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Read. Follow. Verify.Connecticut waives criminal history check and fingerprint fees for individuals applying for pardons
Last action · April 27, 2026: Favorable Report, Tabled for the Calendar, Senate
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What This Bill Proposed
Beginning July 1, 2026, the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection must waive criminal history record search fees, contractor s, and electronic processing fees for individuals applying for state pardons. Prior to July 1, 2029, these fee waivers are automatic for all pardon applicants, while waivers requested on or after July 1, 2029, require proof of approved by the commissioner.
Lowers financial barriers for individuals seeking a state pardon by eliminating fees for background checks, fingerprinting, and report processing.
- State records checks and fingerprinting in Connecticut are managed by the State Police Bureau of Identification within the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection. context
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Individuals applying for a pardon
Pardon applicants have background check, fingerprinting, and report processing fees waived under specified conditions.
Independent contractors processing fingerprints
Contractors are prohibited from charging fingerprint convenience fees to pardon applicants and receive direct state reimbursement for approved indigency waivers starting July 1, 2029.
Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection
The department is required to issue fee waivers, publish and distribute indigency forms, and pay reimbursed convenience fees to contractors.
Key Facts
- Prior to July 1, 2029, the commissioner must waive the seventy-five dollar criminal history record information search fee for any applicant requesting a search to apply for a pardon.
- On and after July 1, 2029, the commissioner may waive the criminal history record search fee for pardon applicants who complete an indigency form prescribed by the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection.
- Prior to July 1, 2029, independent contractors are prohibited from charging individuals the convenience fee of up to thirty dollars for fingerprinting when requested for a pardon application.
- On and after July 1, 2029, independent contractors may not charge the fingerprinting convenience fee to pardon applicants who apply for and receive an approved indigency waiver, with the fee paid to the contractor by the commissioner.
Show all 10 facts
- Prior to July 1, 2029, the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection cannot charge processing or distribution fees for criminal history reports or electronic preregistration for pardon applicants.
- On and after July 1, 2029, the department cannot charge those fees for pardon applicants who submit and receive approval for an indigency waiver.
- By July 1, 2029, the commissioner must make indigency waiver forms available on the State Police Bureau of Identification website and at all locations where municipal police departments provide fingerprinting services.
- The standard name search fee is thirty-six dollars, while fingerprint searches, personal record searches, letters of good conduct searches, bar association searches, and criminal history record information searches are seventy-five dollars each.
- The standard fingerprinting fee performed by the bureau is fifteen dollars.
- Federal, state, or municipal agencies, volunteer fire companies or departments, and volunteer ambulance services or companies are exempt from the standard search and fingerprint fees.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who qualifies for the fee waivers for criminal history checks under this bill?
Are fee waivers for pardon applicants automatic permanently?
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Tabled in the Senate.
Procedural history
16 actions- Apr 27, 2026SenateFavorable Report, Tabled for the Calendar, Senate
- Apr 27, 2026Connecticut General AssemblyNo New File by Committee on Finance, Revenue and Bonding
- Apr 27, 2026Connecticut General AssemblyReported Out of Legislative Commissioners' Office
- Apr 27, 2026Connecticut General AssemblyFiled with Legislative Commissioners' Office
- Apr 27, 2026Connecticut General AssemblyJoint Favorable
- Apr 21, 2026Connecticut General AssemblyImmediate Transmittal
Show 10 earlier actions
- Apr 21, 2026SenateReferred by Senate to Committee on Finance, Revenue and Bonding
- Apr 14, 2026Connecticut General AssemblyFile Number 616
- Apr 14, 2026SenateSenate Calendar Number 394
- Apr 14, 2026SenateFavorable Report, Tabled for the Calendar, Senate
- Apr 14, 2026Connecticut General AssemblyReported Out of Legislative Commissioners' Office
- Apr 8, 2026Connecticut General AssemblyReferred to Office of Legislative Research and Office of Fiscal Analysis 04/13/26 5:00 PM
- Mar 30, 2026Connecticut General AssemblyFiled with Legislative Commissioners' Office
- Mar 30, 2026Connecticut General AssemblyJoint Favorable
- Mar 12, 2026Connecticut General AssemblyPublic Hearing 03/16
- Feb 26, 2026Connecticut General AssemblyCommitteeReferred to Joint Committee on Judiciary
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Shift from universal waiver to indigency verification
The bill introduces a clear policy transition on July 1, 2029, moving from an unconditional fee waiver for pardon applicants to a requirement for an approved indigency application.
Connected Entities
Sources
cga.ct.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 60)
- Controversy15Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz25Current news / social attention level
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