A criminal history record, often called a rap sheet, is a file that documents every tracked encounter you have with the criminal justice system — from the moment of an arrest through the final court outcome. These records are anchored to your fingerprints, kept in a central state repository, and shared with an FBI database that other states and authorized agencies can query. They are used for background checks, firearm purchase screening, professional licensing, and criminal investigations, which is why their accuracy matters to anyone whose record exists.1eCFR. 28 CFR 20.21 – Preparation and Submission of a Criminal History Record Information Plan
What Shows Up on the Record
The top of a criminal history record carries identifying information: full legal name, aliases, date of birth, Social Security number, and physical descriptors like height, weight, scars, and tattoos. Because people share names and birthdays, fingerprints are what actually tie the file to the right person.
Below the identifiers, every documented contact with the justice system is listed in chronological order. Each entry begins with the arrest: date, arresting agency, booking location, and the specific charges. If the case moved forward, court outcomes follow — guilty pleas, jury verdicts, acquittals, and dismissals. A grand jury’s refusal to indict or a prosecutor’s decision to drop the case also appears, so the file reflects that the matter didn’t proceed.
Every entry is linked to a unique tracking number: a State Identification Number (SID) at the state level, an FBI Universal Control Number (UCN) at the federal level. That number follows you across every arrest and court event, which is what keeps your record from getting tangled with someone else’s.
Who Keeps the Record and Who Can See It
Two systems hold your record. Each state runs a central repository, usually inside the state police or state bureau of investigation, which stores the fingerprint-supported records for everything that happened within its borders. The FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division maintains the national file and operates the National Crime Information Center, letting an officer anywhere in the country pull data stored elsewhere.2Federal Bureau of Investigation. Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS)3FBI. The National Crime Information Center: A Lifeline for Law Enforcement The two levels are linked through the Interstate Identification Index, which routes a query to whichever state actually holds the detail.4FBI. Interstate Identification Index (III) National Fingerprint File (NFF)
These records are not public. Federal regulations limit who can pull them from national systems:
- Criminal justice agencies — police, prosecutors, courts, corrections — for any criminal justice purpose, including screening their own staff.5eCFR. 28 CFR 20.33 – Dissemination of Criminal History Record Information
- Federal agencies authorized by statute or executive order, including those handling security clearances and immigration.
- Licensing bodies and employers for specific job categories, such as positions working with children, the elderly, or people with disabilities, private security, and aviation.
- The National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), when a licensed dealer processes a firearm sale.
Records pulled through these channels can only be used for the purpose originally authorized. An agency that obtained a record for a licensing check cannot pass it to a third party for something else, and private contractors can touch the data only under a specific agreement with a criminal justice agency.5eCFR. 28 CFR 20.33 – Dissemination of Criminal History Record Information
Why Accuracy Is Not a Given
Federal regulations under 28 CFR Part 20 require any state receiving federal criminal justice funding to keep its records accurate, complete, and secure. “Complete” has a specific meaning: a record available for dissemination must include disposition data within 90 days of the disposition occurring. When a material error is found, every agency known to have received the bad information must be notified.1eCFR. 28 CFR 20.21 – Preparation and Submission of a Criminal History Record Information Plan
In practice, the reporting loop breaks down more often than people realize. The most common problem is a missing disposition — the arrest is in the system but the dismissal, acquittal, or diversion that resolved it never made it in. That gap can quietly cost someone a job, housing, or a firearm purchase years later. Checking your own record is the only way to know whether yours is clean.
How to Get a Copy of Your Own Record
Your FBI Identity History Summary
You can request your federal criminal history through the FBI’s Identity History Summary Check. The fee is $18, and the FBI does not accept personal checks, business checks, or cash. If you can’t afford the fee, contact the FBI at (304) 625-5590 or identity@fbi.gov to request a waiver before you submit.6Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions
There are two ways to submit:
- Electronic submission. Request online and visit a participating U.S. Post Office location to provide fingerprints electronically (the Post Office may charge an additional fee). You can also use an FBI-approved channeler, a private contractor authorized to submit prints to the FBI on your behalf. Electronic requests process faster, and results come back electronically.7Federal Bureau of Investigation. Channeler FAQs
- Mail submission. Mail a completed fingerprint card directly to the FBI. Local law enforcement or private fingerprinting shops can take the prints, usually for a small fee. Results come back by First-Class Mail.
The FBI does not expedite requests regardless of method, and submissions are processed in the order received. You must send a current fingerprint card; one used for a previous request will be rejected.6Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions
Your State Record
For a state-level check, contact your state’s central repository, usually the state police or state bureau of investigation. Fees range from a few dollars to around $95 depending on the state. Some states allow online requests; others still require a mailed fingerprint card. Because your state file captures in-state activity that may not have reached the FBI yet, pulling both state and federal records gives you the fullest picture.
How to Fix an Error on Your Record
If something on your record is wrong — most often a missing disposition — you have the right to challenge it. For the FBI file, identify the information you believe is wrong and send your challenge to the CJIS Division with supporting documents, such as a court docket or expungement order. The FBI forwards your challenge to the agency that originally submitted the data, asks that agency to verify or correct it, and updates the record once it responds.8eCFR. 28 CFR 16.34 There is no fee, and the FBI reports an average response time of about 45 days.6Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions
One important limit: the FBI can only remove federal arrest data at the request of the submitting agency or on a federal court order that specifically directs expungement. For nonfederal arrests, questions about expungement or sealing have to go through the state where the offense occurred. If your record touches multiple states, correcting it may mean dealing with several agencies separately.6Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions
A different process applies if you were denied a firearm purchase through NICS. The FBI must give you the reason for the denial within five business days of your request, and must issue a final decision on a formal challenge within 60 calendar days.9Federal Bureau of Investigation. Requesting Reason for and/or Challenging a NICS-Related Denial
What Shows Up on a Private Background Check
Most employers and landlords don’t query FBI or state databases directly. They hire private consumer reporting agencies, which the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) regulates. The FCRA sets its own limits on what criminal history those companies can report.
The main rule: private background check companies generally cannot report adverse information more than seven years old. That covers arrests that didn’t lead to conviction, dismissed charges, and other non-conviction records. The seven-year clock runs from the date of the arrest or charge, not the disposition. Convictions are exempt from the seven-year cap and can be reported indefinitely under federal law.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports Some states go further, with shorter reporting windows or outright bans on reporting non-conviction records.
Beyond timing, the EEOC has said that a blanket employer refusal to hire anyone with a criminal record can violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, because such policies disproportionately affect certain racial and ethnic groups. The EEOC asks employers to consider at least three factors before rejecting an applicant based on a conviction: the nature of the crime, how much time has passed, and the nature of the job. The agency has also stated that an arrest alone, without a conviction, does not establish that criminal conduct occurred and cannot by itself justify an employment decision.11U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions
How Long a Criminal Record Lasts
There is no single expiration date. Retention depends on the type of record, the severity of the offense, and whether the case was federal or state.
On the federal side, the judiciary keeps criminal case files from trials, national security cases, public corruption cases, and fraud cases permanently, eventually transferring them to the National Archives. Other federal criminal cases are destroyed on timelines tied to the sentence, ranging from five years for petty offenses before a magistrate judge up to 75 years for life sentences or sentences over 30 years.12United States Courts. Guide to Judiciary Policy, Vol. 10, Ch. 6, Appendix 6B: Records Disposition Schedule 2 Expunged records are destroyed when the court’s expungement order is entered. Sealed records are maintained separately and can only be disposed of as the court directs.
State retention rules vary widely. Some states purge arrest records that never led to conviction after a set number of years; others keep them indefinitely. Even when a court orders expungement, physically clearing every copy out of every database that received the record can take months. That lag between a court order and the last database update is where most of the practical problems with criminal records live, and it’s the reason pulling your own record periodically is worth doing.