Montana, on the other hand, passed legislation providing that booking photographs are public criminal justice information, and require criminal justice agencies to charge a clerking fee for release of certain booking photographs. Oregon also now prohibits a law enforcement agency from releasing booking photos except in specified circumstances. Also in 2021, Utah passed a law that protects images taken of individuals during the booking process and prohibits a sheriff from disclosing the images.
Florida in 2021 expanded the applicability of provisions relating to the dissemination of arrest booking photographs to include a person or entity whose primary business model is the publishing or dissemination of such photographs for a commercial purpose or pecuniary gain.
California passed legislation that prohibits a police department or sheriff's office from sharing, on social media, booking photos of an individual arrested on suspicion of committing a nonviolent crime, unless specified circumstances exist. It also requires websites to remove a booking photograph when the individual in the booking photograph requests removal and destruction, and prohibits charging a fee to do so.Īrkansas’ 2021 legislation mandates that privately-owned mug shot websites that accept, request, or require the payment of a fee must r emove the booking photograph from the website within five business days of receipt of a written request. Louisiana in 2022 passed legislation to prohibit a law enforcement agency from releasing booking photos except in specified circumstances. MasterCard, American Express and Discover reportedly cut ties with the sites, and Google changed its search algorithms so that the sites do not show up as prominently in search results. Lastly, some private companies have taken action against some of the websites that charge fees to remove mug shots. Notably, public records laws in some states do not expressly address whether mugshots are public records, and thus their release may be left to the discretion of law enforcement. Indeed, some of the proposed legislation listed below would specifically provide that booking photographs are to remain public record. Journalists and others assert that these photographs should remain in the public realm. Several states have addressed these concerns by prohibiting law enforcement from releasing mug shots, prohibiting websites from charging fees for the removal of mug shots from a web site or otherwise regulating these sites' practices.Ĭritics of this type of legislation consider access to booking photographs shots an important part of journalistic coverage, freedom of speech and the public’s right to know. Once on the web, however, the photographs can be copied and redistributed by other sites, and individuals who had charges dropped or were found not guilty can find it difficult to repair their online reputation. Some sites will remove photos at no cost for those who can show that charges were dropped or that they were found not guilty others charge a fee.
In recent years, booking or arrest photographs (mug shots) obtained from law enforcement websites have been reposted on commercial websites, some of which charge a fee to have the photographs removed. Law, Criminal Justice and Public Safety.Communications, Financial Services and Interstate Commerce.
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