Background Check Process

California Department of Justice (DOJ) maintains statewide criminal information from arresting agencies, office of the district attorney, office of the city attorney, probation departments, and courts. When you are seeking employment in certain sectors and/or licensing for certain positions, you will be required to do a live scan. You might also be required to do ink card fingerprinting (FD-258 form) if you are seeking employment abroad, out of state, and/or studying abroad. This is done for background purposes, and by a certified fingerprint roller or a qualified law enforcement personnel.
  • An applicant presents himself/herself to the live scan technician with the Live Scan Request form filled out;
  • The technician checks the form against the applicants valid and current identification;
  • The technician inputs the applicant’s information and captures the applicant’s fingerprints electronically;
  • At the conclusion of the transaction, the technician must provide the applicant with two copies of the completed Live Scan Request for which has the Applicant Transaction Identifier number (ATI).
  • The technician must submit the completed fingerprint images and personal information to the DOJ within 24 hours of the completed transaction
  • The DOJ will search in the database against all other fingerprint images. If there are no matches with the applicant’s fingerprints, the transaction is normally processed within 48-72 hours. However, if the prints match in the database, the record must be reviewed by a technician manually. In this case, it can take more time in submitting the results, and the agency requesting the live scan will be sent a notice to that effect. Once this process is completed, the applicant agency will be sent an electronic response or a by mail.
    Often, we receive calls from potential customers asking for the cost of a live scan. It is a difficult question to answer. Government fees vary the following information determines the fees:
  1. ORI number. Is a code number assigned by the DOJ;
  2. License type;
  3. Job title;
  4. Service level (DOJ only or DOJ and FBI).

Please remember that when we receive a call, we may be working with a customer. It is our goal to provide each and every one of our customers with the utmost care, professionalism, and quality services. At times, we are not able to stop to provide you with the information that you are seeking, and we may ask you to call us back in 30 minutes.

What to bring when you come to our facility:
Please bring the Live Scan Request for Service form in triplicate with you. You need to complete the middle portion of the form. You will also need to bring current, valid identification with you. If you do not have a driver’s license, please refer to our list of proper identification. The process takes approximately 15-20 minutes per customer.

We look forward to being of service to you.