Why Are Mugshots Public Record?
Are All Mugshots Public Record? The Surprising Truth
Are all mugshots public record? Allow us to explain…
The easy truth of the situation is that our government reveals excellent transparency in regard to the criminal background of people. In years past you would have to visit a local county courthouse in order to acquire legal documents such as a mugshot, arrest records, or criminal history report. However, nowadays, it has become all too easy. Even the law enforcement agencies and law enforcement agency websites have direct access to criminal investigation records, arrest records, and mugshots online.
Virtually anybody with $10 and an online connection can find your house address, telephone numbers, email address, and plenty of other private pieces of info including criminal charges, arrest records. But in regards to mugshots, as a result of the notorious sites such as BustedMugshots or even Mugshots.com. It’s become too easy to find another individual’s mugshot online.
Let us dive into the background behind how this happened and where your personal information and criminal charges may be hiding out on the dark web.
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What’s known as Public Record?
All court records, from authorities cases to estate actions, are generally public documents. Such records are enrolled with or maintained by a governmental office, sheriff’s office, police department, or law enforcement agencies, and available for evaluation by any taxpayers in the neighborhood. These include things like sex offenders and the sex offender registry, public deed listings, and other publicly available information.
Your booking photo and arrest record are also considered public records. Law enforcement make mugshots public records so they can use those mugshots public records in other cases. Law enforcement can use them for future photo lineups and other uses in their investigation work.
By way of instance, if you are interested in buying a new residence, you can collect the last owner’s name. You can achieve that by researching the county’s property reports in your district accounts or county clerk’s office, the majority of the time these may be found online thinking about these records are public documents.
However, particular documents or information might be redacted from the public eye. Since it adheres to the confidentiality or privacy exemption clauses inside a specific state or federal law.
FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) provides these databases with all the freedom to lawfully collect public documents from inside a national agency.
Regardless of whether the public document has been created by the agency or directly gathered by them. To be able to acquire this information, you have to send them a signed application or request. However, most counties throughout the United States do not require any such form to be mailed. You can simply walk into the district office and request it.
Under the FOIA, it is possible to ask about any public documents conceived or obtained by that particular agency. You might likewise be asked to pay a fee, however, that is rare and very uncommon.
Exclusions By FOIA
Your liberty to accumulate reports under FOIA isn’t without bounds. Documents might be excluded from public documents under specific conditions. For instance, it might result in an undesirable intrusion of another person’s privacy or is related to a topic of national safety.
Also, if the charges or case has been sealed or expunged you will NOT be able to access these reports.
How to Obtain Public Records
Ordinarily, a public document is a report filed with any specific town, county, state, or national government office. In layman’s terms, public records are just reports that anybody may receive. Although public records are normally records. These documents may consist of anything from maps to documents, to movies, photos, tapes, applications, letters, novels, along with criminal records listing the person arrested, and so forth.
Court records are a popular example of public records. As an illustration, in the event that you found your next-door neighbor, let’s call him Max, he was detained for a violent national charge a couple of decades back. It is possible to inquire to get a copy of those public records to find out more about the incident. Sometimes, these findings can only be seen or gathered online. Florida and Maryland allow the public to search for arrest reports even from mobile phones.
Moreover, you can scour the web for bankruptcy issues by using the database called PACER. Mugshots can help others when they’re looking to find a specific individual. However, mugshots can frighten the local community if an individual was discharged while considered dangerous. This reason alone is why we saw the emergence of mugshot publication websites back in earlier 2015.
Our judicial system anticipates transparency from the national constitution. Any effort to maintain mugshots independently would end in suits by people affected. But this didn’t alter the mugshot industry in the slightest.
Our Process
Since these are mugshots and public records, the backlash onto an individual’s career or social life can be devastating. The court clearly says websites that place mugshots online, in its own analysis. Mugshots.com being one of the primary mugshot publication sites was contained on that list. This website charges a minimum of $300 to remove a mugshot from its database.
Some countries have enacted laws to restrict the number of published mugshots prior to the case being settled. One of those states is New Jersey. The whole notion of public documents would be to skip the authorities and start collecting money from individuals.
In the past, the notion of “public record” was created to protect the people. Now it is used entirely against them when applying for a job, buying a new home or even dating online. Since it surely does when you’ve got a secretive government. But, in addition, it may still cause harm in the electronic age we’re experiencing now.
The internet extends both ways, individuals wish to have the ability to find whatever they desire online. However, if the data makes them look bad there’s an uproar, complete catch-22.
As citizens of the United States, we have the liberty to spot issues through freedom of expression. Although nowadays individuals are beginning to use public records and mugshots for monetary gain.
Removing Mugshots From Public Records
Mugshot posts normally start to surface online about two weeks after the arrest. Addressing this mugshot online immediately provides you with leverage when working to eliminate criminal records from public documents.
Through advanced background checks, it’s likely your criminal background will disclose itself. Sites like WhitePages or Spokeo show everything from the title, criminal background, relatives, home addresses, etc. Our mugshot removal staff may notify all search results instantly after the removal of your public documents.
Reach out to the website owner to remove your information However, with the thousands of emails, these mugshot publication websites receive day after day your message will most likely get buried in their inbox.
Let GuaranteedRemoval do the heavy lifting for you. With over 10+ years of experience, we provide a 100% removal guaranteed. What do you have to lose? Receive your FREE MUGSHOTS REMOVAL ANALYSIS.
How GuaranteedRemoval Works
If you’d like to find out more about ways to operate to get rid of public documents such as mugshots on the internet, please fill out the form below and we’ll contact you when we could.
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Facts About the Mugshot Industry
Get the Facts About the Mugshot Industry
Do you know the facts about the mugshot industry? These databases exist on the dark web, purely so the owners of the website can profit off your misfortune. What can you do today to stop the spread of your mugshots and personal information across the internet? Let us help. After an individual is arrested the odds are that their mugshots and booking data will surface on Google, Bing, and Yahoo.
Most individuals are swift when calling this industry a scam and for many reasons that characteristic seems fitting. Most of the smaller removal “firms” will insist that they can extract several kinds of information online without being incompetent. Yet following 90-days or 3 months you begin having difficulty communicating with them and they go M.I.A. By definition, a scam is a dishonest business plan. There are several mugshot publication websites that have engaged in unethical and criminal actions to refine themselves financially (i.e. the owners of mugshots.com).
Understanding how mugshots are public knowledge that can be collected from local law enforcement offices, there is nothing illegal here (just immoral and unethical).
However, there are a plethora of reputable agencies that can support you throughout this process. Be sure to read reviews on each company, in addition, and make sure the work is 100% guaranteed. Choose the business you trust. There are no regulations defending the arrestees, regrettably, as long as the data presented on each website was considered public records at the time in which it was posted, these websites are within their constitutional rights to publish and distribute this content (except for a few states).
These websites must update their databases respectively to ensure they are displaying the most up-to-date accurate information.
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Mugshot Industry Average Cost
After you have unveiled all of the websites that are actively dispensing your arrest information you can begin to contact each one independently. This can be done through email, phone, or via a contact form directly on their website. Essentially all of the websites within the mugshot industry include a “Contact Us” or “Terms of Use” where they publish their contact information.
Commonly known, mugshot websites carry a fee from removing information from their websites. The fee can be anywhere between $200 to $600 for the removal of a single post (for one arrest). These charges are variable and vary periodically depending on the “cordiality” of the website owner. Overall, the medium cost for a total mugshot removal (5-10 websites) fluctuates between roughly $1,000 to $2,5000+ depending on the outcome of the case and the severity of the allegations.
For instance, if you were arrested in Florida you will find your mugshot on roughly 10-15 websites. Depending on the county that is. If you were arrested in Miami you will appear on more websites then if you were arrested in Sarasota. BustedMugshots.com charges roughly $300 per mugshot! Florida, accompanied by Texas, North Carolina, and Arizona are the most serious states when it comes to mugshots online. They post everything, everywhere and why? Who knows.
Reputation Management Do’s & Dont’s
When it comes to getting the results you want, here at GuaranteedRemoval, we believe everyone deserves a second chance, a fresh start at life. That is why our legal team will work around the clock to ensure we do anything and everything possible to remove your arrest records online.
Many websites claim that they can erase the content in 60 minutes or overnight. If that does that scream scam at you, I don’t know what else will. For someone to guarantee such a timeframe, they would need to know without a doubt that the site will comply. Google does not re-crawl websites every day so that is a false promise right off the back.
Mug Shot Website Removal Alternatives
At this point, you can already tell that there is a lot of work set forth in order to successfully combat the mugshot industry. That is why is it necessary to be informed of the facts about the mugshot industry. If you cannot figure out how to remove a mugshot online do not worry there are alternative routes you can take. These may not be as thriving but will aid in “covering out” any and all negative information online.
By generating supplementary positive content online, our team here at GuaranteedRemoval can flood out any morose pieces of data ranking online. If you are working to suppress something off the first page you would utilize high authority sites to “outrank” the unwanted content. Use sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram to help get your photos and/or blog articles on Google. If you have tried to remove a harmful post but failed, give us a call at GuaranteedRemoval. Our 100% free comprehensive analysis will immediately uncover any and all harmful websites.
Within 7 days they will be removed and it will be as if they never existed. It is time you finally landed that dream job.
What You Should Know About The Mugshot Industry
If you have ever been arrested there is an increased risk that your mug shot is being viewed on Google! The odds are that if you are reading this article, this is probably you. All arrest data is deemed public information, so these sites within the mugshot industry are unfortunately not breaking any laws. As ludicrous as that sounds it’s true. There is no legal stance you can take, for this reason alone, hiring an attorney is pointless. The most popular misunderstanding we recognize is users who venture onto these sites and right away assuming that the individual was guilty. A mugshot site or booking photo is simply a footnote for the individual and the incident.
If someone has a mugshot online that DOES NOT mean they were convicted. Most people are discharged right after taking their mugshot and never see the interior of a cell. This is an excellent illustration of how chaotic the internet is. Producing sites that distribute mugshots and booking information. Only to have that person pay them to have it removed or it remains online indefinitely. What a world we live in…
Most of the webmasters are individuals such as you or myself. Last year, Thomas Keesee, the owner of mugshots.com was arrested for extorting money from individuals. California attorney generals ordered Keesee and Sahar Sarid to numerous fines from profiting off of someone else ( i.e. mugshot removals, money laundering, and much more). No further criminal charges were implemented, however, the mugshot industry leaders now have an extensive criminal record. How ironic. More websites like mugshots.com have become more lenient with removals.
Why Are Mugshots Online?
Mug shots and booking data are considered public knowledge as we quickly broadcasted earlier. If you would prefer to receive an arrest record for a family or friend (or even a potential date) all you would have to do is venture over to Google. Type in their full name followed by “arrest”, and voila. Unless the charges were expunged, you will be presented with all of the incident details from the arrest.
Once a website collects your data they are free to do with it as they want. The websites within the mugshot industry are sadly protected by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). There have been many ordinances executed over the past many months in an attempt to decrease the spread of arrest information. These state laws include, not paying for mugshot removals. Consequently enough, webmasters are now NOT removing anything (not what the state expected). Furthermore, the rule set in place made it illegal to charge for mugshot removals, not to publish them.
Nevertheless, if your case was dismissed or expunged nearly all of these websites will approve your request and remove the negative information.
Locating Your Mugshot Online
First, begin with a general Google search. Type in all distinct ways to spell your name. This will give you a clear picture of what websites have published your mugshots online.
- John Smith OR John D. Smith OR John Doe Smith
Following, insert keywords such as arrest or mugshot after those variations. This helps to further refine your search results. After you believe you have a finalized list, examine it as this should consist of about 5-10 different sites. You may just be on one website, so don’t waste a lot of time looking, you can always repeat the process later if one should surface
What Steps You Can Take to Delete it
Nonetheless, once you are confident with the list you compiled it is always a great decision to have a third party company double-check. GuaranteedRemoval will give you a FREE ANALYSIS that reveals all of the websites that have published your arrest content online. All of our solutions are 100% risk-free guaranteed. As GR’s removal experts will have your online reputation back to normal in no time at all!