FBIFingerprintingLosAngeles.com is an educational publication owned and operated by Anshin Mobile Notary & LiveScan. Its purpose is to help applicants understand and successfully navigate the FBI background check process, from choosing a submission method through receiving the completed FBI Identity History Summary.
Editorial attribution: This guidance comes from our day-to-day experience helping applicants obtain FBI Identity History Summaries and understand the difference between an FBI report and a state-level record review.
There is one sentence on an FBI response that tends to create more questions than the rest of the letter:
THIS DOES NOT PRECLUDE FURTHER CRIMINAL HISTORY AT THE STATE OR LOCAL LEVEL.
It sounds like legal language, but the basic idea is straightforward. The FBI is saying that its response cannot rule out the possibility that a state or local agency has additional criminal history information.
That is the sentence this article is about.
The sentence before it reports what the FBI search found for that particular person. When the search does not find prior arrest data at the FBI, the response says so. If the FBI returns criminal history information, the report is different. Either way, the disclaimer has a separate job: it explains the limit of what the FBI response can establish about state and local records.
What Does “Does Not Preclude” Mean?
“Does not preclude” simply means “does not rule out.”
Put into everyday language, the FBI is saying:
“This is the result of our search, but we are not promising that every state, county or local agency has no additional information.”
That does not mean another record exists. It does not mean the FBI believes something is missing. It means you should not treat one FBI response as a guarantee about every criminal history system in the country.
Why Would a State or Local Record Be Different?
Many people picture criminal history information as one large government database that every agency sees in exactly the same way. In practice, the system is more complicated.
The FBI maintains national criminal history systems, but state and local agencies create and maintain the underlying records. Those agencies report information, make updates and correct records through their own processes.
The FBI explains in its Department of Justice Order 556-73 guidance that its Criminal Justice Information Services Division is not the original source of the information appearing on these records. The information comes from local, state and federal agencies that contribute it.
The FBI also publishes a state-maintained records listing. That page explains that several states maintain their own systems and that updates to those records happen at the state level.
So while information is routinely shared, the FBI system and every state or local system should not be viewed as identical copies of one another. That is why the disclaimer is there.
Does the Disclaimer Mean the FBI Report Is Incomplete?
Not automatically.
This is where people can read too much into the sentence. The FBI is not telling you that it missed a record. It is not telling you that another record definitely exists. And it is not saying that the fingerprint search failed.
The disclaimer is simply a boundary. It tells you what the FBI response does not promise.
An FBI Identity History Summary is still a national-level record review. It can include criminal history information reported from states across the country. That is one of the main reasons people request it when they have lived in more than one state or want to see what is associated with their fingerprints at the FBI.
But “national” and “guaranteed to contain every state and local detail” are not the same thing.
What We Usually See in Practice
In our day-to-day work, FBI reports generally line up with what applicants expect to see. We have not personally had a case where someone knew that a state-level event existed and the FBI report clearly failed to show it. Our primary job is not to review each client’s federal background check against their state background checks.
That is our actual experience, and it is worth saying. It is also worth being careful about what that experience can prove.
We process fingerprint submissions. We do not control the FBI’s database, a state database or the way every agency reports information. So while the FBI report has been very thorough in the cases we have seen, we would not tell an applicant that the disclaimer can be ignored.
The honest answer is: the FBI report is broad and useful, but the FBI still leaves open the possibility of additional state or local information.
Why This Matters When You Are Reviewing Your Own Record
Suppose you live in California and want to review your own criminal history. A California DOJ Record Review looks at California’s system. An FBI Identity History Summary gives you a national-level search and may show information connected to events in other states.
That makes the FBI report especially useful if you lived in California but previously spent time in Florida, Illinois or another state. The FBI search is not limited to California.
At the same time, the disclaimer is a reminder that the FBI report does not replace every possible state review. If your goal is the broadest practical look at your own history, there can be value in checking more than one system.
We call that the belt-and-suspenders approach.
The Belt-and-Suspenders Approach
If you want to see what is associated with your fingerprints at the national level, start with an FBI Identity History Summary.
If you also want to see what California maintains about you, request a California DOJ Record Review through California Live Scan fingerprinting.
If you spent a substantial amount of time in another state and have a specific reason to be concerned about records there, you can also look at that state’s personal record-review process. Each state sets its own rules, so the correct procedure depends on the state.
This does not mean everyone needs to order a background check from every state where they have ever lived. It means that if your purpose is a thorough personal review, the FBI report and the most relevant state report answer slightly different questions.
If you are obtaining a background check for an employer, licensing board, attorney, court or government agency, follow that organization’s instructions. Do not substitute a different report just because it sounds broader.
For a fuller comparison of the two California options, see our explanation of the difference between an FBI Identity History Summary and a California Record Review.
What If the FBI Report and the State Record Do Not Match?
If you discover a difference, start with the agency that created or maintains the underlying information. For a state or local matter, that may be the state identification bureau, the arresting agency or the court connected to the case.
The FBI generally cannot independently decide that a state record should be changed. The original agency usually needs to correct or update its information and then send the appropriate update through the criminal history system.
This is another reason a state-level review can be useful. It can help you identify where the information originated and which agency may need to address a correction.
Bottom Line
The sentence “This does not preclude further criminal history at the state or local level” is not a warning that the FBI found a hidden record. It is not a statement that the search failed.
It means the FBI response cannot rule out additional information in a state or local system.
For most applicants, the FBI Identity History Summary remains the best national-level starting point. If you are reviewing your own history and want the broadest practical picture, combine it with the relevant state record review. That is the simple, belt-and-suspenders answer to the disclaimer.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does “This does not preclude further criminal history” mean?
It means the FBI response does not rule out additional criminal history information at the state or local level. It does not mean another record definitely exists.
Does the disclaimer mean the FBI missed something?
No. The disclaimer does not say that information is missing. It explains that an FBI response cannot guarantee what every separate state and local system contains.
Can an FBI report include criminal history from another state?
Yes. An FBI Identity History Summary is national in scope and can include information reported from states across the country. The disclaimer exists because that does not guarantee that every state or local detail will always appear.
Should a California resident request both an FBI report and a California DOJ Record Review?
If the goal is a thorough personal review, requesting both can be a reasonable belt-and-suspenders approach. If an agency is asking for the background check, obtain the specific report that agency requires.
Do I need a record review from every state where I have lived?
Usually not. Consider why you are reviewing your record, how long you lived in the state and whether there is a particular event you need to verify.
This article is part of Which Background Check Do You Need, where we sort out which agency your requesting authority actually means.
Also in this section: DOJ vs FBI Background Checks, FBI Identity History Summary vs. California Record Review and Why FBI Electronic Submission Is Harder Than California Live Scan.