Wyoming Background Check: Requests, Fees, and Corrections

A Wyoming background check runs through the Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) in Cheyenne, uses your fingerprints rather than your name, and costs up to $15 for a state-level search or $39 if a federal FBI check is added. You submit a fingerprint card, identifying information, and payment by money order or cashier’s check, and DCI returns a report drawn from the state’s central criminal history database.

How to Request Your Report

Every request DCI processes is fingerprint-based. Name-only checks are not available through the agency.¹ Your packet needs to include your full legal name, any aliases, date of birth, and Social Security number, along with the fingerprint card itself.

You can get printed at most local law enforcement agencies, which may charge up to $5 under state law.² DCI also offers fingerprinting at its Cheyenne office for $5.³

Mail the card and payment to DCI headquarters. Payment must be a money order or cashier’s check made out to the State of Wyoming. Cash and personal checks get the application sent back. Processing time depends on the current backlog.¹

One ceiling to know: FBI rules bar DCI from running a nationwide check for an individual asking about themselves. If you need your own federal criminal history, you have to go through an FBI-approved channeler rather than DCI.¹

What It Costs

State law sets caps rather than fixed prices. DCI can charge up to $15 for a state-level check, which also searches the Western Identification Network covering several western states. When a federal FBI check is layered on top, the FBI adds $24, for a combined $39.³

Two categories pay less. Criminal justice agencies and the Department of Family Services pay nothing. Organizations that provide volunteer services to youth or victims of family violence pay no more than $10, and only when screening a prospective volunteer.²

What the Report Shows

DCI is Wyoming’s central repository, and every law enforcement agency, district court, prosecutor’s office, and the Department of Corrections is required to report criminal events to it.⁴ The database covers all felony arrests, high misdemeanor arrests, and other misdemeanor arrests DCI decides to track.⁵

Entries include arrests, charges filed, convictions, guilty pleas, sentences, probation, incarceration, and release information. They also include nonconviction data: arrests that ended in acquittal or dismissal, and cases where prosecutors declined to charge.⁶ Adult criminal history is kept permanently, even when charges were dismissed or declined.⁵

The report reflects only what was reported. If a court or agency never submitted the disposition, your record may show an arrest with no outcome attached. That gap is worth catching before an employer or licensing board sees it.

Who Can Get Someone Else’s Record

State law tightly limits who can receive criminal history data from DCI, and the general public is not on the list.⁷ Authorized recipients include:

Criminal justice agencies, including police, prosecutors, courts, and corrections.
State licensing boards named in the statute, such as the Board of Nursing and the Board of Examiners for Optometry.
Government agencies including the Department of Family Services, the Department of Health, the Secretary of State’s office for voter registration verification, and the Office of Homeland Security.
You, the subject of the record, who may inspect your own history.

Private employers and ordinary members of the public cannot pull another person’s DCI record directly. Employers who need a check on an applicant generally hire a third-party consumer reporting agency, and that route triggers federal rules.

Rules Employers Must Follow

Wyoming has no ban-the-box law, and no state statute specifically limiting how employers weigh arrests that didn’t lead to conviction. Compliance in Wyoming runs mostly through federal law.

Fair Credit Reporting Act

When an employer uses a third-party company to run a background check, the Fair Credit Reporting Act applies. Before the check runs, the employer must give you a clear written disclosure and get your written authorization.⁸

If the employer then decides not to hire you based wholly or partly on what the report shows, the FCRA requires a two-step adverse action process. You first get a preliminary notice with a copy of the report and a summary of your rights, giving you time to review and dispute anything wrong. Only after a reasonable waiting period can the employer send a final adverse action notice.⁹

EEOC Guidance

Federal EEOC guidance applies to Wyoming employers even without a parallel state framework. Blanket rejection of every applicant with a criminal record can violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act if the policy disproportionately excludes people of a particular race or national origin. The EEOC advises weighing the nature of the offense, how much time has passed, and how the conviction relates to the specific job.¹⁰

Jobs That Require a Fingerprint Check

Healthcare and Waiver Services

Anyone providing Medicaid waiver services in Wyoming must pass a screening that includes a state and national fingerprint-based criminal history check, a search of the Department of Family Services Central Registry, and a search of the federal Office of Inspector General’s exclusions database. That covers direct care staff, supervisors, and participant-hired employees under self-direction programs. Convictions for crimes against persons, including homicide, sexual assault, kidnapping, robbery, and human trafficking, are automatic disqualifiers, as are convictions for offenses against morals and family such as child endangerment and incest. Everyone must be re-screened every five years, and providers and owners face monthly OIG checks. Adults living in a home where services are provided must also pass.¹¹

Teachers and School Staff

Anyone seeking an educator license or permit submits fingerprint cards through the Professional Teaching Standards Board, which forwards them to DCI. Negative information routes the application to the Executive Director for review. If a prior license or permit has expired, you have to be printed again. The only exception is a current, valid Wyoming educator license, substitute teacher permit, or coaching permit with prints already on file.¹²

Fixing Errors or Clearing a Conviction

Correcting an Inaccurate Record

You can inspect your own record through any criminal justice agency that maintains it. If you find errors, you can apply to the district court for an order to correct, delete, or supplement the data. Once the court orders a change, the corrected information must be sent to every person or agency that received a copy of the flawed record within the previous 12 months.¹³

For errors on the FBI portion of a report, DCI directs individuals to follow the FBI’s own process for accessing and amending an identification record.¹

Expunging a Misdemeanor

Wyoming allows expungement of misdemeanor convictions only. Felonies cannot be expunged under current law. To qualify:¹⁴

At least five years must have passed since you completed your entire sentence, including probation and any court-ordered programs. For status offenses, the wait drops to one year.
The misdemeanor cannot have involved the use or attempted use of a firearm.
Wyoming allows only one expungement per person, ever. Pick carefully if more than one conviction is eligible.
A healthcare provider convicted of certain offenses against a patient cannot expunge that conviction.

You file a petition in the court where the conviction occurred and pay a $100 filing fee. The petition must also be served on the prosecuting attorney and DCI. The prosecutor then notifies identifiable victims, who have 30 days to submit written objections. If no one objects, the court can grant the expungement without a hearing. If objections are filed, the court holds a hearing and decides whether you represent a substantial danger to yourself, the victim, or the public. When expungement is granted, the court files are sealed and can only be opened by order of that court.¹⁴

Driving Records Are a Separate Request

A DCI criminal background check does not include your driving history. Motor vehicle records are handled by the Wyoming Department of Transportation at $10 per record. You can request your own at a driver examination station, by mail using the Release of Driving Record form with a check or money order payable to WYDOT, or online through the state’s oneWYO portal. Standard records cover three years of history for most moving violations and five years for serious offenses like DUI, reckless driving, and vehicular homicide. A 10-year history must be specifically requested in writing. Mail requests take roughly seven to ten business days.¹⁵

1
Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation. Background Checks/Applicant Tracking System
2
Wyoming Legislature. Wyoming Statute Title 7 – Criminal Procedure – Section 7-19-108
3
Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation. ATS FAQ
4
Wyoming Legislature. Wyoming Statute Title 7 – Criminal Procedure – Section 7-19-107
5
Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation. Criminal Records Unit
6
Wyoming Legislature. Wyoming Statute Title 7 – Criminal Procedure – Section 7-19-103
7
Justia Law. Wyoming Code 7-19-106 – Access To, and Dissemination Of, Information
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681b – Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports
9
Federal Trade Commission. Background Checks on Prospective Employees: Keep Required Disclosures Simple
10
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
11
Legal Information Institute. 048-45 Wyoming Code R 45-14 – Background Check Requirements
12
Wyoming Professional Teaching Standards Board. Fingerprinting and Background Checks
13
Wyoming Legislature. Wyoming Statute Title 7 – Criminal Procedure – Section 7-19-109
14
Justia Law. Wyoming Code 7-13-1501 – Petition for Expungement of Records of Conviction
15
Wyoming Department of Transportation. Driving Records