About the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is an independent state agency and Tennessee’s central criminal investigative agency. The Criminal Justice Information Services Division, not an investigative squad or the corrections department, operates the criminal-history repository. CJIS supports criminal-justice agencies and the public through criminal records, biometric services, data quality, fee programs, TIBRS crime reporting, and restricted law-enforcement networks.
TBI’s public tools have different purposes. TORIS returns a paid Tennessee name check. CrimeInsight publishes aggregate incident and arrest statistics, not a personal rap sheet. TIES and TCIC serve authorized law enforcement and are not public warrant portals. The Sex Offender Registry is a separate public safety system. Keeping those channels apart prevents a public statistic or registry profile from being mistaken for the central criminal-history file.
The official TBI CJIS division profile shows the unit’s repository, biometric, data-quality, and records duties.
The division overview places Tennessee criminal records beside the technical and quality-control services that keep the repository working.
TBI Criminal History Milestones
TBI’s authority rests in Title 38, Chapter 6 of the Tennessee Code. Fingerprints changed the repository from a name-file model into identity-linked arrest cycles. The agency’s Automated Fingerprint Identification System supports print searching through Forensic Services, while CJIS biometric and data-quality units receive and review large submission volumes. Electronic Livescan and TAPS channels cut paper delays, but incomplete or unclassifiable submissions can still be rejected to the contributing agency.
TORIS became the public open-records product after legislation required public access to Tennessee criminal-history information. It processed 122,890 checks in fiscal year 2012-13. That dated figure shows the system’s established scale, not its present workload. FlexCheck now carries background, disposition, diversion, and expungement transactions and sends processing confirmation to authorized submitters.
Criminal History Checks Offered by TBI
TBI offers products with different identity methods and legal scopes. Any requester may order the Tennessee Open Records Information Services name check. Authorized Tennessee programs direct applicants to TAPS and IdentoGO with a service code. A person reviewing a nationwide FBI history can use the subject-only FBI route or the contractor product listed by TBI. A TORIS customer who disputes a returned charge can request a fingerprint comparison tied to that report.
| Product | Who May Order | What It Returns | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| TORIS online or BI-0238 | Any public requester | Tennessee name-based open-records criminal history | $29 |
| TBI fingerprint comparison | Subject of a returned TORIS report or person for whom it was ordered | Compares local prints with prints tied to disputed charges | $24 |
| TAPS through IdentoGO | Person directed by an authorized Tennessee program | Program-defined Tennessee and, when authorized, FBI result | Program-specific |
| FBI-only fingerprint history | Record subject seeking nationwide self-review | FBI Identity History Summary | $50 through TBI-listed contractor |
| TAPS volunteer product | Qualified statutorily authorized organization | Authorized Tennessee and national fingerprint result | $33.15 |
The current TBI background-check page presents the official product and fee choices.
The TBI product cards reinforce that a public TORIS name check and a program-authorized fingerprint check are not interchangeable.
Why TBI TORIS Is Name-Based
TORIS searches by name, but the Tennessee repository events behind it are founded on fingerprints submitted by arresting agencies. That distinction matters. The query is not a fingerprint identity verification. Similar names can produce possible matches, and a miss can result from incomplete identifiers or an arrest that was never fingerprinted or submitted. Online results also exclude aliases and most juvenile information, except qualifying transfers to adult criminal court.
A fingerprint comparison answers a narrower identity question. It compares the requester’s locally obtained prints with the prints linked to a disputed charge. It does not turn TORIS into a nationwide search or supply the full county case file. The court judgment remains the best source for what happened after an arrest.
Note: A fingerprint-founded repository and a name-based public query describe two different stages of the same Tennessee system.
How Records Flow Into the TBI Repository
A Tennessee criminal-history cycle begins with a local arrest and booking. The arresting agency submits fingerprints and arrest data to TBI. The case then moves through a General Sessions, Circuit, or separate Criminal Court. When the case ends, the clerk reports the final disposition. TBI attempts to link that court outcome back to the fingerprint-founded arrest event on the rap sheet.
Data flow: County Arrest › Fingerprint Submission › Tennessee Bureau of Investigation › Court Disposition Reporting › Rap Sheet
The collections are related but not identical. Trial clerks also report case data to the Administrative Office of the Courts. AOC statistics and a TBI rap sheet serve different systems. A jail entry may appear before a case is filed, and a county docket may show a new disposition before TBI links it. The freshest original detail often remains with the Tennessee county that created the record.
TBI FlexCheck Reporting Rule
Tennessee FlexCheck accepts electronic dispositions, diversions, and expungements as well as TAPS, TORIS, and TICS transactions. Authorized clerks, prosecutors, defense counsel, sheriffs, police, and other users receive processing confirmation. Public Chapter 554 of 2024 added a firm statewide rule: covered Tennessee clerks must notify TBI electronically within three business days of final disposition.
Tennessee reporting law. Public Chapter 554 speeds future disposition reporting, but it does not prove that every older TBI arrest already has a linked outcome.
Historical numbers show why verification matters. A 2022 state plan reported that about 55 percent of repository records then had a final disposition linked to an arrest. That is a dated problem statement, not a current rate. In fiscal year 2021-22, TBI received 741,493 dispositions, processed 555,586, and rejected 53,159 because information was missing or could not be linked to an arrest. Those figures show both high volume and the practical effect of data quality.
How to Order a TBI Check
A public Tennessee name check may be ordered online through TORIS or on the BI-0238 form. The online result is a PDF and works best on a desktop or laptop. The paper route accepts mail, email or fax delivery choices and in-person submission at TBI. TBI states a three-to-five-business-day result window for the paper request, with added delay possible while a personal check clears.
- Choose TORIS for a Tennessee public name search, TAPS for an authorized program, or the FBI route for nationwide self-review.
- Gather the required subject identifiers, requester information, service code, or fingerprints for that channel.
- Submit online, use BI-0238, or book the authorized IdentoGO appointment. Do not substitute a service code from another program.
- Pay the stated fee and keep the receipt, confirmation, and returned report.
- Read each entry, then obtain the county judgment when a disposition is missing, stale, or unclear.
TORIS is Tennessee-only, the $29 charge is nonrefundable, and its online report omits aliases. A “no record” response from TORIS does not prove that a county docket, another state, or the FBI file is empty.
TBI TAPS Fingerprint Appointments
Tennessee Applicant Processing Services uses IdentoGO by IDEMIA for checks authorized by a requesting state program. The person being printed must first obtain the correct service or OCA code from that program. The code defines the scope, destination, and price. IdentoGO captures and transmits fingerprints, but it does not hand the criminal-history result to the enrollee.
The official Tennessee IdentoGO finder searches by ZIP code, city, or state.
The location tool is only the appointment entry point; the requesting Tennessee program supplies the service code and receives the result.
Scheduling can also begin by calling 855-226-2937. The enrollee chooses a center and time, brings approved photo identification, completes digital capture, and keeps the signed receipt. If prints are rejected, the TCR number from the notice is used to book the reprint. A code found in unrelated instructions should never be used to start a TAPS order.
TBI Checks vs County Records
A TBI check compiles qualifying Tennessee repository events across county lines. It is useful when a name may be tied to more than one part of the state. A county record answers a different question. The clerk keeps the indictment, docket events, orders, and judgment. The arresting agency keeps its report, and the jail keeps booking material. Neither source replaces the other.
| TBI Check | County Records | |
|---|---|---|
| Coverage | Tennessee repository submissions across all 95 counties | Records created in one county |
| Source | Fingerprint-founded arrest cycles and reported outcomes | Original clerk, court, jail, sheriff, or police files |
| Freshness | Depends on submission and successful matching | Can update as the local case moves |
| Detail | Compiled summary entries | Docket events, judgments, reports, and local documents |
| Best for | Statewide Tennessee history check | Verifying one event and its final outcome |
Start with the county directory when the need is a current court file, a certified judgment, or the source of an incorrect disposition. Use TBI when the need is the statewide compiled record.
TBI System Boundaries
TORIS, CrimeInsight, TIES, and Tennessee court records should not be blended. TORIS is the public name-based history product. CrimeInsight shows aggregate TIBRS trends without individual histories. TIES and TCIC are restricted criminal-justice networks and cannot be used by the public for a warrant search. Tennessee also has no public statewide trial-court name portal, so the official criminal docket still routes to county clerks.
Nationwide self-review belongs to the FBI Identity History Summary process. A subject submits fingerprints through the FBI electronic or mail channel and pays the current FBI fee. That subject-only product is broader by jurisdiction than TORIS. If a Tennessee source disposition is wrong, the fix may require the certified county judgment, TBI correction work, and an FBI challenge under the FBI’s own rules.
Note: A clear result in one system cannot establish that every Tennessee, federal, or out-of-state record system is empty.
Correcting Errors in Your TBI Record
A Tennessee requester may challenge a TORIS result that appears to belong to someone else or carries an inaccurate charge link. TBI’s official route uses fingerprints, not another spelling search. Obtain a fingerprint card from a local law-enforcement agency. Send it with a dispute letter, enough information to identify the TORIS report, and a $24 cashier’s check or money order. TBI compares the prints with those tied to the disputed charge and issues an accurate or inaccurate determination.
- Keep the returned TORIS report and mark the arrest, identity link, or disposition that appears wrong.
- Compare the entry with the certified judgment from the Tennessee court that handled the case.
- Obtain local fingerprints and mail them to the TBI TORIS Unit with the dispute letter and required payment.
- After TBI responds, confirm that the county source and a new TBI record now agree.
When the prints match but the outcome is stale, correct the source with the originating clerk. The clerk can send the disposition through FlexCheck. An expungement issue also begins with the certified court order, because TBI acts on the court’s transmitted command. Keep copies of the judgment, order, TBI response, and any proof of resubmission.
Contacting TBI Criminal Records
The TORIS Unit handles the public product and its challenge process. Its published phone is 615-744-4057, and the official email is tbi.toris@tn.gov. Written TORIS material goes to the TBI-TORIS Unit, 901 R.S. Gass Boulevard, Nashville, TN 37216. Follow the current BI-0238 instructions rather than assuming that the agency’s main fax is the correct submission channel.
A TBI-held public record that is not the TORIS product can be directed to the agency’s Public Records Request Coordinator, subject to Tennessee limits on investigative records. Questions about the actual judgment go to the county clerk. Questions about a local arrest narrative go to its creating agency. This division keeps a request with the office that has the source record instead of forcing TORIS to answer a question outside its scope.