To be authorized as a private fingerprinting (live-scan) provider in Maryland, you file a surety bond with the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services through its CJIS Central Repository. The standard amount is $10,000, on a 3-year term that matches your authorization. The premium is 1% of the bond amount, $100 minimum — your exact price appears in the on-page calculator, and the application collects no credit information.
















No underwriting queue for the standard fingerprinting bond — enter your amount, pay, and file with CJIS. Here is the whole thing:
Your business details, the bond amount ($10,000 standard), and the effective date — that is the entire application.
No waiting — the executed bond is generated as soon as you pay for most applicants.
Submit the executed bond with your private fingerprinting provider authorization, alongside your approved live-scan equipment. Wet-ink originals mailed on request.
Maryland lets private companies submit electronic fingerprints directly to the Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS) Central Repository for background checks — but only after the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services issues an Authorization Certificate. A surety bond is one of the conditions of that certificate.
The bond is a conduct guarantee: it ensures the provider's faithful and honest conduct in handling fingerprints and the sensitive personal data tied to them. It's a three-party arrangement — you (the principal), the surety, and the State (the obligee) — with the people you fingerprint as the protected parties.
The standard authorization bond is $10,000, issued on a 3-year term to align with the Authorization Certificate, renewable by continuation. If the surety pays a claim, you repay the surety. Enter $10,000 (or whatever CJIS specified) — the premium is 1% of that bond amount, with a $100 minimum. The application collects no credit information.
Submit the application with the standard $10,000 amount (or your CJIS-specified figure) — the executed bond is generated instantly.
Start the application →Pricing from $100, 3-year term. Enter $10,000 and file with CJIS the same day.