Fixing Errors in Your FBI (Federal) RAP Sheet

The FBI gets all of its criminal history information from other law enforcement and criminal justice agencies as well as courts throughout the U.S. The FBI can only change your information if the original agency or court (i.e., the one that sent the information to the FBI in the first place) tells the FBI to change it. If you think your FBI RAP sheet is inaccurate or incomplete, there are 2 ways to correct the information:

OPTION 1: Contact the court or agency that sent your information to the FBI

Note: Each entry on your FBI RAP sheet should list the specific agency that provided the information. This is how you can tell which agency sent the incorrect or incomplete information on your RAP sheet.

    If the incorrect or missing information is from a CALIFORNIA AGENCY OR COURT:

If the incorrect or missing information is from a CALIFORNIA law enforcement agency or court (for example, a local police department, county sheriff, California state agency, or California state court), contact the California Bureau of Criminal Information and Analysis, and ask them to send the FBI corrected or updated information for your Identity History Summary.

How to contact the California Bureau of Criminal Information and Analysis:

By mail:
Bureau of Criminal History Information & Analysis
California Department of Justice, Room G-118
4949 Broadway
Sacramento, CA 95820-1528

By phone: (916) 227-3849

By email: [email protected].[3298]

    If the incorrect or missing information is from an agency or court in ANOTHER STATE:

If the incorrect or missing information is from a law enforcement agency, court, or criminal justice agency in ANOTHER STATE (for example, a local police department, county sheriff, court, or state agency in another state), you will need to contact the state Identification Bureau for that state, and ask them to send the FBI corrected or updated information for your Identity History Summary.

You can find contact information for the Identification Bureau in every U.S. state on the FBI’s website at: http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/identity-history-summary-checks/state-identification-bureau-listing.

    If the incorrect or missing information is from a FEDERAL AGENCY OR COURT:

If the incorrect or missing information is from a FEDERAL law enforcement agency, court, or criminal justice agency, you will need to contact the specific agency that sent in your information—for example, the federal agency that arrested you, the federal prosecutor’s office that charged you, or the federal court that processed your case—and ask them to send the FBI corrected or updated information for your Identity History Summary.

The easiest way to find contact information for federal agencies and courts is to search on the Internet using search engines like Google.com or Yahoo.com.

OPTION 2: Go through the FBI directly.

If you don’t know where the incomplete or incorrect information on your RAP sheet came from, you can contact the FBI directly to challenge it, and ask them to correct it.[3299]

Write your challenge letter.

In your letter, you should: (1) clearly state that you think there is inaccurate or missing information in your Identity History Summary; (2) clearly identify what information you think is wrong; and (3) clearly explain why the information is wrong. (For a list of common RAP sheet errors, see APPENDIX F, on PG. 1010.)

Include proof of the correct information.

You should also send the FBI any proof you have that the particular information in your RAP sheet is wrong—such as court records, transcripts, court orders, court minutes, copy of a plea agreement, police records, or other paperwork or evidence that support your claim. For example, if your RAP sheet is missing information about the final outcome of a case, you should send court documents showing the final disposition.

Mail your written challenge request.

Send your challenge letter and all your proof (supporting documents and evidence) to:

FBI Criminal Justice Information Services Division
Attention: Criminal History Analysis Tad
Clarksburg, WV 26306

Wait for the FBI’s review.

The FBI will investigate whether the information in your RAP sheet is incomplete or incorrect by contacting the agencies that supplied it as well as other agencies that might have additional information about your case. If the FBI decides that your RAP sheet is wrong or incomplete, it will correct the mistake(s) and let you know.

  1. 3298

    State Identification Bureau Listings, Federal Bureau of Investigation, http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/identity-history-summary-checks/state-identification-bureau-listing. ↑

  2. 3299

    28 C.F.R. § 16.34. ↑