Professional Licensing

Fingerprint Clearance Cards & Arizona Record Relief

If you need a fingerprint clearance card for your job — teaching, healthcare, real estate, childcare, behavioral health — your criminal record can disqualify you. Here's how Arizona record-relief paths actually affect the FCC application.

What a fingerprint clearance card is

An Arizona Fingerprint Clearance Card (FCC) is issued by the Department of Public Safety (DPS) under A.R.S. §§ 41-1758.03 and 41-1758.07. Tens of thousands of Arizonans need one as a condition of their job or professional license. Common professions that require an FCC include:

• Teachers and classroom employees (per A.R.S. § 15-106)
• Childcare and daycare workers
• Home health aides, nursing assistants, and behavioral health technicians
• Veterinary technicians
• Athletic trainers
• Real estate agents
• School bus drivers
• Foster parents and adoption applicants
• Many state-licensed positions in healthcare, education, and human services

There are two card types — IVP (Identity Verified Prints) and Non-IVP. IVP is the stricter version, required for most positions involving children or vulnerable adults.

Why criminal records matter for FCCs

A.R.S. § 41-1758.03 lists the offenses that preclude issuance of a clearance card. The list includes serious offenses like sexual conduct with a minor, certain violent offenses, and similar categories. Some offenses are "nonappealable" — meaning even with rehabilitation evidence, DPS cannot issue a card.

Other offenses on the broader statutory list trigger denial but allow a "Good Cause Exception" hearing. This is a separate administrative process where the applicant presents rehabilitation evidence to the Board of Fingerprinting.

The hard truth: set-aside alone may not be enough

Many people assume that getting a conviction set aside under § 13-905 will automatically clear them for a fingerprint card. It doesn't. A.R.S. § 13-905(G)(2) explicitly says that setting aside a conviction does NOT preclude DPS or the Board of Fingerprinting from considering the conviction when evaluating an FCC application under §§ 41-1758.03 or 41-1758.07.

In plain English: even after a successful set-aside, the underlying conviction can still be considered by DPS when deciding your FCC application. This is one of the most important and least understood facts about Arizona record-relief law.

What helps your FCC chances

1. Set-aside under § 13-905

Even though set-aside alone doesn't preclude DPS consideration, it materially helps. The set-aside notation tells DPS that a court has reviewed your case post-conviction and determined that relief was warranted. It's evidence of rehabilitation that DPS weighs.

2. Certificate of Second Chance (CSC) — the multiplier

The Certificate of Second Chance is built into § 13-905 (subsections F-N). When you receive a CSC alongside or after a set-aside, you get statutory protection for employers and landlords (under § 12-558.03 liability limitations) — but more importantly, the CSC is treated by many licensing boards as formal evidence of rehabilitation.

For FCC applications specifically, the CSC strengthens your case for a Good Cause Exception hearing. A petitioner with both set-aside AND a Certificate of Second Chance presents a substantially stronger application than set-aside alone.

→ Read the full Certificate of Second Chance guide

3. Sealing under § 13-911

Sealing has limited effect on FCC applications. Sealed records remain accessible to law enforcement, AZPOST, and DPS regardless of public-access restrictions. Practically speaking, DPS can still see a sealed conviction when evaluating your FCC application.

That said, sealing is still worth pursuing for general background checks (employer, landlord, credit) — just don't rely on it for the fingerprint card decision.

4. Class 6 designation under § 13-604

If you have an undesignated Class 6 felony that gets designated as a misdemeanor under § 13-604, this is significant for FCCs. The offense becomes legally a misdemeanor — and many FCC-related precluding offenses apply only to felonies. Check § 41-1758.03 against your designated offense to confirm.

5. Marijuana expungement under § 36-2862

Marijuana expungement is the strongest FCC-relevant remedy if your only disqualifying conviction is a personal-use marijuana case. Expungement destroys the record. After expungement, the conviction legally did not occur — DPS has nothing to consider.

Good Cause Exception hearings

If your FCC application is denied based on a precluding offense that allows for review, you have the right to request a Good Cause Exception hearing before the Arizona Board of Fingerprinting. The Board considers:

• The nature and seriousness of the offense
• Time elapsed since the offense
• The applicant's age at the time of the offense
• Evidence of rehabilitation
• Letters of recommendation
• Employment history since the offense
• Set-aside and Certificate of Second Chance status (if applicable)

A petitioner who arrives at this hearing with a set-aside, a Certificate of Second Chance, and a coherent rehabilitation narrative is in a substantially stronger position than one with the underlying conviction unaddressed.

Important: DUIs are NOT precluding offenses for FCCs

Many people with DUI convictions assume they can't get a fingerprint clearance card. That's usually wrong. A DUI within the last five years can affect the application but is generally not a per-se precluding offense under § 41-1758.03. DUI applicants often receive cards after the standard review process or via Good Cause Exception. Don't assume disqualification — apply and see.

A note on professional licensing boards

FCCs are one piece of professional licensing. Each Arizona licensing board (nursing, real estate, education, etc.) has its own review process for criminal history disclosure. Even with a clean FCC, the licensing board may have separate questions about your record.

For licensing-board questions specifically, set-aside and Certificate of Second Chance are typically more impactful than for FCCs. Many boards explicitly recognize set-aside conviction status as evidence of rehabilitation. Some boards (real estate, nursing, certain healthcare specialties) treat CSC as nearly determinative for borderline cases.

What to do if your FCC was denied

If you've already been denied an FCC and want to reapply with stronger record-relief documentation:

1. Run our free screening to identify which record-relief paths apply to your case
2. File set-aside first if you haven't (under § 13-905)
3. Request a Certificate of Second Chance when filing set-aside, or apply separately if eligible
4. Complete sealing if your offense is eligible under § 13-911 (this strengthens the rehabilitation narrative even if it doesn't directly clear the FCC bar)
5. Request a Good Cause Exception hearing with strengthened documentation

For complex FCC denials involving precluding offenses, an attorney consultation is often the right next step. We can help with the underlying record-relief filings (set-aside, CSC, sealing, expungement); legal advocacy at the Board of Fingerprinting hearing typically calls for an attorney.