How to Get a Level 2 Background Check in Florida

To get a Level 2 background check in Florida, start with the employer, licensing board, or volunteer agency that is requiring it: they will give you a nine-digit ORI number that routes your results back to them. You take that number, a government-issued photo ID, your Social Security number, and payment to an authorized LiveScan fingerprinting vendor. The appointment itself rarely runs longer than 15 minutes, state and federal fees run from $20 to $36 depending on the requesting agency, and results reach the agency within a few business days.

What You Need Before Your Appointment

Four things, and the first one is the one people forget:

The ORI number. This nine-digit code tells FDLE where to send your results. Your employer or the requesting agency supplies it. If you were not given one, ask before you book anything. FDLE also runs an online lookup tool where you can verify the number and see the fees tied to it.¹
A government-issued photo ID. A Florida driver’s license or passport works. Many vendors ask for a second form of ID as well.
Your Social Security number, for identity matching across databases.
Payment. Bring enough to cover the state and federal fees plus the vendor’s own service charge.

Double-check the ORI before you show up. If it is wrong, your results go to the wrong place, and you may have to pay to be fingerprinted again.

Finding a LiveScan Vendor and Getting Fingerprinted

Florida requires Level 2 fingerprints to be submitted electronically, through LiveScan.² LiveScan captures your prints digitally and sends them straight to FDLE and the FBI, so there is no ink, no card, and a lower chance of rejection for illegible prints.

FDLE publishes a list of registered LiveScan submitters on its website.¹ Vendors include many UPS stores, tax offices, and dedicated fingerprinting businesses. Some employers work with a specific vendor, so ask before you schedule on your own.

At the appointment, the vendor scans your prints, collects your demographic information, and transmits it. You will get a Transaction Control Number (TCN), which you can use to track the status of your check. Most people are in and out in under 15 minutes.

What It Costs

FDLE charges state and federal processing fees that vary by the type of screening and the requesting agency. For most applicants:³

Standard applicant checks: $24 state + $12 federal = $36
DCF, DJJ, Elder Affairs, and Guardian Ad Litem: $8 state + $12 federal = $20
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services: $15 state + $12 federal = $27
VECHS volunteers: $18 state + $10 federal = $28

Those are the FDLE and FBI processing fees only. The vendor charges its own service fee on top, which varies by location. Expect roughly $10 to $25 more. Some employers cover the fingerprinting cost, so ask about reimbursement before you pay out of pocket.

How Long Results Take and Where They Go

LiveScan submissions are usually processed within one to three business days, and up to five during busy stretches. When an FBI national check is part of the request, add a few more days. Results are sent to the requesting agency, not to you.⁴

If you want to see your own record separately, FDLE offers a personal review process where you can request a copy of your Florida criminal history. That copy cannot be used for employment or licensing, but it lets you see what the requesting agency will see.⁵

What the Check Pulls

A Level 2 check is a fingerprint-based search of local law enforcement records, FDLE’s statewide database, and the FBI’s national database. It also searches the sexual predator and sexual offender registries in every state where you have lived during the past five years.² Because it runs on fingerprints instead of names, it catches records that would slip past a name-only search due to aliases, common names, or name changes. Results include arrests, convictions, pending cases, and delinquency adjudications.

If You Have a Criminal Record

Florida Statute 435.04 lists more than 50 statutory sections whose convictions, pending charges, or nolo contendere pleas automatically disqualify someone from a covered position. Equivalent offenses from other states count too.² The list covers violent crimes, sexual offenses, crimes against children or vulnerable adults, human trafficking, arson, burglary, robbery, felony fraud, some weapons offenses, and various drug offenses. If you have any criminal history, including an arrest that never led to conviction, read the statute closely or talk to an attorney before assuming you will pass.

Applying for an Exemption

A disqualifying offense does not automatically end the process. Florida law lets the head of the requesting agency grant an exemption from disqualification if you can show rehabilitation.⁶ The eligibility windows:

Felonies: at least two years must have passed since you completed your sentence, supervision, or any court-imposed conditions.
Misdemeanors: you must have completed your sentence and any conditions imposed by the court.
Juvenile adjudications for felony-level offenses: at least three years must have passed since completing your sentence or supervision, and the record must not have been sealed or expunged.

Before you can apply, all court-ordered financial obligations tied to the disqualifying offense must be paid in full, including fines, restitution, prosecution costs, and any other amounts in the judgment. The burden is on you to show by “clear and convincing evidence” that you should not be disqualified. The agency weighs the circumstances of the offense, the time that has passed, the harm to the victim, and your history since. Completion certificates from rehabilitation programs, employment records, and character references all strengthen the application.

Rescreening: This Is Not a One-Time Check

Your fingerprints stay on file with FDLE and are checked against incoming arrest records, so if you are arrested after clearance, the requesting agency is notified.⁷ Fingerprints must also be resubmitted for a full FBI national check every five years.

For healthcare and other professions screened through the Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse, the five-year renewal costs $43.25. The renewal window opens 75 days before your expiration date and closes 15 days before it. Miss it, and you have to complete a new screening rather than a renewal.⁸

Fixing Errors in Your Results

A background check is only as accurate as the data the arresting agencies and courts have submitted. Dropped charges sometimes show as open, someone else’s arrest can be linked to your prints, and sealed records occasionally never make it into the FBI database. You have the right to challenge inaccurate information.

For Florida state record errors, use FDLE’s personal review to get a copy of your record and identify the problem.⁵ Corrections at the state level, such as a disposition a court never reported, must be fixed through the originating agency before the FBI will update its records.

For FBI national record errors, you can challenge your Identity History Summary directly with the FBI. There is no filing fee, and the FBI’s average processing time is about 45 days from receipt.⁹ Include supporting documents like court orders or expungement records. The FBI generally will not change a record until the state that submitted it corrects it first.

1
Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Current Registered LiveScan Submitters
2
Justia Law. Florida Statutes 435.04 – Level 2 Screening Standards
3
Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Criminal History Record Check Fee Schedule
4
Florida Department of Law Enforcement. National Criminal History Record Check
5
Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Obtaining Criminal History Information
6
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 435.07 – Exemptions From Disqualification
7
Florida Senate. Florida Code 435.12 – Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse
8
FL HealthSource. Background Screening Screening Requirements
9
Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions