FBI Criminal Background Check Cost 2026 (+ State & Employment Checks) 🌎

Federal: FBI Identity History Summary Check (IdHSC)

The FBI Identity History Summary, formerly called a "rap sheet" or "FBI background check," is the federal record of arrests and federal convictions tied to your fingerprints. The fee paid directly to the FBI is $18. You can submit two ways:

For international use (visa, residency, work abroad) the FBI summary must be apostilled by the US Department of State Office of Authentications — currently $8 federal apostille fee, with state-level apostilles for state-issued checks running $20–$40.

State-level criminal history checks

Each state maintains its own criminal repository through the State Police, Department of Public Safety, or Department of Justice. Common 2026 fees:

State checks pull from that state only — they do not include arrests or convictions from other states. For multi-state coverage you need either the FBI IdHSC or a commercial multi-state-sex-offender + county-court product.

Commercial employment background checks (FCRA)

When an employer runs a background check, it is governed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and is performed by a Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA): Sterling, Checkr, HireRight, GoodHire, Accurio, Cisive, First Advantage, and similar. Typical employer-side pricing:

FCRA requires the employer to (1) provide written disclosure and obtain written authorization before pulling the report, (2) give a pre-adverse-action notice with a copy of the report and the FTC "Summary of Your Rights" before declining the candidate, and (3) issue a final adverse-action notice. EEOC guidance (2012) requires an individualized assessment of nature of the offense, time elapsed, and relevance to the job — blanket no-felons policies trigger disparate-impact liability.

Ban-the-Box and clean-slate laws

As of 2026, 37 states and over 150 cities have Ban-the-Box laws restricting when employers can ask about criminal history. State-employer rules cover CA, NY, IL, NJ, MA, CT, MN, OR, WA, CO, RI, VT, NM, HI, MD, GA, DE, KY, LA, MO, NE, NV, OH, OK, PA, TN, UT, VA, WI, AZ, IN, KS, MI, NH, NC, SC, WV. Fair-chance private-employer laws (covering all employers) exist in CA, CO, CT, DC, HI, IL, MA, MN, NJ, NM, NY, OR, RI, VT, WA. Several states (PA, MI, UT, NJ, CA) have automatic clean-slate / record-sealing laws that purge eligible records after a clean period.

Expungement, sealing, and what shows up

Expungement (court-ordered destruction) and sealing (hidden from public view) are state remedies. An expunged state conviction generally will not appear on a state check or a commercial FCRA report — but it usually remains in the FBI's NGI database flagged as sealed, accessible only to law enforcement and certain federal employers. Federal convictions cannot be expunged outside of a presidential pardon. The FCRA bars CRAs from reporting non-conviction arrest records older than seven years; convictions can be reported indefinitely (state law may shorten this — CA, MA, NY, NM, KS, MD, MT, NH, WA cap at seven years).

Live Scan vs. ink card

Live Scan captures fingerprints electronically at a licensed location (Channeler, sheriff's office, UPS Store with IdentoGO kiosk). Ink card (FD-258) is the traditional rolled-ink card — accepted by the FBI for mail-in IdHSC requests. The FBI sends a blank FD-258 free on request; many local police departments will roll prints for $10–$20.

For most 2026 use cases, the right combination is: Channeler-submitted Live Scan + FBI IdHSC + (if international) State Department apostille — total $50–$95, delivered in under a week.