What Happens During Booking at Schuylkill County Prison: fingerprints, photos, and LIVESCAN

Fingerprinting and photographing at Schuylkill County Prison are handled by the Schuylkill County Sheriff's Office Central Booking Office. Under Pennsylvania law (Title 18 § 9112), these steps are required for all indictable offenses. For families, the takeaway is straightforward: prints and a photo aren't extra steps or something reserved for unusual cases. They're standard procedure when the charge level requires it.

Schuylkill County uses a LIVESCAN fingerprint system - a computerized method for capturing prints during booking. In 2021, the county installed a second LIVESCAN machine at Schuylkill County Prison to improve fingerprint compliance. Having this machine on-site also reduces how often incarcerated people need to be moved to the Schuylkill County Court House, which improves safety for deputies, staff, and the public.

1. Capture fingerprints with LIVESCAN - prints are taken electronically during booking rather than relying on older ink methods.
2. Use the second machine to reduce bottlenecks - adding another LIVESCAN station supports better compliance by making it easier to complete fingerprinting.
3. Limit unnecessary movement - the added capacity is intended to decrease movement of incarcerated people in the courthouse, supporting overall safety for staff and the public.

Once fingerprints and the booking photo are taken, that identification data doesn't stay local. Both are transmitted over dedicated phone lines through AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Identification System) to the Pennsylvania State Police Central Repository in Harrisburg, then forwarded to the FBI. This is the standard path booking identifiers follow after collection.

For families, the key thing to understand is that fingerprints and booking photos become part of a broader identification record. At Schuylkill County Prison, both are collected for all indictable offenses under Pennsylvania's mandatory fingerprinting law (Title 18 § 9112) and transmitted through AFIS to the Pennsylvania State Police Central Repository and then to the FBI. Once collected, this information is shared beyond the jail - so accurate identity details matter, especially if you're concerned about mix-ups between people with similar names.

• ✓ Expect fingerprints and a booking photo if the charge is an indictable offense (Title 18 § 9112).
• ✓ Keep a close eye on identity details you can verify (legal name spelling, date of birth) since fingerprints and photos are transmitted through AFIS to the Pennsylvania State Police Central Repository and then to the FBI.
• ✓ If you believe the wrong person’s information is being used, raise the concern promptly - booking identification is designed to tie the person to the record using fingerprints and a photo.