Mugshots and Arrest Records Online: What You Can Actually Do About Them

Why arrest information follows people

An arrest creates records quickly, often before anyone knows how the case will end. A booking photo and charge are posted by a sheriff's office or jail. Private sites copy those posts automatically. A local news outlet may run a short item from the police log. Background-check and people-search companies gather court and arrest data and attach it to profiles. Weeks or months later the charges may be dropped, reduced, or end in acquittal, but most of those copies never get updated.

That's why so many people find a mugshot under their name for a case that went nowhere. The record of the arrest spreads widely, while the outcome is only written down in a courthouse file. The work in this guide is mostly about closing that gap: putting the real outcome on paper and getting the places that copied the arrest to reflect it, remove it, or stop charging you to deal with it.

Keep in mind what an arrest is and isn't. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's guidance states plainly that the fact of an arrest doesn't establish that criminal conduct occurred, and that many arrests never lead to charges or end in dismissal. That doesn't make every record disappear, but it's a fair starting point for how you talk about it, and for how you ask other people to treat it.

First, figure out what you're dealing with

Search your full name in quotes in a private browser window, then add your city, the year of the arrest, and words like arrest, mugshot, and booking. Check the Images tab, because booking photos often rank there even when the page itself doesn't. Look at the first two pages of results on a phone as well as a computer. For each result, record the page address, the date you found it, and which of these it is: a government site, a private mugshot or arrest-listing site, a news story, a background-check or people-search listing, or a social post.

Then check whether it's actually you. Arrest listings are produced in bulk and mix up people with similar names surprisingly often. If a listing belongs to someone else with your name, the work is different: it's about making your own identity clear, which our same-name guides cover in detail. If it is you, note the date of arrest, the agency, and the charge exactly as listed, because you'll need them for every request.

Finally, write one sentence describing the outcome of your case: charges never filed, dismissed, acquitted, reduced, completed a diversion program, convicted, sealed, or expunged. That sentence decides almost everything else in this guide.

Get the outcome of your case on paper

Before you contact anyone, get documents that prove how the case ended. The court clerk in the county where the case was handled can usually provide a certified copy of the disposition, the record of how a case was resolved. If charges were never filed, the prosecutor's office or the arresting agency may be able to confirm that in writing. If a court sealed or expunged the record, get a copy of that order.

These papers are your leverage. A short, polite request with a dismissal order attached is far more likely to be acted on than an angry message. In several states, documentation of a particular outcome is exactly what triggers a legal duty to remove a booking photo at no charge. News outlets reviewing an old story will usually ask for it too, as will background-check companies when you dispute an entry.

Sealing and expungement: the strongest step, where you qualify

Most states offer some way to seal or expunge certain records, especially arrests that didn't lead to conviction, and some have moved toward automatic sealing for qualifying cases. The rules vary a great deal: which offenses qualify, how long you must wait, whether there's a fee, and what sealing actually does. A sealed or expunged record generally can't be shared by the court the way it was before, and many states limit how it can be used in decisions about jobs or housing.

Sealing doesn't automatically scrub copies that private sites, newsrooms, or data companies already made. What it does is give you a clear, official basis for asking each of them to remove or update what they have, and in some states it creates a legal duty for certain publishers to act. If you think you might qualify, contact your local legal aid office, a public defender's office, or a criminal defense attorney; many areas also hold record-clearing clinics. This is general information, not legal advice. Laws on records, sealing, and publication differ by state and change over time, so talk to an attorney or a legal aid office about your own situation.

Private mugshot sites

Private mugshot and arrest-listing sites copy booking photos from government sites and publish them under your name. Some take photos down on request, especially with proof of dismissal, acquittal, or sealing. Some have charged people for removal, a practice that led to laws and enforcement in several states.

Those laws are real but uneven. California's Civil Code section 1798.91.1 makes it unlawful for anyone publishing booking photos to solicit or accept a fee from the person pictured to remove, correct, or stop publishing the photo. Illinois law prohibits charging to remove, correct, or modify criminal record information, including arrest photos. Georgia requires commercial sites to remove a booking photo at no charge within 30 days of a written request in eight specific situations, such as when charges were dismissed or the person was acquitted. Other states have their own rules, and some have none.

Google also has a policy aimed at these sites. If a page about you is on a site that requires payment to remove content, and it isn't a business review site, you can ask Google to consider removing that page from its results through its removal form. Google has said it also uses these removals as a signal to rank such sites lower. The page may still exist on the site itself and on other search engines, so this works best alongside a request to the site. Our guide to getting a mugshot taken down walks through each step and request.

News stories about an arrest

News coverage is handled differently. Newsrooms generally don't delete accurate reporting on request, and they have good reasons to be cautious. But many will update a story to add the outcome of a case, such as a dismissal or acquittal, and some have formal programs for reviewing old coverage of minor incidents. The Boston Globe's Fresh Start initiative, launched in 2021, lets people ask for older stories to be updated, anonymized, or removed from search engines, with decisions made case by case. The Associated Press said in 2021 that it would stop naming suspects in brief stories about minor crimes it was unlikely to follow up on.

The best request is short and specific: the story's address, what it says, how the case ended, a copy of the document proving it, and a clear ask for an update or a review under the outlet's policy. Our guide to old arrest stories includes a structure for that message and what to expect from different kinds of outlets.

Government sites, background checks, and people-search listings

Sheriff, jail, and court websites usually follow retention rules set by law or local policy. Some take booking photos down after a set period; others keep them indefinitely. Ask the agency's records office what its policy is, and whether a sealing or expungement order requires it to remove the entry.

Background-check companies that prepare reports for employers and landlords are covered by the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. Under that law they generally can't include arrest records older than seven years, or longer if the statute of limitations hasn't run out, though the limit doesn't apply to convictions or to certain jobs paying $75,000 a year or more. You have the right to see what's in a report used against you and to dispute inaccurate or incomplete entries. People-search sites are different: most let you opt out of their listings, which our privacy guides explain step by step. Our guide to arrest records and background checks covers both in detail.

What not to do

Don't pay a site that posted your photo to take it down. Payment rewards the practice, may not stop the photo from reappearing on related sites, and in some states the demand itself is unlawful. Be careful with services that promise to remove mugshots for a fee; some have been connected to the sites that post them, and many simply send the same requests you can send yourself.

Don't send threatening messages you can't back up, and don't misstate your case's outcome. A calm, documented request is more effective, and it protects your credibility if you need to escalate. Don't create fake profiles or sites to push results down; search engines treat that as spam, and it tends to surface at the worst moment.

Telling your current story

Whatever you can or can't remove, you can make sure people who search your name see who you are now. An accurate personal website on a domain you own, consistent professional profiles, and current work or community involvement give searchers context and often rank well for your name. This isn't about hiding anything; it's about making sure one moment isn't the only thing a stranger sees.

If the arrest might come up with an employer, landlord, or client, prepare a brief, honest explanation: what happened, how the case ended, and what you've done since. EEOC guidance encourages employers to give people a chance to explain before making a final decision based on criminal history, and some states and cities limit when employers can ask about it. Having your explanation and your paperwork ready turns a stressful moment into a short conversation.

How we can help, and what we won't promise

Our Recover plan ($129 to start, then $159 a month) is meant for concerning results like these. It includes a staff-reviewed plan that maps your results, points you to the legitimate route for each one, and builds an accurate site and profiles that show the present. We'll tell you plainly which results are likely to change and which probably won't. If you'd rather have more of that work done up front, Recover Launch is a one-time $695 package: a 5-page site on your own domain, 6 articles or profile pages from your approved facts, and a 60-day check-in with a fresh audit. It's more work sooner, not a promise to remove or outrank anything. We don't promise that any record, photo, or story will be removed, and we don't offer legal advice; for sealing, expungement, or a legal claim, talk to an attorney or legal aid. This is general information, not legal advice. Laws on records, sealing, and publication differ by state and change over time, so talk to an attorney or a legal aid office about your own situation.