| Columbia County Sheriff's Office |
David W. Harrison, Jr., SHERIFF James R. Sweet, UNDERSHERIFF
| Copyright ©2006 Columbia County Sheriff's Office, Hudson, NY 12534 |
SHERIFF'S OFFICE USES LIVE-SCAN FOR PISTOL LICENSES
January 29. 2010
Greenport, NY Sheriff David Harrison, Jr. reports that beginning February 4, 2009, all pistol license and
firearms dealer application fingerprinting will be done by using the latest Live-Scan technology. Currently all
civilian fingerprinting at the Sheriff’s Office is done by card ink impressions. This year, 2010, the New York Division
of Criminal Justice Services will stop accepting most ink impression fingerprint cards.
The Sheriff says that two state of the art Live-Scan Units, one for the Jail and one for the Law Enforcement Division
were purchased with funds secured by NYS Senator Stephen Saland. Sheriff’s Office fingerprints for arrests and
those required when someone is committed to Jail have already been submitted by Live-Scan since May of 2009.
In order to allow county residents the ability to submit their pistol license application and be fingerprinted in one
trip, the funds secured by Senator Saland enabled the Sheriff’s Office to also purchase a “Live-Scan Civil
Package” for pistol license applicant submissions. The two Live-Scan Units and the Civil Package were purchased
on state contract from L-1/Comnetix Company at a total cost of approximately $85,000. There was no cost to
county tax payers.
There is only one change in the pistol license application process. The fingerprints for pistol license applications
can only be done at the Sheriff’s Office. Previously, it could be done by any police officer in Columbia County.
Beginning on February 4th the prints can only be submitted by the Sheriff’s Office using Live-Scan. Pistol license
applicant fingerprinting and application submission is done at the Public Safety Facility, 85 Industrial Tract Hudson,
NY on Thursdays between the hours of 7:00AM and 6:00PM.
DCJS has told program managers Lieutenant Thomas Lanphear and Deputy Sheriff Louis Bray that the Columbia
County Sheriff’s Office is one of only a few in New York State which has the Law Enforcement and Civil Live-Scan
packages. Many other counties will be contracting with a Live-Scan vendor.
Live Scan Units are a benefit to Sheriff’s Office employees and county residents. When fingerprinting using Live-
Scan, fingerprint quality is indicated immediately and positive identification is usually made within an hour. This
puts Deputy Sheriff’s back out on patrol and Correction Officers back on the jail housing units sooner. There
should be fewer, if any, call backs for fingerprints that were not accepted by DCJS because of poor quality.
Additionally, the Sheriff believes that the pistol license fingerprint submissions for the background investigation will
be expedited by several weeks. Today after the fingerprints are mailed, it takes 12 to 16 weeks for the state and
federal background checks to reach the Sheriff’s Office, Live–Scan should reduce this time significantly.
In support of local and other state law enforcement agencies in Columbia County, the Sheriff has agreed to accept
and scan any fingerprints from any law enforcement agency in our county that does not have Live-Scan. He has
already had requests from one state agency and one police department and expects many more.
The Sheriff Office will still do fingerprint card ink impression fingerprinting for someone who must be printed for a
job or license and was given an ink card for fingerprints. However, if a person is advised that they must be printed
via Live-Scan for their job or license, the Sheriff’s Office is not the place to go. The agency or company requiring
the fingerprints will tell them where they are authorized to have their Live-Scan prints done. For more information,
please visit the Sheriff’s Office website at http://www.columbiacountysheriff.us/pistolpermits.html or call 518-828-
0601 x 1414.
January 29. 2010
Greenport, NY Sheriff David Harrison, Jr. reports that beginning February 4, 2009, all pistol license and
firearms dealer application fingerprinting will be done by using the latest Live-Scan technology. Currently all
civilian fingerprinting at the Sheriff’s Office is done by card ink impressions. This year, 2010, the New York Division
of Criminal Justice Services will stop accepting most ink impression fingerprint cards.
The Sheriff says that two state of the art Live-Scan Units, one for the Jail and one for the Law Enforcement Division
were purchased with funds secured by NYS Senator Stephen Saland. Sheriff’s Office fingerprints for arrests and
those required when someone is committed to Jail have already been submitted by Live-Scan since May of 2009.
In order to allow county residents the ability to submit their pistol license application and be fingerprinted in one
trip, the funds secured by Senator Saland enabled the Sheriff’s Office to also purchase a “Live-Scan Civil
Package” for pistol license applicant submissions. The two Live-Scan Units and the Civil Package were purchased
on state contract from L-1/Comnetix Company at a total cost of approximately $85,000. There was no cost to
county tax payers.
There is only one change in the pistol license application process. The fingerprints for pistol license applications
can only be done at the Sheriff’s Office. Previously, it could be done by any police officer in Columbia County.
Beginning on February 4th the prints can only be submitted by the Sheriff’s Office using Live-Scan. Pistol license
applicant fingerprinting and application submission is done at the Public Safety Facility, 85 Industrial Tract Hudson,
NY on Thursdays between the hours of 7:00AM and 6:00PM.
DCJS has told program managers Lieutenant Thomas Lanphear and Deputy Sheriff Louis Bray that the Columbia
County Sheriff’s Office is one of only a few in New York State which has the Law Enforcement and Civil Live-Scan
packages. Many other counties will be contracting with a Live-Scan vendor.
Live Scan Units are a benefit to Sheriff’s Office employees and county residents. When fingerprinting using Live-
Scan, fingerprint quality is indicated immediately and positive identification is usually made within an hour. This
puts Deputy Sheriff’s back out on patrol and Correction Officers back on the jail housing units sooner. There
should be fewer, if any, call backs for fingerprints that were not accepted by DCJS because of poor quality.
Additionally, the Sheriff believes that the pistol license fingerprint submissions for the background investigation will
be expedited by several weeks. Today after the fingerprints are mailed, it takes 12 to 16 weeks for the state and
federal background checks to reach the Sheriff’s Office, Live–Scan should reduce this time significantly.
In support of local and other state law enforcement agencies in Columbia County, the Sheriff has agreed to accept
and scan any fingerprints from any law enforcement agency in our county that does not have Live-Scan. He has
already had requests from one state agency and one police department and expects many more.
The Sheriff Office will still do fingerprint card ink impression fingerprinting for someone who must be printed for a
job or license and was given an ink card for fingerprints. However, if a person is advised that they must be printed
via Live-Scan for their job or license, the Sheriff’s Office is not the place to go. The agency or company requiring
the fingerprints will tell them where they are authorized to have their Live-Scan prints done. For more information,
please visit the Sheriff’s Office website at http://www.columbiacountysheriff.us/pistolpermits.html or call 518-828-
0601 x 1414.
