Public can now order TBI records
For $29, the public can examine the criminal background of anyone with a record in the state through a new Tennessee Bureau of Investigation program.
“By making criminal history information available to the public, an added level of security and public safety now exists for the citizens of Tennessee,” said David Griswold, who served as interim TBI director before McMinnville native Mark Gwyn was sworn in to that position Monday. “We anticipate processing between 800 and 1,000 criminal history checks each day.”
The criminal history checks are based solely on fingerprints submitted by law enforcement agencies statewide. Local jurisdictions are required to fingerprint offenders and send that information to the state’s database, thereby providing a central location for upkeep of the state’s criminal offenders.
The named-based searches will list the criminal records of the offenders and the information will be sent to the person making the request. However, the information will be limited only to Tennessee arrests and will not be crossmatched with the FBI system.
People may request criminal histories by filling out a request form which must been accompanied by payment which may be made by cashier’s check, money order or credit card.