What Is Act 114 FBI Fingerprint Clearance in PA?

Act 114 is Pennsylvania’s requirement that anyone seeking work in a school complete an FBI fingerprint-based criminal history check before their first day. The Act 114 FBI fingerprint clearance in PA is obtained through IdentoGO, costs roughly $23 to $25, and must be renewed every 60 months. Codified at 24 P.S. § 1-111, it applies to public schools, private schools, intermediate units, area career and technical schools, independent contractors with direct student contact, and student teachers.

Who Has to Get One

The law reaches almost everyone who sets foot in a school in a working capacity. Teachers, administrators, custodians, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, and other staff all need the clearance before starting.¹

Independent contractors and their employees are covered when their work puts them in direct contact with children, meaning the possibility of care, supervision, guidance, control, or routine interaction. A contractor working an empty building after hours generally does not need it. A tutor, coach, or therapist does.²

Student teachers must complete the check and give the results to their college or university before any classroom placement. The institution decides whether the student can participate and keeps a copy on file.¹

Volunteers with direct student contact need background clearances under the Child Protective Services Law and may qualify for a reduced fee.³

Act 114 Is Only One of Three Clearances

The FBI fingerprint check is the federal piece. Pennsylvania also requires an Act 34 Pennsylvania State Police criminal record check, processed through the PATCH system, and an Act 151 child abuse history clearance through the Department of Human Services. All three must be on file before employment begins, with narrow exceptions for provisional hiring. Missing one puts both the applicant and the school at legal risk.³

How to Register and Get Fingerprinted

The process starts online through the IdentoGO enrollment portal. Before you register, pull together your full legal name, permanent address, Social Security number, and a payment method.

You will need a Service Access Code that routes your check to the correct agency. The Department of Education and the Department of Human Services use different codes, and the wrong one can void your application and force you to pay again. Service codes are no longer listed publicly on IdentoGO. The Department of Education posts the correct code on its clearances page, and your employer or university placement office should have it as well.¹

The fee runs about $22.95 to $24.95, depending on whether you register as a volunteer or employee. Those rates took effect January 1, 2025, replacing the earlier $24.20 and $26.20.⁴

Check every field before you submit. A typo in your name or Social Security number can trigger an ID mismatch at the appointment or slow down FBI processing.

Once registered, schedule an appointment at an authorized IdentoGO enrollment center. There are dozens across Pennsylvania. Bring a valid government photo ID. Accepted forms include a driver’s license, U.S. passport, state ID card, military ID, permanent resident card, or employment authorization document, and a Canadian or Mexican driver’s license also qualifies.⁵ If you lack a primary photo ID, two secondary documents such as a birth certificate paired with a Social Security card can substitute.

The appointment itself is quick. A technician digitally scans all ten fingerprints, and you leave with a receipt showing your Universal Enrollment ID (UEID). Keep the receipt. Your school cannot pull your results without that number.

If you live outside Pennsylvania, IdentoGO operates centers in all 50 states and you can usually schedule locally using the same Service Access Code.

How Your Employer Sees the Results

Results arrive two ways. You get an unofficial paper copy in the mail in roughly 7 to 10 business days, which schools cannot accept as the official document.⁴

The official record lives in PA SafeCheck, a secure state system. You give your UEID to the school administrator, who logs in and pulls the FBI report on screen. If you are hired, the administrator prints a copy for your personnel file. If you are not hired, the administrator is prohibited from printing or keeping any copy.¹

When electronic transmission fails, the FBI runs a manual name-based search, which takes four to six weeks.¹

Convictions That Can Disqualify You

Some convictions carry a lifetime ban from Pennsylvania school employment. There is no waiting period and no path back. The list includes criminal homicide, aggravated assault, stalking, kidnapping, unlawful restraint, luring a child into a vehicle or structure, rape, statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault, institutional sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault, indecent exposure, incest, concealing the death of a child, endangering the welfare of children, dealing in infant children, felony prostitution, corruption of minors, sexual abuse of children, unlawful contact with a minor, solicitation of minors to traffic drugs, sexual exploitation of children, and any felony drug offense. Equivalent offenses under federal law or the laws of another state also trigger the permanent ban.

Other convictions carry time-limited bars that start on the date you finish serving your entire sentence, including probation or parole:

Other felonies not on the permanent list: barred for ten years after the sentence is fully complete.
First-degree misdemeanors: barred for five years after the sentence is fully complete.
Multiple first-degree misdemeanor DUI convictions: barred for three years after the sentence is fully complete.

The clock does not run from the conviction date. People sometimes miscalculate and apply too early.

Starting Work Before Results Arrive

Pennsylvania does not force schools to leave positions empty while clearances process. A school may, but is not required to, hire someone provisionally for up to 90 days if all of these conditions are met:

The applicant has submitted all required background check requests and given copies of the completed forms to the administrator.
The administrator has no information suggesting the applicant would fail.
The applicant signs a sworn written statement that they are not disqualified under the law.
The provisional employee is never alone with children and stays within the immediate vicinity of a permanent employee.
If disqualifying results come back, the employee is suspended immediately and faces termination.

The 90-day window is single and non-renewable.¹

Renewal Every 60 Months

Act 114 clearances expire. Pennsylvania requires renewal every 60 months from the date of the most recent clearance, and the same cycle applies to all three required background checks. School administrators are responsible for tracking renewal dates.⁴

Reports stay accessible in PA SafeCheck for five years, matching the renewal cycle. After that, the administrator can no longer retrieve the report online and the employee runs through the full process again.⁶

The 72-Hour Reporting Rule

The clearance is not a one-time gate. If you are arrested for or convicted of any offense on the disqualifying list after being hired, you must notify your administrator in writing within 72 hours. The duty starts at the point of arrest, not at a court outcome. Failing to report puts you at risk of termination and your administrator at risk of civil penalties.

If Your FBI Record Has Errors

FBI records can be wrong. Dismissed arrests, expunged charges, and records belonging to someone with a similar name all turn up on criminal history reports. You can challenge errors at no cost by sending the FBI documentation such as court orders, dismissal records, or expungement paperwork. Average processing is about 45 days. The FBI’s challenge unit can be reached at identity@fbi.gov or 304-625-5590.⁷

For state records that were supposed to be expunged or sealed, contact the State Identification Bureau in the state where the offense happened. The FBI cannot remove state arrest data on its own; the originating agency has to request the correction.

What Happens If a School Skips the Check

A school administrator who knowingly fails to enforce the background check requirement faces a civil penalty of up to $2,500, payable to the Commonwealth. The Department of Education investigates and assesses penalties after a hearing.²

The penalty falls on the person responsible for the hire, not on the applicant. An applicant who lies on the sworn provisional-hiring statement or ignores the 72-hour arrest rule faces suspension and termination. Treating clearances as paperwork to backfill later is real legal exposure on both sides of the hiring relationship.

1
Pennsylvania Department of Education. Federal Criminal History Record Information
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Pennsylvania Department of Education. Violations of Background Checks
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Pennsylvania Department of Education. Clearances/Background Checks
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Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Apply for an FBI Criminal History Background Check
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Pennsylvania Department of State. Identification Documents Accepted for IdentoGO
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Pennsylvania Department of Education. Acts Laws and Regulations
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Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions