Fingerprinting

No. Per the Department of Justice (DOJ), each applicant must be fingerprinted every time they apply with another agency for a license or job. Criminal history information provided to an agency is confidential and cannot be shared with any other agency unless authorized by law (Penal Code Section 11142). A violation of this section is a misdemeanor.

• A photo identification (drivers license or passport)
• Livescan form
• Acceptable form of payment. (Check fingerprinting services list for acceptable forms of payment and fees.)

The live scan operator checks the applicant’s identification, inputs the applicant’s personal descriptor information, captures the applicant’s fingerprints electronically, and transmits the data to the DOJ. At the conclusion of the session, the applicant should be provided an applicant transaction identifier (ATI) number, a number used to identify the transaction. The assignment of an ATI number, generated by the live scan device, does not necessarily mean the fingerprint images and personal information was submitted to the DOJ. Although the fingerprint images and personal information are to be transmitted to the DOJ within 24 hours, the actual transmission of the information to the DOJ is at the control of the live scan operator; and varies in timeliness.

Once the transaction is received by the DOJ, the fingerprint images are used to automatically search against all other fingerprint images in the fingerprint database. If there are no fingerprints matching the applicant’s fingerprints, the transaction is generally processed electronically without technician intervention within 48 to 72 hours. If an applicant’s fingerprints match fingerprints in the database, the associated RAP sheet must be reviewed by a technician. This is a manual process that can take an indeterminate amount of time. The applicant agency is automatically sent a delay notice response. Questions or status inquiries related to a delayed transaction cannot be responded to, as there is no pertinent information that can be statutorily provided until the manual review of the transaction is complete. The next communiqué the applicant agency will receive is the completed response.