A property tax levy that funds a fingerprint identification system for local law enforcement agencies will go before King County voters for renewal in the April 22 special election.

The Regional Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) Levy, known as Proposition No. 1, would fund the continued operation of the AFIS system to provide enhanced forensic fingerprint and palmprint technology along with services to aid in the administration of justice.

The levy would authorize an additional property tax for seven years, beginning in 2026, at 2.75 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation. This is down from the 2018 AFIS levy, which adopted a rate of 3.501 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation.

According to the ordinance, King County voters first approved the funding of an AFIS computer in 1986 to match unknown fingerprints to known fingerprints.

The King County AFIS database now holds more than 2 million fingerprint records, more than one million palmprint records, and approximately 63,000 crime scene prints from unsolved records. The service is available to every city and unincorporated area in King County.

The AFIS computer is used to quickly identify arrested individuals to prevent the wrongful release of individuals using false names to evade arrest or hide records, and to search fingerprints and palmprints collected from crime scenes to identify unknown suspects and aid in convictions.

The first AFIS computer was installed in 1988. The latest system upgrade was in 2018 to a cloud-based system, which is continually updated to ensure the county is using the latest fingerprint matching technology, according to the county.