Your fingerprints and photograph are not necessarily destroyed if your charges are withdrawn or dismissed. In most cases, you or your lawyer will have to make a formal request for this to be done. You must wait thirty (30) days from the last court date before making the request, as the Crown Attorney has this much time to appeal the disposition. If you entered into a peace bond, you must wait until the bond has expired before making your request.
There are two parts to a criminal file:
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the R.C.M.P. record, and
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your local file.
Upon closure of your file, the prints and photographs are destroyed, and the corresponding R.C.M.P. and local records are purged. However, the occurrence report relevant to the incident is maintained in our files for twenty-five (25) years, in accordance with our Records Retention Bylaws.
The non-refundable fee for file closure is $35.00.
Police agencies have discretion on file closures; the nature of the charge(s), the disposition given, and other factors may influence our decision on whether or not to close the file. If your file is closed, you can choose to be notified in writing, by telephone, or not at all. If we decide not to close the file, you will be notified in writing. Please note that the fee will not be refunded.
There is no charge for the file closure for the following disposition:
· Dismissed - Found Not Guilty
NOTE: If you received a Conditional or Absolute Discharge prior to July 24, 1992, you must apply in writing to the RCMP to request your file to be destroyed. Once this is done and you receive a letter of confirmation, bring this in to us so we can close your local file. This request form can be downloaded directly from the RCMP's website at http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/form/3953.pdf
Requests for file closures should be directed to the Records office.