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Texas Department of Public Safety

FACT Clearinghouse

USER: Anonymous (0,0) SERVER: DPSWEB4 DATE:6/6/2023 12:08:26 AM LANG:ENGLISH (UNITED STATES) ORIG:SecureSite

FACT Clearinghouse



What is FACT Clearinghouse?

The FACT Clearinghouse is a repository of the DPS and the FBI fingerprint-based criminal history results. The FACT Clearinghouse allows an authorized entity access to a consolidated response of the DPS and FBI criminal history fingerprint results, including an electronic subscription and notification service for new arrest activity on subscribed persons.

Only persons processed through Fingerprint Applicant Services of Texas (FAST) are eligible for FACT. FAST is a service of the DPS that provides the electronic capture and submission of fingerprints for a fingerprint background check.

Fingerprint-Based Search Results

The criminal records stored at the DPS and the FBI are based on fingerprints submitted at the time of arrest. The DPS and the FBI use Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems (AFIS) that take an electronic image of fingerprints submitted by FAST and compares it to fingerprints of persons previously reported to the DPS and the FBI as having been arrested in Texas or elsewhere in the Nation. The DPS and the FBI have criminal history files of all arrests, prosecutions and court dispositions, if they have been reported to the DPS. When a match is identified through either AFIS, the corresponding criminal history record is pulled from the DPS or the FBI system. FACT displays both results in one location.

Subscription Service

The subscription service notifies an entity of new activity to a Texas criminal history record and now with the implementation of FBI Rap Back, new activity on an individual’s national criminal history. Not only will the subscribing entity receive notifications of events that occurred within Texas, they will also receive notifications of events that occurred elsewhere in the nation.

Events that can generate a notification are arrests, record updates, Sex Offender Registry activity, and death notices. These notifications will help eliminate the need to re-fingerprint employees to determine if new activity has been received after the initial check.

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