What really goes on?

[Tha_Veteran]

Okay so im sitting here thinking (nothing else better to do while I wait for my CHL ) why it takes so long to process the application.

Is it the fact that DPS has to wait on other agencies to get pertinent background info, or do they enjoy making us wait?

Also I read that they check you criminal and mental background, but isn't that an easy search? When the cops pull you over they find stuff like that out in minutes, why not them? Am I missing something here? What exactly do they check, if anyone knows?

Thanks

[seamusTX]

The biggest hangup seems to be the background checks in the counties where you lived and worked for the past five years.

Until September 1, 2009, those background checks had to be performed by commissioned DPS troopers. Apparently some counties (Harris being the worst) had slow turnaround.

Now, they can use non-LEO DPS employees for county background checks, but I don't know if the process has changed yet.

Every other step, individually, is pretty quick; but they add up.

No one who knows how they check mental health history is talking.

Someone posted a detailed description of the process, but I can't find it now.

- Jim

[jsimmons]

They also like to blame the FBI side of the background check.

[marksiwel]

so if I lived in Boston Mass for the 3 years ago is that going to slow down my background check?

[Keith B]

so if I lived in Boston Mass for the 3 years ago is that going to slow down my background check?

Depends on how fast the local agencies up there are in responding to the request from DPS for the required background checks.

[seamusTX]

As far as anyone can tell, having moved from out-of-state or even overseas does not cause additional delays.

Turnaround time seems very random. Husbands and wives who apply the same day get their plastic weeks apart.

- Jim

[joe817]

One of the great mysteries of life is the "background check", and the delays involved because of it.

From what I've observed, someone who has lived in the same address for many years, having had the same job for many years, while working in his county of residence experiences a quicker process time than say someone who has had several residence addresses in the past several years, coupled with multiple jobs spread across several county lines in that same time frame.

On a side note regarding the CHL application fee DPS charges us is that the FBI charges DPS $45 for a background check on someone. I ran across that reading the minutes of the Public Safety Committee meeting for either the August or September meeting. Or it could have been the July meeting. I've slept since then.

[mctowalot]

I was told they log on to this very forum, print out the top ten most anxious, put those print outs on the wall, blindfold whichever clerks b'day is closest, give them a blow dart gun...

[ammo two]

so if I lived in Boston Mass for the 3 years ago is that going to slow down my background check?

I lived in Mass for 18 yrs, I got my Mass CHL faster than I am getting one in Texas. Go figure....

[marksiwel]

so if I lived in Boston Mass for the 3 years ago is that going to slow down my background check?

I lived in Mass for 18 yrs, I got my Mass CHL faster than I am getting one in Texas. Go figure....

you can get a chl in mass? Who do you know? the pope?

[Mithras61]

As near as I can tell from having worked with bureaucracies in the past it goes something like this:

1) Work with application A until a "stop" is reached. A "stop" is defined as anything that requires either input from elsewhere (e.g. - a background check) or a hold on the application (e.g. - bad fingerprints).
2) When Application A reaches a "stop" point, process the reason for the "stop," and then insert it in the "Pending" files at the back.
3) Start Application B, and work until "stop" is reached.
4) Repeat as necessary until all new applications are either worked (completed and issued or rejected) or in "stop" status.
5) When all current applications are in "stop" status, take the front application out of the "Pending" files (note that this will be the first application that entered "stop" status) and work until new "stop" is reached, at which point, return it to the back of the "Pending" file.
6) Repeat as necessary to complete all applications.

Note that new applications tend to take precedence over older applications in the "Pending" file. This gets applications with fewest "stop" points out quickly, but can create inordinate delays for applications with multiple "stop" points. This process is different than many people outside of a bureaucracy employ, which requires more frequent checks on processes that are in a "stop" status even when "new" work is pending because of things like priorities that CHL applications do not (at least in theory) have (that is, all CHL applications are supposedly created equal with none taking priority over others).

[USA1]

What really goes on?

[Tha_Veteran]

USA1. That makes sense

[sf340b]

"having worked with bureaucracies in the past"...

This is why u don't work there any more. Your work ethic was to productive, work got completed ahead of schedule and under budget, the department lost funding for the next year and you were FIRED for raining on their parade.

(I jest)

[Mithras61]

"having worked with bureaucracies in the past"...

This is why u don't work there any more. Your work ethic was to productive, work got completed ahead of schedule and under budget, the department lost funding for the next year and you were FIRED for raining on their parade.

(I jest)

Actually, I have this nasty tendency to make decisions...