MINNETONKA, Minn. -- Identix Incorporated (Nasdaq:IDNX) announced today that it has been awarded an exclusive three year contract from the Texas Department of Public Safety (TxDPS) to provide statewide electronic fingerprinting services and related processing for licensing and employment purposes for the state of Texas. In addition to fingerprinting services, Identix will also provide to TxDPS photo capture and submission for each applicant. The competitively bid award to Identix Identification Services (IIS) is for an initial three year period with up to two three-year extensions. With this contract win, Texas is the sixth state where IIS is providing statewide fingerprinting services to employers and government agencies, joining Missouri, Michigan, California, Illinois and Tennessee.
TxDPS issued the original RFP and subsequent award to IIS as current legislation at the State and Federal level requires fingerprint-based criminal history background checks for an ever-broadening list of employment, licensure and volunteer categories. With the implementation of new state and federal laws requiring the fingerprinting of teachers, enhanced background check requirements on drivers of hazardous materials (HAZMAT), and various other requirements, Texas expects to process at least 200,000 to 300,000 non-criminal justice fingerprint-based electronic submissions each year. TxDPS anticipates that the enactment of future initiatives could drive the demand for non-criminal justice fingerprint based background searches even higher.
According to TxDPS, job and volunteer categories requiring fingerprint-based background checks have grown significantly over the past few years. In order for these checks to be performed by TxDPS and the FBI, each prospective job or volunteer applicant's fingerprints must be captured and forwarded to TxDPS. Traditionally, the fingerprint capture and submission has been completed by local law enforcement agencies. However, due to the large increase in the number of applicants needing fingerprints, this was becoming a burden. Through this award process, TxDPS selected IIS to support the state of Texas in meeting its non-criminal justice electronic fingerprint requirements.
"Our win in Texas is another excellent example of Identix' ability to deploy mission critical biometric technology and systems to appropriately address real world issues," said Identix President & CEO Dr. Joseph J. Atick. "IIS has won statewide contracts in some of the most significant states in the U.S., further extending the reach of Identix' nationwide network of biometric solutions and services offerings. Identix has a long proven record of successes in minimizing our customers' risk through the deployment of superior systems and solutions, and we look forward to supporting the State of Texas with its biometric requirements."
Under the terms of the contract, IIS will schedule, collect and submit electronic fingerprint images and demographic information from applicants throughout the State for a wide range of public and private employers, HAZMAT drivers, foster and adoptive parents, volunteers, non-profit youth serving organizations, as well as a broad array of licensed professionals obligated by law to undergo criminal background checks as a condition of licensing or employment. The data collected by IIS will be pre-encoded and electronically transmitted to the TxDPS's Criminal Records Service for search of the State's Automatic Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS).
Once operational, Texas agencies, businesses and applicants will be able to schedule a fingerprinting appointment at one of IIS' Texas fingerprinting centers by calling 888-467-2080 or via the IIS website at www.identix.com/iis. In addition to its most recent statewide win in Texas, IIS provides statewide electronic fingerprinting services to Missouri, Michigan, California, Illinois and Tennessee.
(c) 2005 Business Wire
