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When the instructor couldn't stop talking and moving around while doing my prints, I knew they were going to be bad. I even told him when he was done that I was concerned that they were too smudged. He looked at them and said they were fine.

Sure enough, I get a letter today saying they have to be redone. Enclosed was a letter talking about Identix, but they don't have any offices close enough for me to get to during business hours. I'm afraid to go back to the same instructor and have him do them again, only for them to be rejected a second time. I'm about 60 days away from my CHL expiring now.

I live in Katy. Any suggestions?

Go to your local PD. Most do prints for free. Some charge $10.

Yep, local PDs have been doing it for years, some better than others. Call 'em first as some only do it during certain hours. And hopefully, you'll get a jailer-type who does 'em often.

Some departments though just use whatever LEO is handy at the time and their results ain't any better than your instructor's! Long term, it might be best to bite the bullet and do whatever it takes to get 'em done at Identix. Even then, be sure to do EXACTLY what DPS stated (and possibly highlighted) in correspondence.

Quote: "I'm about 60 days away from my CHL expiring now."

Hey, hey. At least ya got motivated sooner than many do and MIGHT have a little cushion there.

For both my original application and my renewal, my prints were bad. (Different LEO each time.)

Fortunately, I live in the Austin area, so since I was dropping my packet off at DPS HQ in person anyway, I had them look over, and ultimately redo, my prints each time. (Apparently this is common.)

DPS personnel were courteous, efficicent . . . and charged $10.

The difficulty of getting good prints with a co-operative subject using a regular fingerprint kit will make me VERY skeptical of fingerprint evidence lifted from a crime scene should I ever serve on a jury where that's a factor . . .

HankB - For my future info (for renewal) did you actually drop your packet off at DPS HQ or the DPS CHL place by the airport. I would like to know because I will probably do the same thing.

I had problems the first time around and FP's that instructor did were rejected. So, I went to the constable office and had them re-done and they looked worse (really dark and smudged) than the rejected prints but they worked - go figure.

I think it is best to have someone do the prints that does a lot of them and uses printers ink rolled on glass as opposed to those ink pads.

Stash, I went by the DPS HQ on Lamar in Austin . . . the CHL building is in the back, and parking is terrible, because almost all spots in the very large parking lot are "reserved."

I don't know anything about a "DPS CHL place" by the airport.

First time, the nice ladies used ink on a stone slab to take my prints . . . by the time I renewed, they had gone "electronic" and I rolled my finger across a glass platen while a camera imaged it; the digital image was then printed on a fingerprint card.

I've heard that sometimes if you write "best available print" across the top of the fingerprint card, they may accept it.

Just a "funny" story about prints from when I took my class...

There was an older gentleman there who had lost a finger in the military. When he was printed, our instructor (a former LEO) wrote 'missing' in the appropriate square on both cards, then attached a sticky note explaining that the man did not have that particular finger.

His prints were rejected. Reason - no print for left ring finger.

So, the instructor did the prints again, emphasizing that the man HAD NO LEFT RING FINGER.

Rejected. Same reason.

Finally, he did the third set of prints, again emphasizing the man's lack of a left ring finger, attaching a sticky note, and...get this...a Polaroid photo of the man's hand, with an arrow pointing to the stub.

After the third try, he got his CHL.

You just can't make a story like that up.

*Edited to add*
I know the story because the instructor told me about it when *I* went in to be reprinted after my first set was rejected.

Thanks for the info HankB. I thought I had read here once that the CHL section of DPS had moved to an area by the airport and that it was a real zoo out there with the traffic and all. I will probably do what you did and go to DPS, Lamar Street. I have worked with cement in the past and the ridges on my fingers are not as pronounced as they once were.

Since I'm taking a day of vacation on the 26th, I went online and schedule an appointment at Identix and I'm going to get them done electronically. Hopefully that will take care of the matter and I'll get the permit in time for my birthday.