| Author | Message | ||
     Webmaster |
The short answer is that in general, private citizens can only get a copy of their own fingerprints from the FBI... and from the military, private citizens can only get a copy of their own fingerprints or those of a deceased immediate family member. Background details: The FBI may have a prior military service member's fingerprints on file among the millions of civil fingerprints stored in (non-computerized) filing cabinets at the FBI's fingerprint "satellite" facility in Fairmont, WV... and also a good chance the US military will have that person's fingerprints on file in the huge records repository in St. Louis, MO. A relative of a deceased US military service member may request a copy of their military records from the website www.archives.gov/research_room/vetrecs. The chance that a prior service member's fingerprints are available from the records repository in St. Louis is best for persons who served between 1960 and 1974. Fingerprint cards were removed from active duty military personnel record files after implementation of the Privacy Act of 1974 (so the cards were missing when such files were forwarded to St. Louis for storage). Also, a 1973 fire in St. Louis destroyed almost 80% of Army and Air Force military records for persons serving between 1912 and 1960. It is possible for private citizens to request a copy of a military fingerprint card from the FBI, but such requests (which do not come from the person whose prints may be on file), may not always be fulfilled. The normal procedure to request a copy of FBI fingerprints includes the requirement that a fingerprint card from the person be submitted to permit the FBI to verify they are not releasing a fingerprint record for the wrong person. There is, however, an address for "all other" types of requests: U.S. Department of JusticeDetails about requesting FBI fingerprint records are at foia.fbi.gov/firs552.htm. | ||
| amsk |
Can I obtain access to an individual's fingerprints? (The individual in question was an officer in the Army - he died in 1970.) The inquiry relates to research into the genetic component/value of fingerprints in establishing parentage |
