To get your fingerprints removed from a police database, you generally need to pull your own criminal record first, then pursue one of three paths: petition a court for expungement or sealing, challenge inaccurate records directly with the agency that submitted them, or wait for an automatic clearing law to apply if your state has one. Which path fits depends on why the prints were taken, the outcome of the case, and where the records live. Following through with every agency that holds a copy is what actually gets the biometric data out of the system.
Pull Your Record Before You Do Anything Else
You can’t remove what you can’t see. The FBI keeps an Identity History Summary, often called a rap sheet, built from fingerprint submissions tied to arrests and sometimes to federal employment, naturalization, or military service. You can request your own copy for $18, with a fee waiver available if you can show financial hardship.1eCFR. 28 CFR Part 16 – Production or Disclosure of Material or Information Full instructions are on the FBI’s Identity History Summary Checks page.2Federal Bureau of Investigation. Requesting FBI Records
Most states run their own repository through a State Identification Bureau or similar agency, and you can request that record directly, usually for a small fee. Get both. The federal and state records rarely mirror each other exactly, and knowing which databases hold your prints tells you where to send court orders later.
Expungement
Expungement is the strongest option. A court order for expungement directs law enforcement to destroy or delete the record, including the fingerprint data attached to it. Rules vary a lot by state, but eligibility usually turns on the outcome of the case and the nature of the offense. Dismissed charges, acquittals, and certain lower-level convictions after a waiting period are the most common candidates. Many jurisdictions also require that any sentence, probation, or parole is complete before you can file.
The mechanics are familiar: file a petition in the court that handled the original case, pay a filing fee, and sometimes attend a hearing. If the judge grants the petition, the order doesn’t execute itself. You or your attorney send certified copies to every agency holding your record, which can include local police, the county sheriff, the state repository, and the FBI. Confirming that each one actually complied is the part people skip and later regret.
Record Sealing
Sealing hides the record from public view without destroying it. Standard background checks won’t surface a sealed record, but law enforcement and certain government agencies can still see it during a criminal investigation, when you apply for a firearms license, or in immigration proceedings.
Sealing usually covers a wider range of offenses than expungement and can be easier to obtain. Some cases seal automatically, including dismissed charges and juvenile matters. Others require a petition, with eligibility often tied to a waiting period after conviction and limits on prior offenses.
One point worth pinning down before you rely on sealing: it doesn’t always destroy the fingerprints themselves. Some jurisdictions will return or destroy sealed fingerprint cards and booking photos, but digital prints already sitting in other databases from separate cases stay put. Sealing prevents disclosure. It doesn’t guarantee that every copy of your biometric data disappears.
When the Record Is Just Wrong
Sometimes fingerprints are linked to the wrong person because of a clerical error, a data-entry mistake, or identity theft. You don’t need expungement or sealing for that. You challenge the accuracy of the record with the agency that submitted it.
Federal regulations spell out the procedure. After you get your Identity History Summary and spot the error, contact the agency that originally submitted the information and ask for a correction. You can also send the challenge to the FBI’s CJIS Division, which forwards it to the contributing agency for verification. Once that agency confirms the error, the FBI updates or removes the entry.3eCFR. 28 CFR 16.34 – Procedure to Obtain Change, Correction or Updating of Identification Records
State-level corrections follow the same idea. Bring supporting documents: court records, official identification, police reports. If the error came from identity theft, a police report about the theft strengthens the case considerably. Agencies are generally required to fix verified errors, and that can include removing fingerprints that never should have been tied to your identity.
If you believe the FBI’s own record contains inaccurate information rather than information wrongly forwarded by another agency, the Privacy Act of 1974 gives you a separate route to request amendment, with the right to internal review and ultimately federal court if the agency refuses.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 552a
Offenses That Usually Can’t Be Cleared
Some records aren’t eligible for removal at all. Categories almost universally excluded from expungement include murder, sexual assault, kidnapping, arson, terrorism, and crimes against children. Many states also exclude public corruption offenses and large-scale drug trafficking. Felonies generally face higher barriers than misdemeanors: some states allow felony expungement after long waiting periods, others bar it entirely. Sealing may still be available where expungement isn’t, though the most serious crimes are excluded from sealing too. Check your state’s specific list before spending money on a petition.
Automatic Clearing Under Clean Slate Laws
A growing number of states seal eligible records automatically, with no petition required. As of early 2026, 13 states and Washington, D.C. have enacted Clean Slate laws, and more are considering them. These laws direct state agencies to identify records that meet set criteria, typically older misdemeanors or arrests that didn’t lead to conviction, and seal them after a set waiting period.
Two limits matter. First, automatic sealing covers a narrower set of offenses than what a petition can reach. Second, it only touches state records; federal fingerprints stay where they are. Implementation is also uneven. Some states have backlogs of millions of eligible records waiting to be processed, so if you live in a Clean Slate state, check whether your record has actually been sealed rather than assume it has.
Getting Fingerprints Out of the FBI’s Database
Clearing federal fingerprints is a separate problem, and the process is narrower than most people expect. The FBI’s Next Generation Identification system removes fingerprints only when the agency that originally submitted them requests removal, or when the FBI receives a federal court order directing expungement. A state court order doesn’t automatically compel the FBI to act on state arrest data. The FBI directs questions about state records back to the State Identification Bureau where the offense occurred.5Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions
This trips people up. You can win an expungement in state court, mail a certified copy to the FBI, and still find your prints in the federal system. The practical path is through your state bureau, because the contributing agency is the one that can ask the FBI to pull the record. Some states notify the FBI after a state expungement is granted; many don’t. Confirming the state bureau actually sent the notice takes direct follow-up.
Private Background Check Companies
Even after law enforcement databases are cleared, old records can linger in commercial background check systems. These companies pull data from public court records and work off snapshots. If they captured your record before it was cleared, it can still show up on an employer’s report.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires consumer reporting agencies to follow reasonable procedures to assure “maximum possible accuracy” of the information they report.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681e Reporting an expunged or sealed record falls short of that standard, and you can dispute it directly with the company, which is legally obligated to investigate and correct the information.
The practical difficulty is that there are hundreds of these companies, and you often won’t know which ones hold your data until you’re denied a job or an apartment. Keep certified copies of your court order on hand so you can respond fast. Some people proactively send the order to the major screening firms, but there’s no single channel that reaches all of them.
What It Costs and How Long It Takes
Costs depend on the path. Court filing fees for expungement or sealing petitions vary by state, and some states waive them for financial hardship. The FBI Identity History Summary costs $18.1eCFR. 28 CFR Part 16 – Production or Disclosure of Material or Information Attorney fees are the biggest variable if you hire one, running from a few hundred dollars for a simple misdemeanor petition to several thousand for a complicated case.
Expungement petitions typically take several months to move through court, with three to four months common for straightforward cases. After the order issues, getting every agency to comply adds more time. Some jurisdictions require compliance within 30 to 60 days; delays are routine when federal databases are involved, and the FBI has no guaranteed turnaround for updating records after receiving corrected information from a contributing agency.
End to end, from requesting your record to confirming the prints are gone from every database, expect six months to over a year. Persistent follow-up at each stage is the single biggest factor in keeping the process moving. If an agency doesn’t respond to a court order within the expected window, filing a motion to enforce compliance is the standard next step.