In the fingerprinting business, Alabama is known as a “hybrid” state. This means that some departments in the state government have a contract with a company for fingerprinting services but other departments and agencies do not have a preferred company for fingerprinting services.
Some other states only use a specific company for all fingerprinting services, these states are referred to as “closed” states. States that have no contracts but instead accept fingerprinting from any company are “open” states. Florida, for example, is an open state that we transmit fingerprint files to electronically.
Getting back to Alabama, there is a lot of confusion out there about where to go to get fingerprinted for licensing within the state. There are five departments that have contracts with Gemalto/Thales. Those departments are the Department of Human Resources (DHR), the Alabama Board of Nursing, the Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE), the Alabama Real Estate Commission (AREC), and the Alabama Department of Insurance (ALDOI). Applicants needing fingerprinting services when applying to one of those agencies must go to a Gemalto/Thales site if the applicant resides within Alabama. If outside of Alabama the applicant can get fingerprinted wherever it is convenient and send FD-258 cards to the agency for processing.
Similarly, if someone living in Alabama is applying to another state, we can provide fingerprint cards that the applicant will send to that state. Many of our clients get FD-258 cards to send to other states. California, Ohio, and Maryland are common destination states but we’ve had clients sending cards to most other states. As previously mentioned, when the destination state is Florida, we transmit the fingerprint file electronically to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE).
If you are applying for a license to a department or agency NOT listed above as one of the agencies contracted with Gemalto/Thales, we can print FD-258 cards for you to submit with your application. We do this often for doctors, physician assistants, and locksmiths. The following is a list of some types of licenses that accept fingerprint cards when they are required for Alabama licensing.
- Physician
- Dentist
- Physician Assistant
- Anesthesiologist Assistant
- Chiropractor
- Dentist
- Pharmacy Technician
- Locksmith
- Alarm system sales and service
- Liquor sales
In some cases the fingerprint cards we supply clients with send the cards to the agency with their application. In other cases they send their fingerprint cards to Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) with instructions to provide the results to the agency they are applying to. Clients should follow the instructions for their particular application process.
If you need fingerprint cards for your license application, set an appointment with us for your fingerprinting session. We will capture your prints and print them to a card that has your personal information printed in the header section. We provide two cards at the end of the session. Use this link to set your appointment or give us a call at 256-797-2197 if you have questions.
Speedy Fingerprinting provides fingerprinting, background checks, notary, and apostille processing services to clients in the Huntsville, Alabama metrol area. Our office is located in Madison, Alabama but we provide mobile services to the entire service area, including Decatur and Athens.