This service is available by appointment only: Fridays 1:00 pm -3:30pm

LIVE SCAN FINGERPRINTING SERVICES OFFERED 

Fingerprinting Services Needed?

Obtaining a Passport? Seeking employment in a public or private school system? Are you a “student teacher candidate or a school contractor employee who will work in direct contact with children? Seeking a Firearms Dealer’s License or a Concealed Carry Permit in another state? Are you a prospective foster or adoptive applicant or an individual who wants to operate or work in child care facilities? Are you applying for employment with a significant likelihood of regular contact with children or a self-employed family day care provider or their family member? If so, a fingerprint-based background check will be required. 

Because of this, like so many law enforcement agencies within Adams County, every week the Sheriff’s Office was approached by members of the public seeking fingerprinting services. Because of workload and resource issues, the State Police has limited fingerprinting services to the public. Some agencies will not provide fingerprinting services and walk-in fingerprinting elsewhere in Adams County is limited at best. In the past, the Sheriff’s Office has been able to take up some of the slack to meet the increasing demand. However, the FBI will soon stop accepting inked fingerprints on hard cards in favor of Live Scan digital fingerprinting which is the state of the art today. Therefore, we needed to upgrade our equipment.

What is Live Scan Fingerprinting?

Live Scan is inkless electronic fingerprinting. The Live Scan technology replaces the process of recording fingerprint patterns through a rolling process using ink. The newer Live Scan technology replaces this process by digitizing the fingerprint minutiae -- the characteristics that make fingerprints unique -- and enabling the electronic transfer of the fingerprint image data in combination with personal descriptor information. Digitizing the fingerprint images enables service providers to electronically transmit fingerprints to the Department of Justice and FBI in a matter of seconds for the completion of a criminal record check instead of the days required to send hard copy fingerprint cards through the mail.

However, ink fingerprinting is still required in many states and hard cards are still preferred by some prospective employers and agencies within the Commonwealth. Live Scan machines can produce the traditional hard cards as well as transmit fingerprints electronically. 

In order to continue providing fingerprinting services to our citizens while at the same time limiting the fiscal impact on county taxpayers, the Sheriff sought donations from county service organizations and clubs for the purchase of a Live Scan fingerprint machine. Through the generous contributions of organizations such as the McSherrystown Loyal Order of Moose Lodge 720, the Home Association of McSherrystown, the New Oxford Social & Athletic Club and the Gettysburg F.O.E. Eagles Lodge 1562, funding was acquired. The Sheriff’s Office purchased an FBI-certified fingerprint scanner, the associated software and the necessary training last year. This modernization of equipment allowed us to better serve our community. 

We make this service available to the public at the Sheriff’s Office located in the Adams County Courthouse, 117 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA.