Run A Personal Background Check

Define what your personal review needs to cover

Running a personal background check means checking the records that could matter to your purpose, not obtaining one universal clearance. List relevant states, counties, names previously used and known cases. Separate a fingerprint-based criminal history from court documents, a motor-vehicle record, credit information and employment or education verification. A report can be accurate within its scope while leaving another of those questions unanswered.

If an employer, licensing body or adoption agency requires a check, ask for its prescribed process first. The FBI’s direct personal-review application is for reviewing, correcting or updating your record; the FBI tells applicants with regulated purposes to use the requesting agency or appropriate state identification bureau. Do not buy a personal copy assuming it will satisfy another organization’s authorized screening procedure.

Submit the FBI personal-review request correctly

For an FBI Identity History Summary, start at the FBI’s official request page and follow its online link to edo.cjis.gov. Complete the electronic application and payment before visiting a participating Post Office for electronic fingerprints. You can instead mail the fingerprint card with the online confirmation, or use the separate fully mailed application route. Fingerprint collection can add charges.

Use the current applicant form and accurate identity information, including your name and birth details, and sign where required. The FBI requests a current FD-1164 fingerprint card, with your name, date of birth and signature, rolled impressions of all ten fingers and simultaneous flat impressions. A previously processed card or illegible prints can cause rejection and delay. Have a trained technician take the prints when possible.

For a fully mailed request, send the signed application, fingerprints and payment to FBI CJIS Division – Summary Request, 1000 Custer Hollow Road, Clarksburg, WV 26306. Follow the address on your confirmation instead when completing an electronic request with mailed prints. This is a CJIS personal-history process, not a general FBI Freedom of Information Act search.

Plan for the cost, delivery and limits of the response

The FBI fee is $18 per person. Personal or business checks and cash are not accepted; its instructions provide card payment or a money order/certified check payable to the Treasury of the United States. For a fee waiver, contact 304-625-5590 or [email protected] before submitting. One sealed mailed response is provided when that option is selected; extra sealed responses require extra requests and $18 payments. Ordinary copies can be made from the response received.

The FBI currently publishes these processing estimates: within 48 hours after electronic fingerprinting at a participating Post Office, about 10 days after mailed fingerprints arrive for an online request, and up to 15 days for mail requests, plus postal delivery time. These are published estimates, not deadlines guaranteed for your application.

An FBI-approved channeler can submit fingerprints and return the FBI result, with its own costs and availability. Select one from the FBI’s list and confirm the full price. This changes how the request is submitted; it does not add every court, driving or consumer-report record to the result.

Add court documents and a driving record where relevant

For a federal court matter, PACER provides case lookup and documents. If you know the court and case number, search that court directly; use the PACER Case Locator when you need to find the court. Access generally costs $0.10 per page, with a $3 document cap; name-search results, non-case-specific reports and transcripts are not all covered by that cap. Quarterly usage of $30 or less is waived. Even a no-match search can incur a charge.

For state and local cases, use USAGov’s court directory to find the judiciary and then the court that holds the case. The directory is a navigation aid, not a search of case files. Locate the docket number and obtain the actual judgment, dismissal or sentencing order when a summary is unclear. Ask the recipient whether a certified court copy is needed; a downloaded docket should not automatically be described as certified.

A driving history comes from the appropriate state motor-vehicle agency, which you can find through USAGov’s directory. Use that agency’s driving-record instructions and confirm its identity requirements, record type, fees and delivery. Do not assume an FBI response states your current license status or includes all motor-vehicle information.

Review the report someone will actually use

If a background-reporting company prepared a report for an employer, obtain and review that report as well. FTC guidance says an employer must provide the report and a summary of rights before taking an adverse decision based on it. After rejection, you have the right to request an additional free report from the named reporting company within 60 days. That copy is more useful for identifying the exact disputed item than guessing which database was searched.

Credit information is another separate source. The FTC directs consumers to AnnualCreditReport.com for a free credit report and recommends checking for errors before applying for work. Review your own employment dates and qualifications against your records, but do not mistake a credit report or fingerprint response for verification of education or employment. Use only the records your purpose actually calls for and protect the copies.

Correct an error with the organization that maintains it

On an FBI summary, identify the exact arrest or disposition you believe is wrong or incomplete and include supporting documents, such as a court disposition or expungement order, in a challenge. The FBI FAQ says challenges are free and its average response is within 45 days of receipt. Use the official challenge instructions linked from that FAQ; do not pay an unrelated site to claim it can erase an accurate record.

A missing disposition is important: the FBI explains that submitting criminal-justice agencies supply arrest and outcome information and that a missing acquittal can affect later use of a record. Ask the originating court or agency about the missing outcome and preserve its certified record if needed. Correction of inaccurate data is different from requesting expungement or sealing of accurate information under the applicable state or federal process.

For a commercial report, dispute inaccurate or incomplete information directly with the reporting company, supplying the relevant evidence. Ask it to send the corrected report to the employer and tell the employer about the error. Review the revised copy to confirm the specific item changed; a correction in one source does not itself prove every downstream report has been updated.

Keep a record of what the review did and did not establish

Make a short log of each source, search or request date, states or courts covered, identifiers used, fees paid and records received. Retain any pending dispute and the supporting document. The FBI summary is based on information supplied to its fingerprint system; a response with no arrest data is not a guarantee that every local court, driving record or consumer report is empty.

Before sharing results, check the required format and purpose with the recipient. Send only what is needed through a verified channel, and avoid circulating identity documents or full reports unnecessarily. If your goal was to correct a specific entry, finish by checking the corrected source and the particular screening report that raised the problem rather than purchasing repeated broad searches.