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October 21, 2026 · By Martekei Plange

Level 2 LiveScan Fingerprinting in Tampa

If you were told to get a Level 2 LiveScan fingerprinting appointment in Tampa, you need three things before you sit down at the scanner: the correct ORI number, a current photo ID, and a clear idea of whether the requesting agency also wants a photograph. The prints are electronic. The results go to the agency named on that ORI, not to you, and not to our office.

Aftermath Investigations takes FDLE LiveScan fingerprints at our Tampa office, 4412 Orient Rd Ste 1. This is the briefing to have before a licensing, employment, or AHCA screening. It is general information about the process. Your board, employer, or licensing agency decides eligibility. We do not.

What a Level 2 screening is in Florida

Section 435.04, Florida Statutes, is the Level 2 screening standard. For people the law requires to be screened under that section, the security background investigation includes fingerprinting for a statewide criminal history check through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, a national criminal history check through the FBI, and local criminal records checks through local law enforcement. It also includes a search of the sexual predator and sexual offender registries of any state where the person lived during the previous five years.

The same statute requires those fingerprints to be submitted electronically to FDLE. That electronic capture is LiveScan. There is no ink and no paper card at our counter. Your fingers are rolled on a glass plate, the prints are scanned, and the submission goes out under the ORI you brought with you.

Level 2 is used for positions of trust. Health care, child care, certain state licenses, and some school or agency roles are common reasons people come in. The form from the agency that asked for the screening is what tells us which submission to make. A job ad that says “background check” is not the same instruction.

How Level 1 screening is different

The Florida Department of Children and Families describes Level 1 screening, under section 435.03, as an employment history check, a name-based statewide criminal check through FDLE, and a check of the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website. It may also include local law enforcement checks. It is not the fingerprint-based national FBI check that Level 2 requires.

If your paperwork says Level 2, an ink card or a name-only search will not finish the assignment. If it says Level 1, you may not need to be printed at all. Read the line on the form before you take time off work. When the form is unclear, call us with the ORI and we will tell you which of our fingerprint services matches it.

Health care boards and the Clearinghouse

FL HealthSource, the Florida Department of Health screening site, says that as of July 1, 2025, health care practitioners must complete background screening when they apply for an initial license or renew one. The same page lists exemptions for emergency medical technicians, paramedics, pharmacy interns, registered pharmacy technicians, and radiologic technologists, unless the person is applying through the military active-duty spouse pathway. Fingerprint retention requirements do not apply to those exempt professions.

For Department of Health screenings, FL HealthSource tells applicants to start a profile in the Clearinghouse Applicant Initiated system, use a LiveScan provider that can submit to FDLE, and bring the profession’s ORI. For Clearinghouse screenings that require a photograph, the provider captures the photo at the same visit and the prints and photo are submitted electronically. That is the appointment we list as LiveScan with photo for AHCA.

Save the Transaction Control Number the provider gives you. FL HealthSource states that the Department of Health cannot retrieve your TCN later. Put it with your application the same day. Some applicants can then check fingerprint status with the FDLE TCN lookup tool their board points them to.

What the ORI number does

ORI means Originating Agency Identifier. FDLE uses it to identify who requested the criminal history check and for what purpose. DCF’s background-screening FAQ makes the practical point: without the correct ORI, FDLE cannot route the request and the receiving agency will not know where the results belong.

FL HealthSource is just as direct. If you give the provider no ORI, or the wrong ORI, the board office will not receive your fingerprint results, and the applicant is responsible for that submission. We can type only what you give us. Bring the number from your board, employer, or CHAI profile, not a number a coworker used for a different license.

Some screenings also use an OCA number, the Controlling Agency Identifier. DCF describes the OCA as the number that identifies the provider requesting the check. If your packet includes an OCA, bring that page too.

Before you leave the chair, look at the receipt and confirm the ORI matches your form. Confirming it on the receipt is what keeps the results from going to the wrong agency.

What to bring to a Tampa LiveScan appointment

For a Department of Health screening, FL HealthSource requires two forms of identification at the electronic fingerprint site. One must show your picture and signature, such as a driver license, state identification card, or passport. Those applicants also have to give accurate demographic information, including a Social Security number, or an ITIN if they cannot legally obtain a Social Security number, plus the profession’s ORI.

For other agencies, bring a current government photo ID and every page the requesting agency gave you: the ORI, any OCA, and any fee or photo instruction. If your name on the ID does not match the application, bring the document that connects the two names.

A few practical notes from the scanner:

  • Come with clean, dry hands. Heavy lotion, fresh cuts, and bandages on the fingertips make a print harder to read.
  • Worn ridges are common in people who work with their hands. If a finger does not read clearly, ask for that finger to be scanned again before you leave. A rejected print has to be redone, and that delays the agency.
  • Know your current address, date of birth, and the other demographics on the form. The submission is only as accurate as that information.
  • If you are being printed for more than one board, bring each ORI. One scan does not automatically satisfy a second agency.

Office hours are Monday through Friday, 9 am to 5 pm. Walk-ins are welcome at the in-office rates. An appointment helps if you are bringing several people or you need us to come to you.

October 2026 prices at our office

These are Aftermath’s published appointment prices. They are the amounts we charge for the service named. A requesting agency can also publish its own processing or retention fees. DCF, for screenings through the Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse, lists a separate FDLE fee, a separate FBI fee, and a five-year fingerprint-retention fee, and it notes that the LiveScan provider’s charge varies. Bring the fee sheet your employer or board gave you so we run the product that sheet describes.

  • FDLE Level 2 LiveScan, in office: $75
  • LiveScan with photo, for AHCA and similar Clearinghouse submissions: $100
  • FBI fingerprint submission: $100
  • Mobile fingerprinting: $50 per person, plus a $100 travel fee

Section 435.04 already calls for both the statewide FDLE check and the national FBI check on a Level 2 screening, sent electronically. Some applicants are instead sent for a separate FBI fingerprint submission, or for a capture that includes a photograph. Use the line your paperwork names. The full list is on our fingerprint pricing page, and the service details are on LiveScan fingerprinting in Tampa.

Call 813-372-1672 if you are holding a form and you are not sure which line applies. Read us the ORI and the heading on the form.

What happens after the prints are taken

We submit the fingerprints electronically to FDLE under your ORI. We do not receive your criminal history, and we do not tell you whether an old case will disqualify you. FDLE and the FBI return results to the agency the ORI identifies. That agency, or the Clearinghouse it uses, applies its own standards.

Section 435.04 is where disqualifying offenses and the screening standard live. Reading a blog, including this one, is not a way to predict a board’s decision. If you already know of an arrest or a plea and you are worried about it, ask the board or an attorney who handles that license. Our job at the counter is a clean, correctly coded submission.

Keep your TCN and your receipt. If a board later says it never received the prints, that number is how the submission is traced.

This is different from a private-investigator background check

A Level 2 LiveScan is a fingerprint submission for an agency that is allowed to receive state and national criminal history. A private-investigator background check is a separate product. We use public records, interviews, and compliant database research to report identity, address history, court records, and related facts for a client. We do not turn a civil background investigation into an FDLE Level 2 clearance.

Our October 2026 starting prices for those investigative reports are $125 for a basic background check, $249 for a standard check, $499 for a comprehensive check, and $175 for a pre-employment bundle. Scope changes the final fee. Those reports are described on our background checks page and listed under background-check pricing.

Employers who need a screening for a job offer also have duties under the Fair Credit Reporting Act when a consumer report is part of the decision. Ask your counsel which kind of check the hire requires. We will not relabel a fingerprint appointment as an employment investigation, or the other way around.

Who this office is

Martekei Plange owns Aftermath Investigations, a Florida-licensed private investigative agency in Tampa. Agency license A1900174 and investigator license C3100582 can be checked on the FDACS licensee search. On that search, a one-letter license is entered as the letter, a space, and seven digits. The firm is a member of the Florida Association of Legal Investigators. Fingerprinting is one of the office services we provide alongside investigative case work. The investigative license is not what authorizes an agency to receive your Level 2 results. The ORI does that.

You can book from the contact page, call 813-372-1672, or come to 4412 Orient Rd Ste 1, Tampa, FL 33610, Monday through Friday, 9 am to 5 pm.

Sources

Statutes and agency pages change. The Florida Senate copies linked here are the 2025 official publications. Confirm the current instruction with the agency that issued your ORI before you rely on a fee or an exemption list. Our prices above are the October 2026 rates published by this office.