Statewide fingerprinting process comes to Colorado; local law enforcement agencies no longer doing most civilian fingerprinting

EAGLE — Most of us will no longer get our fingerprints taken at local law enforcement agencies.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation launched a new statewide process using a private company, Colorado Fingerprinting. It’s for anyone getting fingerprinted for civilian reasons.

So far, the company’s only Colorado location is in Denver, but Colorado Fingerprinting says that by Thursday, Nov. 1, it should have locations throughout the state — none more than a 40-mile one-way drive from anywhere in Colorado.

Struggled to keep up

Local law enforcement agencies have been fingerprinting folks for years, for all kinds of reasons, but it has become a problem for local and state agencies to keep up with the demand and technology, explained Amber Mulson-Barrett, public information officer with the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office.

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For example, anyone who works with children, such as school district employees and many others, is required to be fingerprinted as part of a general background check, Barrett explained.

That now falls to Colorado Fingerprinting, not local law enforcement agencies.

However, if you’re arrested or fall under law enforcement’s umbrella in some other way, local law enforcement agencies will still fingerprint you. They’ll also fingerprint you for things such as concealed carry weapons permits, explosives permits, law enforcement background checks and some other things, Barrett said.

How it works

The new fingerprinting process works like this:

1. Online registration: You will register through Colorado Fingerprinting’s online Enrollment Center at http://www.colorado fingerprinting.com, where you will identify yourself and the entity requesting your report.

2. Location and time: Select a location, date and time for your appointment.

3. Payment or billing account: You can pay with either credit card, money order or provide a billing account number for your requesting institution.

4. Confirmation: You receive an appointment confirmation with your order number by text and email.

5. Fingerprinting: Go to the fingerprint location at your scheduled time. Provide the order number to the enrollment agent, along with your government-issued photo ID (driver’s license, state-issued ID, U.S. passport or foreign-issued passport). Your livescan fingerprints, digital photo and digital signature are then captured and submitted to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.

6. Results: The results are returned by CBI to the entity requesting your report.

7. Status: You can log in to the enrollment center at any time to see the status of your fingerprint submission.

Call 720-292-2722, toll free 833-224-2227 or email info@coloradofinger printing.com for more information.

Staff Writer Randy Wyrick can be reached at 970-748-2935 and rwyrick@vaildaily.com.