Frequently Asked Questions: Fingerprinting Rule Requirement

Only attorneys who have been granted certain fee reductions in their annual licensing fees are eligible for fee reductions. If you qualify for such a reduction, you will be notified via an email notice.

No. However, attorneys granted a specified fee reduction at 25 or 50 percent rate will be eligible to receive a one-time credit on their annual billing to cover a portion of the DOJ and FBI processing fees.

Yes. Attorneys residing outside of California can choose to travel to California to submit fingerprints through a California Live Scan vendor in lieu of submitting fingerprint cards. All attorneys impacted by the fingerprinting rule can download a prepopulated Live Scan form on their My State Bar profile. However, in the event an attorney’s Live Scan fingerprints are rejected by the DOJ and/or FBI, the attorney must return to a Live Scan vendor in California to resubmit their fingerprints without new processing charges. If the attorney chooses not to return to a California Live Scan vendor, they must be fingerprinted using a fingerprint card, which will incur additional costs.

It costs $32 for the DOJ to run a criminal record check and $17 for the FBI to do so, for a total cost of $49. Vendor processing costs differ by vendor, but range from $5 to $75, with an average cost of $33. A list of California Live Scan locations and costs can be found online (DOJ website).

Providing a social security number is not legally required; however, DOJ procedures recommend providing the social security number on the Live Scan form. Further, many Live Scan vendors will refuse to submit your information without a social security number.

If you are uncomfortable with a Live Scan vendor retaining your social security number, we recommend redacting the number from the Live Scan form after the Live Scan vendor enters your information into the Live Scan software for transmission to the DOJ. The Live Scan vendor will then retain the redacted Live Scan form for their records. If a social security number is not provided, processing can be delayed.

The DOJ procedures recommend entering a home address when completing the California DOJ Live Scan form. However, some Live Scan vendors may accept a non- California home address. The State Bar does not receive or track any information provided to the Live Scan vendor. You are not required to provide the same address reported to the State Bar.

While not required, it is recommended to provide the same name to avoid delays in processing time.

An alias is not required. Please see the Live Scan Form Check List.

Please see Limited Accommodations. 

No. Currently, you are not required to take any action. Prior to returning to active status, you will be required to satisfy the fingerprinting rule requirements.

No. Currently, you are not required to take any action. If and when you are reinstated to active status, you will be required to satisfy the fingerprinting rule requirements. If you are reinstated to inactive status, you are not required to take any action. However, prior to transitioning from inactive status, you will be required to satisfy the fingerprinting rule requirements.

It depends on your State Bar license status. All licensees on active status, regardless of job title, are required to comply with the fingerprinting rule requirements. Those on inactive status are not. Judges of courts of record whose status is Judge in State Bar records are not required to be fingerprinted unless and until they return to active status.

No. Attorneys who live out-of-state can request hard copy fingerprint cards from the State Bar to be mailed to their preferred location. The cards can be completed at any fingerprint processing location within the jurisdiction in which they are located. For more information go to Fingerprinting Rule Requirements.

No, the DOJ will not accept ink fingerprint cards from an individual who resides in or has a California address.   

For most attorneys, only once. However, if your fingerprints are rejected by the DOJ and/or the FBI you may be required to resubmit them. The State Bar will notify you if your fingerprints are rejected. The rejection notice will include instructions for resubmitting your fingerprints. The State Bar will update your My State Bar Profile indicating that your fingerprints were rejected. In addition, if an attorney is disbarred or resigns from the State Bar and later seeks re-admission, the attorney will need to be fingerprinted again.

Almost all active attorneys will need to be re-fingerprinted. The only exceptions are:

(1) attorneys for whom the State Bar has hard copy fingerprint cards. (Due to the State Bar’s previous retention policy of destroying fingerprint cards after 3 years, this applies only to a limited number of attorneys who applied from admission from outside California on or after July 1, 2014.)

and;

(2) attorneys who applied to the State Bar after July 1, 2017.

Your My State Bar Profile will indicate if you are required to be fingerprinted.

No. The State Bar will only receive subsequent criminal offense information from the DOJ, which is limited to criminal activity reported through California’s criminal justice system. While the FBI will provide the State Bar with criminal offense information upon initial receipt of an attorney’s fingerprints, the State Bar will not receive subsequent information from the FBI.  

After you print your Live Scan form, when you add in other required information, you can add your other/legal name to the form by writing it in the space labeled “Other Name (AKA or Alias)” that appears underneath your name of record on the form. 

No. The State Bar is legally prohibited from sharing the information received and from using it for any purpose other than licensing and regulation.

The criminal record information provided by the DOJ and FBI includes arrest and conviction records. The DOJ does not have a policy to limit criminal record information to only include convictions.

The State Bar will receive criminal record information from both the DOJ and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). This information specifically includes a summary of arrests, pretrial proceedings, the nature and disposition of criminal charges, sentencing, incarceration, court-ordered rehabilitation conditions, and release. The DOJ will send the State Bar notification of subsequent California arrests and the disposition of those arrests. At this time, the FBI will not send notification of out-of-state arrests to the State Bar.

No. The DOJ will retain fingerprints only for the purpose of notifying the State Bar of subsequent criminal offense information.

Yes. It is a DOJ policy to limit disclosure of fingerprint records to the contractual agreement specific to the requesting agency. Fingerprints are not transferable from one agency to another.

The State Bar is not in possession of the majority of attorney fingerprints. As part of the moral character review process, applicants provide the State Bar with fingerprint cards or fingerprints are submitted electronically directly to the DOJ. A contract with the DOJ is required in order for the State Bar to receive subsequent notification of arrests and conviction information from the DOJ for attorneys admitted to the State Bar or multijurisdictional practitioners. The State Bar entered into this contract on July 1, 2017. As a result, the vast majority of attorneys will need to be re-fingerprinted.

A Subsequent Arrest Notification (SAN) services contract between the State Bar and the DOJ was finalized on June 28, 2017, effective July 1, 2017, to address the error of not securing SAN services on all persons admitted to the State Bar. Due to DOJ policies, the SAN services cannot be applied retroactively. Accordingly, the Supreme Court of California is requiring the resubmission of attorney fingerprints to the DOJ.