The New Hampshire State Police Criminal Records Unit stores and disseminates the criminal history of everyone charged with a criminal offense in the state, built from the fingerprints taken at arrest and the complaints and dispositions sent by the circuit and superior courts, and its central repository is the only source for a person's complete New Hampshire criminal history. The record has no expiration date; it leaves only through a court granted petition to annul with its fees paid.
Dissemination splits in two. For criminal justice purposes, law enforcement and the courts receive conviction and non conviction data. For non criminal justice purposes, such as employment, housing and licensing, only conviction information is provided, and the public conviction history can be released to anyone for a fee; confidential information, including non conviction data, goes only to law enforcement or to the person requesting their own record. Under RSA 106-B:14, I-a(d), the division's conviction records are the official source of certified criminal conviction history for employment and licensing.
- Public conviction check: $25.00 per request, in the exact amount, payable to State of NH, Criminal Records, by cash, check, money order, MasterCard, Visa or Discover, cards at the public counter only; online, by mail without notarization, or walk in at 33 Hazen Drive, Concord, Room 106A.
- Your own full record: the same Criminal Record Release Authorization Form, DSSP 256, notarized by a notary public or justice of the peace when mailed, or with a government photo ID at the counter.
- Volunteers: $10.00 under Administrative Rule Saf-C 5703.07 when a nonprofit's volunteer will work with the elderly, the disabled or children, with the reduced fee request form attached.
- State and FBI check: $50.00, or $23.00 for a volunteer, only where a New Hampshire law requires it, started at the applicant's own state agency, school district or licensing board with fingerprints by LiveScan or ink.
Written by SearchSystems.net from New Hampshire's own systems: the New Hampshire State Police Criminal Records page, the State Police Criminal History Record Requests page, the State Police Criminal Record Annulments page, the Criminal History Record Information Release Authorization Form, DSSP 256, the Reduced Fee Request Form, the State Police Criminal Records FAQs, each read on October 14, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
Three ways to ask, one $25 fee
The record requests page lists the routes: the online New Hampshire Criminal Conviction Check; a walk in request at the public counter at 33 Hazen Drive, Concord, Room 106A; and a mailed request, for which notarization is not required when the public conviction check is all that is sought. A person requesting their own full confidential record must have the mailed form signed, dated and sealed by a notary public or justice of the peace, or show a government issued photo ID at the counter. Each New Hampshire request must be accompanied by payment in the exact amount of $25.00 payable to State of NH, Criminal Records, by cash, check, money order, MasterCard, Visa or Discover, with cards accepted only at the counter, never with mailed requests. The form asks for a self addressed envelope to avoid delay and allows a prepaid account number.
Results now come as a revised New Hampshire State Police Criminal History Record Dissemination Document, which replaced the old practice of stamping the release form with no record or record attached; the release forms are no longer returned. When fingerprints were included, the FBI result still appears as a red stamp reading FBI no record, or a letter when there is an FBI record, at the end of the New Hampshire form. The unit says this document is the first step toward an online portal for appointments, requests and payments.
The release form and what it says about the record
Form DSSP 256, the Criminal History Record Information Release Authorization Form, cites RSA 106-B:14 and Administrative Rule Saf-C 5700 as the authority for releasing criminal history for non criminal justice purposes and states that in New Hampshire all such information is confidential and released only with the knowledge and permission of the person it concerns. Section I identifies the subject by name, maiden name, address, date of birth, hair and eye color, sex and driver's license, signed under penalty of unsworn falsification under RSA 641:3, with a purpose of housing, employment, annulment or other; a person asking for their own record in person completes Section I only. Section II authorizes release of the conviction record to a named person or entity, which also signs, and is completed for every mailed request. The form warns that the record is based only on what has been reported to the repository and may not be a person's complete criminal history.
The reduced fee for nonprofit volunteers
Administrative Rule Saf-C 5703.07(c) and (d) entitle volunteers for public or private not for profit entities that serve the elderly, the disabled or children to a reduced fee of $10.00 per criminal record check. All three conditions must be met for each volunteer, the Reduced Fee Request Form names the volunteer and the vulnerable group they will serve, an authorized person signs it under penalty of unsworn falsification, and it must accompany a completed release authorization form. Payment follows the same rules in the exact amount of $10.00.
State and FBI checks required by law
Several New Hampshire laws require both a New Hampshire and an FBI record for employment, professional licensing and health care, and the State Police publish the list of laws regulating the release of criminal records. The FBI requires fingerprints, captured by ink on a card or, preferably, by a LiveScan device that transmits the images and demographic data to the Criminal Records Unit. The applicant starts at their government agency, employer, school district or licensing board, completes the New Hampshire CHRI request form there and pays $50.00, or $23.00 as a volunteer, payable to NH State Police, Criminal Records; the agency hands over a fingerprint card or LiveScan instructions, the applicant is printed and returns the card or LiveScan form to the agency, and the agency submits the form, fee and prints as one package to the unit, which processes both records and returns the results to the agency. Applicants submitting prints for the FBI search no longer need the state form notarized.
Fingerprint appointments are booked through the unit's online portal when the applicant pays, with results sent electronically to a receiving agency that is signed up on the portal or mailed otherwise; when the agency pays, the applicant asks the agency whether it will schedule or calls (603) 223-3867. The unit asks people to arrive 10 minutes early for a 15 minute process and to give 24 hours' notice of a cancellation. Armed guards may not use the portal: they call (603) 223-3867, arrive 30 minutes early and report to the Permits and Licensing counter with their qualifications first. Unarmed guards are seen as walk ins.
Challenging a record
Saf-C 5703.12, printed on the release form, sets the correction procedure. A person, or their attorney, who wants to challenge or correct their record appears at the central repository, receives a copy if needed to pursue the challenge, identifies the portion believed inaccurate and gives a correct version with the reasons. Within 30 days the Director reviews the record against the submitting law enforcement agency or court; a valid challenge, meaning a discrepancy between what was submitted and what is maintained, is corrected with notice to the person and the criminal justice agencies, an invalid one is explained with the right to appeal under RSA 541, and every non criminal justice agency that received the record in the past year is told of a correction.
Annulments: removing a record
RSA 651:5 lets certain arrests and convictions be removed from the state and FBI record through a petition to annul filed with the court of jurisdiction. The annulments page lists the costs two ways: a court filing fee of $100.00 in its opening paragraph and $125.00 in its steps, a Department of Corrections parole and probation report fee of $100.00, and a State Police administrative fee of $100.00, charged per court where there is a guilty conviction, to remove the annulled information from both records. The steps: obtain the full and confidential record on the release form with the annulment purpose checked, notarized if mailed and never through someone else; obtain the driving record from the DMV and the case summaries from every court involved, since some cases are not on the criminal record; check the FBI record if desired, since federal charges are annulled only in federal court; and file the petition on the circuit or superior court forms. Once the court approves, it notifies the unit: a nol prossed, dismissed or not guilty charge is removed from the New Hampshire history within one to two business days, while a guilty finding triggers a payment letter for the $100.00 fee, paid in person by check, money order, cash or card for immediate processing or by check or money order by mail for processing within one to two business days; nothing is taken by phone. Removal from the FBI record takes two to four weeks either way, and a new full and confidential record check afterward costs $25. Questions go to 603-223-3867, prompt 3, or the court call center at 855-212-1234.
Reading a New Hampshire result
A public New Hampshire check is a conviction record and nothing else: non conviction data exists in the repository but reaches only law enforcement and the person themselves. The record is fingerprint and court built, has no expiration, and shrinks only by annulment. An employer or landlord sees what the person authorized on Section II, and the FBI layer appears only where a statute requires it and the applicant's own agency ran the check.
Questions about background checks in New Hampshire
Related New Hampshire records
The State Police record is one of the New Hampshire records this site covers: the New Hampshire court records guide explains the Judicial Branch's own case summaries, the arrest records guide covers what an arrest makes public, the sex offender registry guide covers the criminal offenders list the State Police publish, and the New Hampshire county pages list each sheriff and clerk of court.