How a Background Check Works in Delaware

Delaware runs every background check on fingerprints and certifies the result. The State Bureau of Identification, part of the Delaware State Police, partners with IdentoGO, operated by IDEMIA, to take electronic fingerprints for employment, licensing, certification and other screening, and the certified criminal history it issues is the document a Delaware employer, board or court expects.

The system turns on service codes. The agency, entity or organization that requires the check gives the applicant a code; the applicant registers with it, is fingerprinted, and the result goes where that code sends it. A person who wants their own record uses a personal code, and the bureau says that report serves only the citizen who ordered it and will not satisfy a legally mandated check.

  • Fees: $72 for a certified State of Delaware criminal history; $85 for a certified state and federal criminal history, available only when a law mandates it.
  • Where: the SBI enrollment centers at 600 S. Bay Road, Dover and 546 S. Bedford Street, Georgetown, plus IdentoGO partner locations statewide; appointments and the mail in service are booked through the scheduling link on the Criminal Background Check page or by calling 866-761-8069.
  • Your own record: service code 27RVGT, a personal certified Delaware criminal history issued only to the requesting citizen; results can be routed to another person's email with a security answer.
  • Since October 5, 2026: fingerprints at every location are taken on IDEMIA's SMART-E kiosk, with a trained agent assisting and supervising remotely by audio and video.

Written by SearchSystems.net from Delaware's own systems: the Delaware State Police Criminal Background Check page, the SBI personal individual check service code form, the SBI expungements and pardons service code form, the State Police notice on the Dover SBI location, each read on October 14, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.

The State Bureau of Identification and IdentoGO

The State Bureau of Identification keeps two enrollment centers of its own, in Dover at 600 S. Bay Road, Dover, DE 19901, and in Georgetown at 546 S. Bedford Street, Georgetown, DE 19947, and uses IdentoGO partner locations across the state for the rest. The Dover center has been at 600 S. Bay Road since March 22, 2021, when it left the Blue Hen Corporate Center; the State Police gave 302-739-2528 as the number for scheduling a background check appointment at that move, and the background check page gives (302) 739-5884 for any other question about a certified criminal history.

Appointments, and the bureau's mail in service, are booked through the scheduling link on the page; the bureau will not accept mail in requests sent to its locations and says any that arrive there will be significantly delayed. Someone without internet access schedules by calling 866-761-8069. A fingerprint appointment is booked for ten minutes.

Service codes: the key to every Delaware check

The agency, entity or organization that requires the fingerprinting supplies a service code, and registration cannot be completed without it; an applicant with no code is told to go back to the requesting organization for theirs. Each code is unique to the hiring or licensing agency and must not be used for another purpose. The page lists several of the bureau's own: 27S8N2 for the handgun qualified purchaser permit, which the bureau accepts for nothing else and warns that a wrong code means paying to be fingerprinted again; 27RVGT for a personal criminal history report; 1111G2 for a printed fingerprint card; 27S23V for an expungement application; 27S47F for the Delaware Volunteer Fire Service, to be used only when a fire department directs it; and 27S424 for the driving privilege card for undocumented immigrants, a $72 check that must be completed before applying to the DMV, allowing five days.

What a certified criminal history costs

A certified State of Delaware criminal history costs $72.00. A certified State of Delaware and federal criminal history, which the bureau says must be mandated by law, costs $85.00. Payment options are shown on the registration page. The report is obtained through fingerprints, identification must be presented, and the accepted documents are listed at registration and on each service code form: a state driver's license, permit or temporary license, an enhanced or commercial driver's license, a government ID card, an enhanced tribal ID, Department of Defense and military cards, a U.S. or foreign passport, a permanent resident card, an employment authorization card with a photograph, a Canadian or Mexican driver's license, or a U.S. visa, all valid, unexpired and bearing the applicant's photograph. A name that does not match the registration needs an original or certified court ordered name change document, including a marriage certificate or divorce decree; a juvenile without photo ID may use the photo ID waiver for minors with a sealed birth certificate or Social Security card.

Your own record: the personal criminal history report

The personal individual check runs under service code 27RVGT at uenroll.identogo.com. The bureau says the report is for the personal use of a citizen, is issued only to the requesting citizen, and will not fulfill the criminal history requirement of a legally mandated agency, entity or organization. The form explains how to have the result delivered to someone else instead: enter that person's or agency's email address on the first registration page, since the address entered receives the results, set a security question and answer on the second page and give the answer to the person who will open the results letter, and bring the email address to the enrollment to verify it, because an address changed during the fingerprinting session will not receive the results.

A personal report needed in a foreign country has an extra step: after the results arrive, the requester brings them to the Dover office at 600 S. Bay Road to be further sealed before sending them to the Division of Corporations for an apostille or authentication.

Fingerprint cards and law enforcement prints

Someone who only needs a card of their own fingerprints uses service code 1111G2, a $30.00 service that produces a printed fingerprint card and no background check from the bureau. When another state or program requires that the prints be taken by a law enforcement agency, as some states do for a concealed carry permit, the only place that satisfies the requirement is the State Bureau of Identification itself at 600 S. Bay Road in Dover; no other IdentoGO location can. Every other request can be handled at any IdentoGO site.

The SMART-E kiosk

Beginning October 5, 2026, the bureau moved fingerprinting at all locations to IDEMIA's SMART-E kiosk. The kiosk replaces staff operated fingerprinting with a secure, remote proctored process: the applicant uses the kiosk while a trained agent assists and supervises through integrated audio and video. The bureau describes it as a modern, streamlined experience that keeps remote assistance and supervision throughout the session.

Expungements, pardons and private schools

An expungement application is filed through service code 27S23V with an initial fee of $72.00. After the bureau reviews it, the applicant receives documentation saying whether they qualify for a mandatory or a discretionary expungement. A person who qualifies for a mandatory expungement returns the signed paperwork within 30 days of receipt with a $75.00 money order payable to the Delaware State Police; a person who does not qualify receives literature on the discretionary process. The service code form for expungements carries the same ID list and the 866-761-8069 scheduling number.

Since May 1, 2017, Delaware private schools have been able to obtain state and federal background checks through the bureau under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act. A school registers with the bureau first, using the registration form on the page, and the checks go directly to the school's point of contact, which the bureau says takes substantially less time than mailing fingerprints to the FBI.

Reading a Delaware check

A Delaware criminal history is always certified and always fingerprint based, so the question is never whether the match is right but what the report was ordered for. A result under an agency's service code goes to that agency; a personal report goes to the citizen and is not accepted for a mandated check; a state only report shows Delaware, and the federal record is added only where a law requires the $85 check. The bureau does not sell a name search to the public, so a check on another person runs through that person's own enrollment, with the results directed by email as the form describes.

Questions about background checks in Delaware

How much is a Delaware background check?
$72.00 for a certified State of Delaware criminal history and $85.00 for a certified state and federal criminal history, which is available only when a law mandates it. A printed fingerprint card alone is $30.00.
Where do I get fingerprinted in Delaware?
At the State Bureau of Identification enrollment centers in Dover (600 S. Bay Road) and Georgetown (546 S. Bedford Street) or at IdentoGO partner locations statewide, by appointment booked online or at 866-761-8069. Since October 5, 2026 all locations use the SMART-E kiosk.
What is a service code and where do I get one?
The code that identifies the agency or organization requiring your check; it comes from that organization, not from the State Police, and registration cannot be completed without it. Your own record uses the personal code 27RVGT.
Can an employer get my Delaware record?
Through its own service code, or you can order the personal report and route the results to the employer's email with a security answer, though the bureau says a personal report will not fulfill a legally mandated check.
Can I mail in a request?
Only through the bureau's mail in service booked from the scheduling link. Requests mailed to the Dover or Georgetown locations are not accepted and are significantly delayed.
How do I apply to expunge a Delaware record?
Through service code 27S23V with a $72.00 initial fee. If the bureau finds you eligible for a mandatory expungement, you return the signed paperwork within 30 days with a $75.00 money order payable to the Delaware State Police.

Related Delaware records

The certified criminal history is one of several Delaware records covered on this site: the Delaware court records guide explains the court system's own case files, the arrest records guide covers what an arrest makes public, the sex offender registry guide covers the State Police registry, and the Delaware county pages list the agencies in New Castle, Kent and Sussex counties.