Official Site of The State of New Jersey
The NJ-CRC’s Compliance and Investigations Unit oversees the criminal history background checks required as part of the cannabis business licensing and employee badging processes. As part of that process, fingerprint impressions are required to be submitted to the New Jersey State Police (NJSP) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). These criminal background checks are to determine if an applicant has been convicted of any disqualifying offenses. The process also ensures the NJ-CRC is notified if an applicant is convicted of a disqualifying offense after application.
All Persons of Interest associated with an application for a cannabis business license or permit in New Jersey are required to submit fingerprints to be used to carry out the background checks. All individuals applying to work in cannabis businesses must also submit fingerprints.
Getting Fingerprinted
After a business license application is reviewed and determined complete to move ahead, all Persons of Interest are sent a NJ-CRC Fingerprinting Form with a unique applicant Service Code and Contributor Case Number. Both the Service Code and the Contributor Case Number are required when booking a fingerprinting appointment.
Employees and potential employees will receive their fingerprinting form with unique Service Code and Contributor Case Number from their (prospective) employer.
Fingerprinting must be carried out at a location approved by the New Jersey State Police. Visit https://uenroll.identogo.com for a list of approved locations and to schedule a fingerprinting appointment. It is important to enter the Service Code and Contributor Case Number exactly as they appear on the Fingerprinting Form when making the appointment. If internet access is not available, appointments may be made by calling (877) 503-5981 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday to Friday.
The fingerprinting facility will require a fee for this service.
A valid, governmental identification card will be required at the time of the appointment. The identification document must include:
- A photo
- Name that matches other application documents
- Current address
- Date of birth
Acceptable identification documents include unexpired:
- Driver’s License issued by a State or outlying possession of the U.S.
- Driver’s License PERMIT issued by a State or outlying possession of the U.S.
- Driver’s License PAPER/TEMPORARY issued by a State or outlying possession of the U.S.
- Enhanced Driver’s License (EDL)
- Commercial Driver’s License issued by a State or outlying possession of the U.S. Commercial Driver’s License PERMIT issued by a State or outlying possession of the U.S.
- ID card issued by a federal, state, or local government agency or by a Territory of the United States Enhanced Tribal Identification Card (for federally recognized U.S. tribes)
- U.S. Coastguard Merchant Mariner Card
- U.S. Passport
- Permanent Resident Card or Alien Registration Receipt Card (Form I-551) Employment Authorization Card/Document (I-766) that contains a photograph Canadian Driver’s License
- Foreign Driver’s License (Mexico and Canada Only)
- U.S. Visa issued by the U.S. Department of Consular Affairs for travel to or within, or residence within the United States.
Note, a Social Security Number is a mandatory part of carrying out background checks. Social Security Numbers are used to uniquely identify candidates for licensure and to comply with child support order enforcement. Failure to provide one will delay the required background check, and therefore the application process.
Your Rights
The collection of fingerprints and other material required as part of the application for a cannabis business license or for employment with a cannabis business, is solely to check applicants’ criminal history against New Jersey State Police and FBI records.
The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission does not share, disseminate, or otherwise disclose any information submitted to us during the business license application process or the employee badging process. Only an authorized party (like your attorney or a court hearing your background history challenge) may access your information. We also do not retain any of the collected information after the application process is completed. If any updated record is needed in the future, we are required to obtain a new set of fingerprint impressions for submission, or we will resubmit your previous images from an archive maintained by the State Police (with your permission).
Applicants have the right to obtain a copy of the background check reports from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and New Jersey State Police. For privacy and security reasons, the NJ-CRC does not retain copies of these records after our process is concluded. Applicants may obtain copies of their reports from the FBI and from the NJSP.
Applicants who receive notice that we have found disqualifying information during the background check have the right to submit additional information to complete the record and/or challenge the accuracy of the criminal history before a final decision is made on the business license or employee badging application. Applicants will have 30 days from the time of the notice to correct or challenge the record. Applicants will also be notified if we receive incomplete information from New Jersey State Police or the FBI and cannot obtain a disposition, and will have time to complete the record.
Applicants who plan to challenge criminal background findings MUST file a request for a hearing as described in the noticing document; and should file that request as soon as possible after receiving the notice. Failure to request the hearing may result in the proposed disqualification occurring in 30 days. When a hearing is requested, no enforcement/disqualification action will be taken until after the record is verified and challenges are resolved.
If an application disagrees with the NJ-CRC’s decision on the challenge made to the criminal background check, the matter will be sent for an impartial hearing before an administrative law court judge who will review the matter. While an attorney is not needed for these hearings, one may be helpful. If we find the criminal history was reported in error, we will make every effort to relay that information to the reporting agency.
At the time of fingerprinting, applicants will be required to sign in acknowledgement that they have been informed of the provisions in the Privacy Act Statement and the Noncriminal Justice Applicant’s Privacy Rights. Applicants may familiarize themselves with those statements click here for the FBI Privacy Act Statement and click here for the FBI Noncriminal Justice Applicant’s Privacy Rights.
