New York DCJS Suppressed vs Unsuppressed Personal Record Review: Which Should You Choose?

If you are comparing a DCJS suppressed vs unsuppressed record review, the most important question is not which report contains more information. It is why you need to inspect your New York State criminal history and who, if anyone, will receive the result.

A suppressed response omits specified sealed or suppressed information. An unsuppressed response includes that information so you or your attorney can inspect a fuller version of the record maintained under your fingerprints. Neither response is automatically the correct choice for every immigration, employment, licensing, or overseas filing.

Key Takeaways

Choose by purpose, not by the assumption that more information is always better. Unsuppressed is useful when you need to audit sealed cases, youthful offender adjudications, dismissed charges, or possible record errors. Suppressed may be appropriate when you do not need those confidential entries.
The IdentoGO service codes are different: 15464Z requests a suppressed response, while 15465F requests an unsuppressed response. DCJS says that obtaining both requires separate requests.
A Personal Record Review is not an employer background check. If a job or license requires a fingerprint-based check authorized by law, the employer or licensing agency must use its designated process.
Translation normally comes later. You do not need certified translation to request the record. It may be needed after issuance if the response will be submitted to an authority outside the United States.

This guide provides practical document-preparation information, not legal advice. Questions about disclosing sealed arrests, convictions, youthful offender matters, or other criminal history should be directed to the receiving authority or a qualified attorney.

Who This Guide Is For

This guide is for people anywhere in New York State who are requesting their own fingerprint-based criminal history through the Division of Criminal Justice Services Personal Record Review Program. It is not for employers, landlords, or people attempting to check someone else’s record.

It is particularly useful if you have a dismissed case, violation-level disposition, court-ordered seal, substance-related sealing, youthful offender adjudication, prior legal name, alias, or reason to believe that a case outcome is missing from your rap sheet. It also applies when an attorney wants to audit your complete DCJS history before challenging an error.

For overseas use, the typical packet may contain the signed DCJS response, a New York apostille if required, a passport identity page, name-change evidence, and a translation from English into the language accepted by the foreign authority. The destination authority—not DCJS or the translation provider—determines the required language and whether it expects a certified, sworn, or official translation. Most people reviewing a record only for use in New York need no document translation at all.

DCJS Suppressed vs Unsuppressed Record Review

Question	Suppressed response	Unsuppressed response
Service code	`15464Z`	`15465F`
Sealed or suppressed entries	Specified entries are omitted	Specified entries are included for your review
Dismissed cases under CPL 160.50	Excluded when properly sealed or suppressed	Included
Eligible violation or infraction convictions under CPL 160.55	Excluded when properly sealed	Included
Eligible substance-related sealing under CPL 160.58	Excluded	Included
Court-granted sealing under CPL 160.59	Excluded	Included
Youthful offender adjudications under CPL 720.35	Excluded	Included
Best fit	A personal response that does not display the protected categories above	Auditing your fuller DCJS history, checking whether sealing was applied, or preparing a record challenge

The controlling definitions and current service codes appear on the DCJS Requesting Your New York State Criminal History page. DCJS also states that an unsuppressed response includes individual charges dismissed in court and corresponding arrest charges for cases disposed on or after November 1, 1991.

Counterintuitive but important: a suppressed response is not the same as a “no record” response. Suppression changes which protected entries appear. A “no record” response means DCJS found no New York State criminal history record associated with the fingerprint search. Likewise, an unsuppressed response is not a public record—it is a fuller response made available to you or, with authorization, your attorney.

A Practical Decision Guide

Choose unsuppressed when your purpose is to audit the record

An unsuppressed response is generally the more informative starting point when you need to:

see whether a dismissed case still appears;
verify that a court-ordered seal has been recorded correctly;
review youthful offender or other suppressed information with an attorney;
find a missing disposition or mismatched arrest and court outcome;
investigate information held under a prior name or alias; or
respond to a foreign authority that expressly asks for a complete history including sealed arrests or cases.

Do not send the unsuppressed report to a third party merely because it looks more complete. It may reveal information that is confidential in ordinary New York civil settings. If another authority requested the document, obtain its written instructions before choosing or disclosing the fuller version.

Choose suppressed when you do not need protected entries displayed

A suppressed response may fit when you want a personal copy of the record without the categories DCJS is required to hide, or when a receiving authority expressly asks for a response that reflects applicable sealing. It can still show arrests, convictions, sentences, and other information that has not been sealed or suppressed.

Do not choose suppressed as a strategy for answering a form inaccurately. A foreign immigration, citizenship, licensing, or adoption form may separately ask whether you have ever been arrested or convicted, including matters later sealed. The wording of that question—not the label on the DCJS response—controls what the applicant is being asked to disclose.

If you need both, plan for separate requests

DCJS states that applicants who need both response types must submit a separate request for each. Its public instructions do not promise that one enrollment or fingerprint appointment will generate both versions. Before paying or being fingerprinted, contact IdentoGO at 877-472-6915 if you entered the wrong code or think you need two responses. Do not rely on a fingerprint-location employee to decide which legal disclosure standard applies to your case.

How the New York Process Works in Practice

Define the purpose. Decide whether you are auditing your own record, preparing a challenge, satisfying an overseas request, or mistakenly trying to complete an employer-directed check.
Confirm the required response type. Ask the receiving authority whether it wants the record as normally reportable or a full response including sealed or suppressed entries.
Enroll with the correct code. Use 15464Z for suppressed or 15465F for unsuppressed through IdentoGO.
Attend fingerprinting. DCJS currently instructs New York residents to bring one acceptable form of identification and the required payment.
Wait for postal delivery. The result is mailed; DCJS does not offer in-person pickup.
Review before sharing or translating. Compare names, dates, charges, dispositions, sealing notations, and case identifiers with your court records.

As of February 2, 2026, the official DCJS page lists a New York in-state fee of $17.50 and an expected mailing period of three to four weeks. Fees and processing estimates can change, so verify them on the current DCJS page immediately before enrolling.

The practical deadline is therefore not just the translation deadline. Anyone preparing an overseas packet should leave time for the fingerprint appointment, DCJS processing, USPS delivery, correction of any errors, apostille if required, and translation of the final packet.

Do Not Use This as a Substitute for an Employment or Licensing Check

DCJS distinguishes a Personal Record Review from a fingerprint-based employment or licensing background check. Where a state, federal, or local law authorizes such a check, the employer or licensing entity follows a separate agency-specific process. Your self-requested response is not a shortcut around that process.

This distinction also protects sensitive information. A commercial name-based background report is not the same as the official fingerprint-based history maintained by DCJS. The agency explains that its criminal history records are not public records and are not released to ordinary businesses selling background searches.

If an employment decision appears to misuse a sealed arrest, youthful offender record, or another protected category, consult a legal-aid provider or employment attorney. New York’s Department of Labor guidance for justice-involved individuals explains relevant employment protections and record-cleanup resources.

Clean Slate Does Not Make the Choice Obsolete

New York’s Clean Slate Act took effect on November 16, 2024, but implementation is not instantaneous. The Unified Court System has until November 16, 2027 to complete the required processes for automatically sealing eligible convictions. The New York Courts Clean Slate page explains the implementation timeline and eligibility framework.

DCJS warns that, until the courts implement the required processes and send the necessary sealing information, a Personal Record Review may continue to include convictions that could eventually qualify for Clean Slate sealing. Therefore:

do not assume an older conviction has already disappeared;
do not assume its presence automatically proves it is ineligible;
use an unsuppressed response if your immediate goal is to audit what DCJS currently holds; and
seek legal help if you need an eligibility or disclosure determination.

If the Record Looks Wrong

A DCJS response includes information on challenging the accuracy or completeness of the record. The right supporting document depends on the problem:

Missing disposition: obtain a certificate of disposition or equivalent court documentation.
Seal not reflected: obtain the signed sealing order or other required court or prosecutor documentation.
Incorrect arrest information: the originating law-enforcement agency may need to correct what it reported.
Wrong identity or alias problem: contact DCJS and provide the requested identity and fingerprint evidence.

The New York Courts record-correction guide explains what to do when cases that should be sealed still appear. CertOf’s related guide to a missing case outcome and certificate of disposition covers the document-preparation problem in more detail.

When Certified Translation Enters the Process

Certified translation is a bridge step here, not a DCJS application requirement. It becomes relevant when the final English response must be filed with a foreign consulate, immigration authority, civil registry, employer, licensing body, or adoption authority that works in another language.

Confirm three things before ordering:

whether the recipient wants suppressed or unsuppressed history;
whether the original needs a New York apostille or authentication first; and
whether the destination accepts a standard certified translation or requires a locally sworn, official, or court-authorized translator.

For an international-purpose request, DCJS instructs applicants to select “travel/other country” or another international purpose so it can provide the signed document required for the apostille process. The New York Department of State confirms that DCJS must mail the completed background-check response before the applicant submits it for apostille. See the official New York apostille instructions and CertOf’s focused guide to the New York DCJS background check, apostille, and translation sequence.

When translation is required, provide the complete final packet: every rap-sheet page, the no-record response if applicable, signatures, seals, explanatory pages, and apostille. A summary translation can omit the very disposition or sealing language the recipient needs to evaluate. Broader distinctions are covered in the guides to police clearance translation versus apostille, self-translating a police clearance certificate, and electronic versus paper police certificates.

Translation Service Options

Translation providers cannot decide what criminal history you are legally required to disclose. Compare them only after the response type and destination requirements are settled.

Option	Publicly verifiable signal	Useful for	Boundary to confirm
CertOf	Online document upload and certified translation workflow	Translating a final DCJS response, apostille, seals, and related identity documents with digital delivery and revision support	Does not obtain the DCJS record, select the service code, challenge criminal history, or provide legal advice
New York Circle of Translators directory	New York-based professional association directory searchable by language and legal specialization	Finding an independent local linguist when the destination asks for particular credentials or in-person arrangements	Directory membership is not government approval; verify the individual translator’s destination-country eligibility
Express Language Solutions	Publicly listed Manhattan presence and certified-document translation services	Applicants who prefer an office-based New York provider	Confirm that the provider supports translation from English into the destination language and will include all DCJS and apostille pages

For an online workflow, you can submit the completed packet to CertOf, review the upload and ordering process, compare electronic certified translation formats, or check document turnaround benchmarks. These services begin after DCJS issues the source record.

Public Help and Legal Resources

Resource	Use it for	Cost and contact
DCJS Record Review Unit	Official response definitions, application questions, record challenges, and fee-waiver information	Government service; [email protected]; 518-457-9847 or 518-485-7675, 8 a.m.–4 p.m. weekdays except legal holidays. Fee-waiver packets may be mailed to 80 South Swan St., 5th Floor, Albany, NY 12210; Personal Record Review responses cannot be picked up there.
LawHelpNY	Statewide self-help information and locating free legal-aid organizations by county	Free public legal-information directory; eligibility for a listed provider’s services may vary
New York Courts	Correcting sealing errors, obtaining court records, and understanding which court documents may support a correction	Official court information; document fees or legal-service eligibility may vary

DCJS also provides free language assistance and translated public information in Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Yiddish, Bengali, Korean, Haitian Creole, Italian, Arabic, Polish, French, and Urdu. A person denied available language help can use the agency’s Language Access complaint process. Language assistance helps you use the program; it is different from translating the final English report for a foreign recipient.

Fraud, Privacy, and Complaint Paths

Official-record claim: a business offering an instant name-only “official DCJS rap sheet” is not providing the fingerprint-based Personal Record Review described by DCJS.
Fingerprint or enrollment problem: contact IdentoGO at 877-472-6915 before repeating payment or enrolling under another service code.
Record-content problem: use the DCJS challenge instructions rather than paying a commercial company that promises to erase a record.
Language-access problem: use the DCJS Language Access complaint route.
Deceptive commercial service: the New York Attorney General accepts consumer complaints online and through its helpline at 1-800-771-7755. See the official complaint portal.

Where New Yorkers Commonly Lose Time

The practical problems reflected in DCJS instructions, New York Department of Labor guidance, and LawHelpNY’s Personal Record Review overview are remarkably consistent:

confusing a suppressed response with a “no record” response;
entering a service code before checking what the report is actually needed for;
assuming Clean Slate has already removed every potentially eligible conviction;
discovering that a court disposition or sealing status is missing from the DCJS record; or
ordering translation before obtaining the final signed and, when required, apostilled packet.

Public community accounts can help identify questions worth asking, but they cannot establish that a particular IdentoGO location is faster, that staff can change a service code after fingerprinting, or that one foreign consulate always prefers the unsuppressed version. The official DCJS definitions and the receiving authority’s written disclosure requirements should control the decision.

FAQ

What is the main difference between a suppressed and an unsuppressed DCJS Personal Record Review?

The suppressed response omits specified sealed or suppressed information. The unsuppressed response includes those entries so you can inspect a fuller version of your DCJS history.

Which IdentoGO service code requests each response?

Use 15464Z for a suppressed response and 15465F for an unsuppressed response. Verify the codes on the current DCJS page before enrolling.

Can I receive both versions from one request?

No. DCJS states that you must submit a separate request for each response type. Confirm the fingerprinting and payment arrangements with IdentoGO before scheduling.

Does an unsuppressed report make my sealed history public?

No. Receiving an unsuppressed copy for your own review does not turn sealed information into a public record or give ordinary employers unrestricted access to it.

Can I use a Personal Record Review for a New York job or professional license?

Not as a substitute when the position or license requires a fingerprint-based background check authorized by law. Follow the employer’s or licensing agency’s designated process.

Which version should I use for immigration or another overseas purpose?

There is no universal answer. Ask whether the foreign authority wants currently reportable history or disclosure of every arrest, including sealed matters. If its form uses words such as “ever,” “all arrests,” or “including sealed records,” obtain legal guidance before choosing or disclosing a report.

Does Clean Slate mean my old conviction will no longer appear?

Not necessarily yet. New York’s courts have until November 16, 2027 to complete implementation, and DCJS may continue displaying an eligible conviction until it receives the applicable sealing information.

Should I translate the DCJS response before or after apostille?

If the destination requires an apostille, translating the final apostilled packet usually avoids having to add a second translation later. Confirm the order with the receiving authority because destination-country rules differ.

Prepare the Right Record Before You Translate It

The most expensive translation mistake in this process is translating the wrong DCJS response. First determine whether you need suppressed or unsuppressed history, select the correct IdentoGO code, obtain the final mailed response, correct material errors, and complete any required apostille.

Once the source packet is final, CertOf can prepare a complete certified translation of the DCJS response and accompanying apostille into the requested language. CertOf does not select your response type, arrange fingerprinting, correct criminal records, obtain an apostille, or provide legal representation. When the document is ready, upload the complete packet to request translation.