can Appear Later Through Rap Back
A standard fingerprint check is a one-time snapshot, but agencies with legal authority — school districts, licensing boards, federal employers — can subscribe to the FBI’s Rap Back service for ongoing monitoring. Once fingerprints are enrolled, the FBI automatically notifies the subscribing agency if the person is later arrested and fingerprinted, or if previously unreported criminal activity is added to the Identity History Summary.7Federal Bureau of Investigation. CJIS Noncriminal Rap Back Service
The practical effect is continuous vetting without repeated fingerprinting. If you are in a position of trust and pick up a new arrest, an employer or licensing board could learn of it through Rap Back rather than waiting for the next scheduled screening. Subscribing agencies must have legal authority to participate and coordinate through their state identification bureau or federal agency.