What Is a Rap Sheet? Contents, Copies, and Corrections

A rap sheet is the informal name for your official criminal history record — the file that compiles your interactions with the criminal justice system in one place. The FBI keeps the largest national version through its Criminal Justice Information Services Division, formally called an Identity History Summary, and every state runs its own repository alongside it.¹ Law enforcement and the public still call the federal file a rap sheet, and what it says about you can shape jobs, housing, and licensing for decades, so it’s worth knowing what’s on yours.

What’s Actually on a Rap Sheet

The FBI’s Identity History Summary is built from fingerprint submissions sent in by law enforcement agencies around the country. Each time you’re fingerprinted during an arrest, those prints go to the FBI and either create a record or add to the one tied to your identity. A typical entry includes the agency that submitted the prints, the date of the arrest, the charges at the time, and the disposition of the case if the FBI received it.²

That last part — “if known” — matters. Whether a case ended in conviction, acquittal, or dismissal depends on the arresting agency or court sending the follow-up to the FBI, and plenty of them don’t. So your rap sheet may show an arrest with no outcome listed, which looks worse than it should to anyone reading it. This is one of the most common problems people spot when they pull their own records.

Your file also carries personal identifiers: full name, date of birth, and any aliases linked to your fingerprints.² What it generally does not include is detailed sentencing information, such as the length of a prison term or the specific terms of probation. The FBI compiles what agencies report, and most reporting focuses on the arrest and its outcome rather than the penalty imposed.

State Records vs. Federal Records

Your FBI rap sheet is only one piece. Each state keeps its own criminal history repository, and these often contain more detail than the federal file, including local offenses that may never have been reported federally. State records can also reflect traffic violations, protective orders, and other entries that don’t appear at the FBI level. If you want the full picture, request records from both your state repository and the FBI.

How Long Entries Stay

Arrests and convictions remain on your rap sheet permanently unless you take specific legal action to remove them. There is no automatic expiration. An arrest from twenty years ago with dropped charges will still appear on your Identity History Summary unless the record has been expunged or sealed through a court process, or at the request of the submitting agency.³ That permanence is the reason it’s worth reviewing the file every few years.

How to Get Your Own Copy

The FBI lets anyone request their own Identity History Summary. The fee is $18, the same for mail or electronic submission.³ Personal checks, business checks, and cash are not accepted. If you can’t afford the fee, call 304-625-5590 or email identity@fbi.gov to request a waiver before you submit.

Every request requires fingerprints, because the FBI confirms your identity by fingerprint comparison before releasing anything. You can get prints taken at a local law enforcement agency, a private fingerprinting service, or, for electronic submissions, at a participating U.S. Post Office location.⁴ Fingerprinting fees generally run between $10 and $50.

Electronic submissions are processed faster than mailed requests, though the FBI does not publish specific turnaround times for either. Requests are handled in the order received.³ If a job offer, immigration application, or license deadline is driving this, go electronic.

For your state record, contact your state’s identification bureau or equivalent agency. State fees vary widely, typically from around $10 to over $90. Some states accept online requests; others still require fingerprints and a mailed application.

Fixing Errors on Your Record

Errors on rap sheets are more common than people expect. Missing dispositions, charges attributed to the wrong person, and outdated information that should have been cleared all show up regularly. Any of these can cost you a job, a professional license, or a housing application.

To challenge your FBI Identity History Summary, send a written request identifying exactly what you believe is wrong and include supporting documentation like court orders, dismissal notices, or certified disposition records. There is no fee to challenge the record, and the FBI’s average processing time for a challenge is about 45 days.³ The FBI’s identity team is reachable at identity@fbi.gov or 304-625-5590.

One catch: the FBI can only correct information it maintains. If the error originated with a local police department or a state agency, you have to go to that agency directly. The FBI publishes a listing of state identification bureaus to help you find the right office. For missing dispositions specifically, the fix usually involves getting the originating court to send updated records to the FBI or your state repository.

Removing Entries: Expungement and Sealing

If you want entries off the record rather than just corrected, you’re looking at expungement or sealing. The two are related but legally distinct. Expungement treats the record as though the arrest or conviction never happened — the entry is destroyed or removed from the criminal history database. Sealing keeps the record intact but blocks public access, so it won’t show up on most background checks. In both cases, law enforcement agencies may still be able to see the underlying information.

Eligibility depends on your state’s laws and the nature of the offense. Arrests that didn’t lead to charges, dismissed cases, and acquittals are generally the easiest to clear. Many states also allow expungement of certain misdemeanor convictions after a waiting period, and some extend eligibility to lower-level felonies. For federal arrest data on your FBI record, removal requires either a request from the agency that originally submitted the information or a federal court order specifically directing expungement.³

A growing number of states have passed “Clean Slate” laws that automate sealing for eligible records so you don’t have to petition a court. Over a dozen states and Washington, D.C. have enacted such laws, typically covering arrest records and misdemeanor convictions at minimum. If you looked into eligibility a few years ago and ruled it out, it’s worth looking again.

How a Rap Sheet Affects Employment

This is where your record touches daily life for most people. Employers routinely run background checks, and what the check shows can decide whether you get hired. You do have protections.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has issued guidance stating that blanket policies rejecting anyone with a criminal record can violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act if they disproportionately affect a protected group without being tied to the job. Employers are expected to weigh three things: the nature and seriousness of the offense, the time since the offense or completion of any sentence, and the nature of the job.⁵

The EEOC also draws a hard line between arrests and convictions. An arrest alone doesn’t prove anything, so an employer who rejects you based solely on an arrest record, without considering the underlying conduct, is on shaky legal ground. A conviction carries more weight, but even then the employer should conduct an individualized assessment: tell you the record is a concern, give you a chance to explain, and weigh factors like rehabilitation and time elapsed.⁵

When the employer uses a third-party screening company, the Fair Credit Reporting Act layers on more protection. The employer must tell you in writing that a background check will be run and get your written permission before ordering it. If they decide not to hire you based on what the report shows, they have to give you a copy and a chance to dispute inaccurate information before making the decision final.⁶ This adverse action process is where many employers cut corners, and knowing your rights matters when a background check costs you a job.

Over 37 states, the District of Columbia, and more than 150 cities and counties have adopted “ban the box” or fair chance hiring policies. These remove criminal history questions from the initial application and push background checks to later in the hiring process, usually after a conditional offer. Some laws apply only to public employers, others cover private employers above a certain size.

Who Else Can See Your Rap Sheet

Your criminal history isn’t locked up where only you can see it. Federal law authorizes the exchange of criminal records with officials of the federal government, state governments, Indian tribes, cities, and penal institutions for official use.⁷ In practice, law enforcement, prosecutors, courts, corrections departments, and certain licensing boards can pull your record without your consent as part of their official duties.

Private employers and landlords cannot directly access your FBI rap sheet. They use third-party background check companies that pull from court records, state databases, and other public sources. What they see may overlap with what’s on your FBI file, but it comes through a different pipeline and is governed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act’s disclosure and accuracy rules. Government agencies conducting security clearance investigations or certain licensing reviews, such as firearms dealers, have broader access under specific statutory authority.⁷

1
Federal Bureau of Investigation. About the Criminal Justice Information Services Division
2
Federal Bureau of Investigation. How to Challenge and How to Obtain Your FBI Identity History Summary
3
Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions
4
U.S. Department of State. Criminal Records Checks
5
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
6
Federal Trade Commission. What Employment Background Screening Companies Need to Know About the Fair Credit Reporting Act
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 28 – Section 534