Rhode Island's background check is run by the Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Identification, and the state report, which everyone calls a BCI, is a five dollar document issued at a counter in Cranston. The Attorney General says it is generally sufficient for employment, housing, volunteering and internships, while certain jobs and professional licenses require a national background check that only the Attorney General, the State Police and local police may run, for authorized purposes, with fingerprints.
The report is about you. The office provides a copy of a state background check only to the person it concerns, and to a third party only with that person's signed and notarized release. Since March 2023 the report has carried a format that states plainly what it does and does not include.
- Cost and ID: $5 for a state background check with a valid state or federal photo identification, at the Attorney General Julius C. Michaelson Customer Service Center, 4 Howard Avenue, Cranston, RI 02920.
- Hours: Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., closed state holidays; registration 8:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., fingerprinting stops at 4:00 p.m.; check in through the virtual line by the QR code in the parking lot or the lobby kiosk, or call 401-274-4400.
- No appointment: none needed for a state or national check, though a limited number of daily appointments are now offered for national checks.
- School volunteers: the $5 request under R.I. Gen. Laws 16-2-18.4, by mail with a notarized form, a photo ID copy and a check or money order to BCI, telling the school department only whether disqualifying information exists.
Written by SearchSystems.net from Rhode Island's own systems: the Rhode Island Attorney General's Get a background check page, the Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Identification background checks page, the Attorney General's school volunteer background check request and authorization form, the Attorney General's expungement page, each read on October 14, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
What the state report includes and leaves out
The Attorney General's background check page answers the question in the report's own terms. A Rhode Island state background check reflects fingerprint supported arrests that resulted in a criminal conviction or its equivalent, or that are pending prosecution at the time of the inquiry, misdemeanors and felonies alike, with dispositions such as guilty or nolo pleas, guilty verdicts, guilty filings, not guilty filings and deferred sentences, until a court expunges or seals them. It does not include arrests that are not pending and did not end in a conviction or equivalent: arrests where the grand jury returned no true bill, where the Attorney General declined to file an information, acquittals and dismissals, nor records a court has ordered sealed or expunged, nor federal arrests or arrests outside Rhode Island. The report has carried this format since March 2023, after information technology upgrades; the national reports did not change.
Getting the $5 state check in Cranston
A state background check costs $5 and needs a valid state or federal photo identification from the office's list. There is no appointment: the customer service center at 4 Howard Avenue, at the corner of Pontiac and Howard, is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. except state holidays, registration runs until 4:15 p.m., and fingerprinting stops at 4:00 p.m. so results can go out before closing. On arrival the visitor joins a virtual line by scanning the QR code on the parking lot signs, receives a welcome text and then a second text when staff are ready, and waits in the car or the lobby; a lobby kiosk serves anyone who cannot use the code, and the office answers at 401-274-4400. Staff ask for the reason for the request, and the page lists the purposes that call for additional information on a state check: expungement of charges, legal name changes, criminal court proceedings, bar admission with character and fitness or disciplinary requests, military enlistment, firearms purchases and concealed carry permits, along with inquiries from law enforcement, the courts and authorized attorneys. A background check has no expiration date but is time and date stamped, and the recipient decides whether a newer one is needed.
Who receives the report
The office provides a copy of a state background check only to the person it concerns, and to a third party only with the person's signed and notarized release; the records may not be disseminated, reproduced or used for purposes other than the law authorizes. An employer therefore receives the BCI from the applicant, or through a notarized release, rather than by asking the office directly.
National background checks
Certain types of employment and professional licenses require national background checks under Rhode Island law, and the page keeps the list of those jobs under its national background check menu. Only the Attorney General's office, the State Police and local police departments may perform them, and only for specific authorized purposes; they require fingerprinting and contain Rhode Island, federal and out of state arrests. An employee needing one receives the paperwork from the employer before coming in, and the office now offers a limited number of daily appointments for national checks through its registration link, with walk ins still served.
School volunteers: the $5 notarized request
Under R.I. Gen. Laws 16-2-18.4 a prospective volunteer at a private school or public school department who may have direct, unmonitored contact with children completes the school volunteer background check request and authorization within a week, after speaking with the school. By mail it needs the signed and notarized form, a color copy of a valid driver's license, state ID or U.S. passport, and a $5.00 check or money order payable to BCI, since cards and cash are not taken by mail, sent to the Rhode Island Office of the Attorney General, 4 Howard Ave, Cranston RI 02920. The form authorizes a state check that includes any state or local arrest, conviction, warrant or sex offender registration the bureau can see, and directs the bureau to tell the named school department in writing, by the email on file, only whether disqualifying information under section 16-2-18.4(e) exists; the volunteer is told the same by email, and the nature of the record goes to no third party without written authorization. Questions about the emails on file go to BCISate@riag.ri.gov.
Expungement
The Attorney General's expungement page describes expungement as the process by which a record of criminal conviction is destroyed or sealed from the court record, the court treating the conviction as if it never occurred, to relieve the effects of a record on employment, housing and other necessities. Only certain arrests and convictions qualify, including some misdemeanors and certain non violent felonies, and the office determines eligibility for expungement or sealing through an online form; its in person expungement events were postponed indefinitely during the pandemic and had not resumed on the page as read.
Reading a Rhode Island BCI
A BCI is a conviction and pending case record, fingerprint supported and Rhode Island only, issued to its subject for $5 and released onward only by notarized consent. A clean BCI does not show the no true bills, declined informations, acquittals and dismissals the office withholds, nor anything federal or from another state, which only an authorized national check reaches. Because the report is dated but never expires, the person receiving it decides how fresh it must be.
Questions about background checks in Rhode Island
Related Rhode Island records
The Attorney General's report is one of the Rhode Island records this site covers: the Rhode Island court records guide explains the Judiciary's own case files, the arrest records guide covers what an arrest makes public, the sex offender registry guide covers the registry, and the Rhode Island county pages list the police departments and courts.