Attorney General Headshot

Attorney General Marty Jackley

Attorney General Seal

Latent Print Services

Services:

Examinations conducted in the Latent Print section of the lab include:

  • Process evidence from crime scenes for the presence of latent prints.
  • Examine latent fingerprint lifts from crime scenes for the presence of latent prints.
  • Photograph developed latent prints.
  • Compare latent prints to known suspect's and/or victim's prints.
  • Utilize AFIS and NGI for no suspect cases.
  • Compare known (record) fingerprint cards in habitual cases.

AFIS

Fingerprints and palm prints can be searched in a computerized database called the Automatic Fingerprint Identification System, also known as AFIS. This database includes all record prints on file in South Dakota, excluding juvenile record prints. 

NGI

When a candidate is not identified through an AFIS search, a suitable latent print may be searched through the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division's. Next Generation Identification (NGI) database. This database includes all record prints maintained by the FBI.