The NSA, through an innovative partnership with BI² Technologies, is implementing a new program to help Sheriffs across the nation generate funding to address the most critical problems in their counties by providing Sheriffs – at no upfront cost to the Sheriff’s Office or county – with a complete background check system. This includes the hardware, software, training and on-going service and maintenance.

The Sheriff’s Office will receive 25 percent of the net revenue from every background check until the system is paid for. After that, the Sheriffs’ Office will receive 30 percent of the net revenue on every background check conducted. The revenue created by these background checks will be provided to the local Sheriff in the form of grant funding to be use to address the problems in their communities.

BI² Technologies will also provide any participating Sheriff – again, at no upfront cost to the Sheriff or county – with its NSA-endorsed and cutting-edge Inmate Recognition and Identification System, I.R.I.S.™.

I.R.I.S.™ technology uses the human iris (the colored part around the pupil) to accurately identify a person. I.R.I.S.™ is far more accurate than a fingerprint and the results are provided within seconds. Sheriffs across the country are using this remarkable technology to better protect the public and their staff. This allows detention staff to positively identify the person they have in custody and ensure the wrong person is not released.

Traditionally, fingerprints have been captured in ink on paper cards. The process is messy, time-consuming and error-prone.

With livescan, your fingerprints are captured electronically via a specialized sensor. Once in an electronic format, the images can be instantly transmitted for further processing. The procedure is much faster and more accurate than ink- based processing. Furthermore, electronic “quality checks” helps reduce the potential for the prints to be rejected by the FBI.

US Citizens or non-citizens with lawful permanent resident status are eligible for ACCESS™ background check. Non-US Citizens without permanent residence status must make the Departmental Order request directly to the FBI themselves.

You must complete the online registration process prior to being fingerprinted at the Sheriff’s Office. You can select your local Sheriff’s Office location to get fingerprinted and reserving an appointment date and time as part of the process. However, your local Sheriff’s Office may also offer “walk-in” applicants so long as they have completed the online registration and pre-enrollment process and have made the required payment by credit card. Check online with your local Sheriff’s Office to see if they support walk-in fingerprint service.

The average cost of a background check is $90 to the applicant. This cost includes Livescan fingerprint collection, the FBI fee and access to the Results Portal for 30 days.

MasterCard, American Express, Discover and Visa are accepted.

FBI Departmental Order 556-73 allows FBI certified channelers to collect fingerprints electronically and then transmit them to the FBI on behalf of the applicant. The FBI sends the results to the Channeler who is then responsible for delivery to the applicant. Under 556-73 the results can be delivered to the applicant electronically IF the Service Provider issues the applicant a strong, multi-factor identity credential to ensure that the applicant and only the applicant is able to access the report on-line.

Our Livescan process dramatically reduces the likelihood that the prints will be rejected by the FBI; however, in a small number of cases (< 2%) the prints may be rejected. In these rare cases, you will be contacted by a Customer Support Representative and asked to schedule an appointment to collect a new set of fingerprints. There will be no charge to recollect and resubmit your prints to the FBI. Please note that there are a very small number of people who simply do not have enough detail in their fingerprints to obtain a useable set of prints.

When you show up for your appointment, a Sheriff Deputy will verify your identity and ensure your pre-enrollment data matches your identity documents. Then you will be fingerprinted. Fingerprinting consist of collecting both “slaps” and “rolls.” With Slaps, we collect four fingers on each hand simultaneously plus the two thumbs at once (a total of 3 images). With rolls, each digit is scanned individually, and you will be instructed to rotate your finger across the sensor. This will allow the sensor to record the fingerprint detail that wraps around the side of your finger. This process is consistent with FBI fingerprinting requirements.

The entire appointment will typically last less than 10 minutes.

Your local Sheriff’s will have a Livescan device dedicated to collecting electronic fingerprints specifically for the ACCESS™ background check applicants. Applicants will not be exposed to inmates during the fingerprint process.