A background check in Texas can cost as little as $1 for a basic online name search through the Department of Public Safety, or more than $100 for a full third-party employment screening. Most people land somewhere in between. What you pay depends on three things: what kind of check it is, who runs it, and how deep it goes.
DPS Criminal History Searches
The Texas Department of Public Safety runs the cheapest checks in the state. A name-based criminal history search submitted electronically costs $1 per inquiry. The same search processed offline through DPS costs $10.1Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Revenue Object 3719 – Fees for Copies or Filing of Records – Department of Public Safety A fingerprint-based search through DPS costs $15.2Texas Public Law. Texas Government Code Section 411.088 – Fees
The $1 option is the DPS Criminal History Conviction Name Search, available online. Each search deducts one credit, and you aren’t charged again for opening multiple records in the same session.3Texas Department of Public Safety. Criminal History Name Search – TxDPS Crime Records Division It’s cheap for a reason. A name-based search only returns Texas conviction records. It won’t catch arrests that didn’t lead to a conviction, records from other states, or federal offenses.
Fingerprint-Based Checks
Fingerprint checks cost more because they pull from both state and federal databases, including FBI records. The total depends on who’s being checked and the purpose.
For paid employees of organizations that go through the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, the total runs $39.75: $15 for the DPS fingerprint search, $13.25 for the FBI search, and $11.50 for the fingerprint vendor’s processing fee. Foster and adoptive parent applicants, kinship caregivers, and others not receiving compensation pay $37.75, because the FBI charges them $11.25 instead of $13.25. DFPS employees, volunteers, and interns pay only the $11.50 vendor fee, since DFPS covers the rest.4Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. Fees for Background Checks and Fingerprinting
Checking Your Own Record
If you want to see what shows up on your own Texas criminal history, you can request a personal review through fingerprinting for $25. That covers a $15 record information fee and a $10 fingerprinting fee, payable by credit card, debit card, business check, or money order at the time of service.5Texas Administrative Code. Texas Administrative Code Title 37 Section 27.1 – Right of Review Doing this before a job search tells you exactly what a prospective employer’s screening will turn up. If you get fingerprinted at an out-of-state location, expect an additional fee there.
Rental Application Screening
When you apply for a rental in Texas, the landlord typically charges an application fee that covers credit, eviction, and criminal background screening. Most fall between $15 and $50. Texas law doesn’t cap the amount, and the fee is defined by statute as a nonrefundable payment to offset screening costs.
There’s one way to get it back. When a landlord hands you a rental application, they’re required to give you printed notice of their tenant selection criteria, including the grounds for denial such as criminal history, prior rental history, income, and credit. If a landlord rejects you without having provided that written notice, they must return your application fee and any application deposit.6Texas Public Law. Texas Property Code Section 92.3515 – Notice of Eligibility Requirements If that happened to you, you have grounds to demand the money back.
Employment Background Checks
Employers who use third-party screening companies instead of going directly through DPS pay more. A basic package covering Texas criminal records might start around $30. Comprehensive searches that add employment verification, education verification, credit history, and multi-state criminal databases can run $50 to over $100 per applicant. Employers almost always absorb these costs rather than passing them to the person applying.
The price spread comes from bundling. A company hiring a delivery driver might add a motor vehicle record check and drug screening on top of the standard criminal search. A company hiring for an office role might skip the driving record and add professional reference checks instead. Each layer adds to the fee.
The Hidden FCRA Cost
Price per check is only part of what an employer spends. The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act sets specific requirements for any background check run through a third-party service for employment purposes. Before ordering the report, the employer must give the applicant a written disclosure, in a standalone document separate from the job application, stating that a background check may be obtained. The applicant must then authorize it in writing.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681b – Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports Burying the disclosure in the fine print of an employment application violates the rule.
If an employer decides not to hire someone based on the report, the adverse action process kicks in. The applicant must receive notice of the adverse action, the name and contact information of the screening company, a statement that the screening company didn’t make the hiring decision, and notice of the right to obtain a free copy of the report and dispute any inaccuracies.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681m – Requirements on Users of Consumer Reports
Skipping these steps gets expensive fast. A willful FCRA violation exposes the employer to statutory damages of $100 to $1,000 per affected applicant, plus punitive damages and attorney fees at the court’s discretion.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681n – Civil Liability for Willful Noncompliance The real risk is class actions involving hundreds of applicants who all received the same noncompliant disclosure form.
Driving Records
Driving records are priced separately from criminal checks. Texas DPS offers several types. The two people usually need are:
- Type AR, a certified abstract of the complete driving record, for $20. It includes all crashes, violations, and suspensions on file.
- Type 3A, a certified list of all crashes and violations, for $10. This is the only record type accepted for a defensive driving course.
Employers and insurance companies usually want Type AR because it shows the full picture, including license suspensions. Type 3A is what you need if you’re taking defensive driving to dismiss a ticket.10Texas Department of Public Safety. How to Order a Driver Record
Professional License Verification
Verifying a professional license is a separate process from a criminal background check, with its own fees that vary by board. Nursing license verification through Nursys, the national nurse licensure database, costs $30 per license type for each state board where you’re applying.11National Council of State Boards of Nursing. License Verification with Nursys Other boards set their own fees, ranging from a few dollars to $50 or more depending on the profession and whether a certified letter is required.
Can You Deduct the Cost on Your Taxes?
If you paid for your own background check as part of a job search, the deduction isn’t currently available. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act suspended the deduction for job search expenses, including screening fees, for tax years 2018 through 2025.12Internal Revenue Service. What If I Am Searching for a Job? What happens for 2026 depends on whether Congress extends the TCJA provisions. If the suspension expires as scheduled, job search expenses would again be deductible as miscellaneous itemized deductions exceeding 2% of adjusted gross income. If it’s extended, the deduction stays off the table. Employers can deduct background check costs as ordinary business expenses either way.