About NCESD Fingerprinting Services

The North Central Educational Service District provides digital fingerprinting services to individuals working, applying, or being contracted for a position at a Washington State school district, as per RCW 28A.410.010  and RCW 28A.400.303.

We use CrossMatch Technologies from the Live Scan Management Software. If your fingerprints are of good quality, live-scan reduces the turnaround time to obtain the results.

However, if your fingerprints are of poor quality they will be rejected by the Washington State Patrol or FBI, and you will be notified by your school district or by a letter to the address provided in your paperwork. The letter will include the next steps to take and enclose will be a copy of the rejection notice. Once you receive this letter, please give us a call to schedule a second appointment to be fingerprinted again using the ink and roll method.

Our Fingerprinting department is located on the 1st floor of our building located at 430 Olds Station Road, Wenatchee.

Services & Fees

Digital Fingerprinting

NCESD offers Digital Fingerprinting services exclusively for:

  • Certified and classified staff applying or being hired by a school district
  • Staff trying to obtain or renew certification
  • Student at a university/college/state program completing student teaching

Fingerprinting services are available by appointment only Monday – Friday. There is a fee of $95 for digital fingerprinting. 

Ink Card Fingerprinting

Ink Card services are offered to:

  • New hires/applicants whose employer requires background check (Ex: Banks, Casinos, law enforcement, forestry.)
  • Real Estate licensing
  • Fostering
  • Out of state background
  • Other legal reasons

There is a fee of $95 for Ink Card Fingerprinting. Ink cards are provided by NCESD if needed. It is up to the individual to submit these cards to the appropriate entity required for their license/permit/background.

Schedule a Fingerprinting Appointment

Please schedule an appointment using our online calendar. Expect your appointment to take 15-30 minutes and please bring a picture ID (preferably a driver’s license).

Payment Options

We accept a variety of payment options, including:

  • During your appointment, you can pay with a debit or credit card (Visa, Mastercard, or Discover)
  • We do NOT accept cash or check
  • We accept Purchase Order or authorization letter from your school district. Please bring the form with you to your appointment or have your school district email us the authorization form
  • Use the button below to pay ahead of time via our online payment portal (authorize.net). If you choose to pre-pay online, please bring payment confirmation to your appointment.

Pay Ahead (via authorize.net)

Required Documents

To get your fingerprints processed, you must acknowledge receipt of the FBI Privacy Act Statement and Noncriminal Justice Applicant’s Privacy Rights.

This privacy act statement is located on the back of the FD-258 fingerprint card.  

Authority: The FBI’s acquisition, preservation, and exchange of fingerprints and associated information is generally authorized under 28 U.S.C. 534. Depending on the nature of your application, supplemental authorities include Federal statutes, State statutes pursuant to Pub. L. 92-544, Presidential Executive Orders, and federal regulations. Providing your fingerprints and associated information is voluntary; however, failure to do so may affect completion or approval of your application.

Principal Purpose: Certain determinations, such as employment, licensing, and security clearances, may be predicated on fingerprint-based background checks. Your fingerprints and associated information/biometrics may be provided to the employing, investigating, or otherwise responsible agency, and/or the FBI for the purpose of comparing your fingerprints to other fingerprints in the FBI’s Next Generation Identification (NGI) system or its successor systems (including civil, criminal, and latent fingerprint repositories) or other available records of the employing, investigating, or otherwise responsible agency. The FBI may retain your fingerprints and associated information/biometrics in NGI after the completion of this application and, while retained, your fingerprints may continue to be compared against other fingerprints submitted to or retained by NGI.

Routine Uses: During the processing of this application and for as long thereafter as your fingerprints and associated information/biometrics are retained in NGI, your information may be disclosed pursuant to your consent, and may be disclosed without your consent as permitted by the Privacy Act of 1974 and all applicable Routine Uses as may be published at any time in the Federal Register, including the Routine Uses for the NGI system and the FBI’s Blanket Routine Uses. Routine uses include, but are not limited to, disclosures to: employing, governmental or authorized non-governmental agencies responsible for employment, contracting, licensing, security clearances, and other suitability determinations; local, state, tribal, or federal law enforcement agencies; criminal justice agencies; and agencies responsible for national security or public safety.

As of 03/03/2018  

Applicant Notification of Procedures to Update an FBI Record  

Your fingerprints will be used to check the criminal history records of the FBI. You have the opportunity to complete or challenge the accuracy of the information contained in the FBI identification record. The procedure for obtaining a change, correction, or update of an FBI criminal history record are set forth at 28 CFR 16.34. Information regarding this process may be found at https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/identity-history-summary-checks and https://www.edo.cjis.gov.

As an applicant who is the subject of a national fingerprint-based criminal history record check for a noncriminal justice purpose (such as an application for employment or a license, an immigration or naturalization matter, security clearance, or adoption), you have certain rights which are discussed below. All notices must be provided to you in writing. 1 These obligations are pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974, Title 5, United States Code (U.S.C.) Section 552a, and Title 28 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), 50.12, among other authorities.

1 Written notification includes electronic notification, but excludes oral notification.

2 https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/compact-council/privacy-act-statement

3 See 5 U.S.C. 552a(b); 28 U.S.C. 534(b); 34 U.S.C. § 40316 (formerly cited as 42 U.S.C. § 14616), Article IV(c); 28 CFR 20.21(c), 20.33(d) and 906.2(d).

  • You must be provided an adequate written FBI Privacy Act Statement (dated 2013 or later) when you submit your fingerprints and associated personal information. This Privacy Act Statement must explain the authority for collecting your fingerprints and associated information and whether your fingerprints and associated information will be searched, shared, or retained. 2
  • You must be advised in writing of the procedures for obtaining a change, correction, or update of your FBI criminal history record as set forth at 28 CFR 16.34.
  • You must be provided the opportunity to complete or challenge the accuracy of the information in your FBI criminal history record (if you have such a record).
  • If you have a criminal history record, you should be afforded a reasonable amount of time to correct or complete the record (or decline to do so) before the officials deny you the employment, license, or other benefit based on information in the FBI criminal history record.
  • If agency policy permits, the officials may provide you with a copy of your FBI criminal history record for review and possible challenge. If agency policy does not permit it to provide you a copy of the record, you may obtain a copy of the record by submitting fingerprints and a fee to the FBI. Information regarding this process may be obtained at https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/identity-history-summary-checks and https://www.edo.cjis.gov.
  • If you decide to challenge the accuracy or completeness of your FBI criminal history record, you should send your challenge to the agency that contributed the questioned information to the FBI. Alternatively, you may send your challenge directly to the FBI by submitting a request via https://www.edo.cjis.gov. The FBI will then forward your challenge to the agency that contributed the questioned information and request the agency to verify or correct the challenged entry. Upon receipt of an official communication from that agency, the FBI will make any necessary changes/corrections to your record in accordance with the information supplied by that agency. (See 28 CFR 16.30 through 16.34.)
  • You have the right to expect that officials receiving the results of the criminal history record check will use it only for authorized purposes and will not retain or disseminate it in violation of federal statute, regulation or executive order, or rule, procedure or standard established by the National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact Council.3

Frequently Asked Questions

How long are my fingerprint records valid for?

Two years from the clearance date received from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Your school district can look you up on the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) Fingerprint Records database to see if your records are current, or you can call as too.

I was just fingerprinted for another job, TSA pre-check, or my conceal and carry permit, can I just use those prints for my background check?

No, Washington State law does not allow substitute versions of any fingerprint record checks. The law is detailed under WAC 392.300 and RCW 28A.400.

I had my prints taken at a local law enforcement office, where do I send them to?

The fingerprint card needs to be mailed to OSPI along with the $45.25 fee (check, money order, or cashier’s check made payable to OSPI) to:

OSPI
Attn: Fiscal Office
PO Box 47200
Olympia, WA 98504-7200

OSPI will submit your fingerprint card to WSP and FBI. The turnaround time for this process is approximately 2-4 weeks. Results will be posted on the OSPI Fingerprint Records database.

For further information and access to resources on Fingerprints & Background Checks, please contact the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) Fingerprints & Background Checks unit at at:

Website: https://www.k12.wa.us/certification/fingerprints-background-checks
Phone: 360-725-6135
Email: OPPFP@k12.wa.us

Fingerprinting Services Contacts


Kim Wagner

Administrative Assistant
Message NCESD
509-667-7117