Study data came from reviews of written records and interviews with law enforcement officials and representatives of related organizations. The analysis showed that startup costs for the Interstate Identification Index were less than $1 million for the FBI and averaged about $36,000 for 11 of the 14 participating States. Operating costs averaged about $2,300 monthly for the 10 States providing information. FBI and State officials plan to merge the index system with the FBI's traditional fingerprint identification system to eliminate duplication between the two indexes. This effort will require continued automation of the traditional system. However, varying State laws regarding the dissemination of criminal history information to organizations outside the criminal justice system may limit the extent to which the two systems can be merged. Footnotes and appended background information.