The UCIA or Uniform Conviction Information Act makes criminal records that have received convictions available to the public. The records are preserved and collected by the Illinois State Police or ISP and are made available to the community. The criminal records can serve as a background check on any individual to check their personal arrest records or to check on another person’s history. Currently the ISP provides two ways to obtain criminal records – fingerprint or non-fingerprint. To request for criminal records, the person requesting should use the forms provided by the ISP as each form has its own unique processing control number.