California Code, Penal Code - PEN § 13000

(a) All statewide automated fingerprint identification systems shall be maintained by the Department of Justice. For purposes of this section, “automated fingerprint identification system” means electronic comparison of fingerprints to a data base of known persons.

(b) Any state agency is exempted from this section if the agency's director finds that the automated identification system needed to meet programmatic requirements is less costly than an identical system available through an interagency agreement with the Department of Justice, or is not provided by the Department of Justice.

(c) Information contained in these systems shall be released to state agencies only on a need-to-know basis pursuant to any of the following:

(d) The department may charge a fee to be paid by the agency for the actual cost of supporting the service.