Are you wondering how to find past mugshots for free and have them taken down? If your arrest records, mugshots or vital records about your criminal history are in online databases, they could cause damage to your digital reputation. In this article, learn how to find past mugshots for free and arrest records online to remove them and protect your online presence.
Anyone who has been arrested faces the issue of having their personal information, public records, arrest records, mugshots, and other vital records online and accessible to whoever wants to find them. When this information appears in Google search results, it could cause damage to your personal or professional reputation.
This can make it difficult to do anything from trying out online dating to getting a new job or growing a business you’ve put your heart and soul into.
Online mugshot websites proudly display recent mugshot images for anyone and everyone to access. If someone is able to see your criminal records, it can destroy that stellar first impression you want to make.
Add to that the negative impact that arrest records, mugshots and background checks could have on your dating, employment, and housing opportunities. It becomes clear why you need to remove your mugshots online.
Your Personal Data Can Be Found By Anyone
Today, people can find information on any topic you can imagine. That includes your arrest records, arrest photos, court records and criminal history.
First, it’s easy to Google someone’s name and add “arrest” or “mugshot” to the search.
Second, data broker websites, mugshot websites, sheriff’s office websites and inmate search sites list all sorts of personal information. That includes your address, social media accounts, criminal history, and even financial information. As long as the user is willing to spend around $10 to get information on you, it can be in their hands in seconds.
In this article, we’ll explain how to find arrest records so you can have them removed or suppressed in order to save your online reputation.
If you need help finding mugshots immediately, fill out the form below to contact us or call us at 844-461-3632.
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Why Is It So Easy To Find Arrest Records on Mugshot Sites?
Years ago, you might have had to walk into your local county clerk’s office, sheriff’s office or police department to look at someone’s arrest records, criminal record or court record. In many cases, you had to pay a physical visit to the clerk, county courthouse, or police department to conduct criminal background checks or to search for jail records, criminal history of convicted individuals, or mugshots.
Today, though, you don’t even need to leave the couch to conduct that type of research. Gone are the days when you needed to visit a law enforcement agency to gain access to personal documents or an inmate search tool.
A quick internet search is all a user needs to conduct background checks. This can potentially reveal embarrassing information that can harm your reputation as well as interfere with your ability to find employment, rent a house or take out a loan.
Here are two of the biggest reasons why it’s so easy to access criminal records and other sensitive information via an online search tool.
1. Popular Mugshot Sites Help People Find Arrest Photos
Websites that specialize in posting personal information and publishing mugshots have taken off in popularity in recent years. In some cases, public entities, like your local Department of Corrections, operate these websites. Others are privately owned and operated.
Celebrity mugshots have become a popular addition to the web, too. This gives fans from around the world access to find the arrest records of their favorite movie or television actors.
Users can search millions of records using all sorts of parameters, like:
- Criminal activity
- First and last name
- Location
- Prison records
- When an arrest occurred
All it takes is a few clicks of the mouse to find all sorts of other personal information.
2. Law Enforcement Websites Post Your Public Records
Law enforcement agencies, including the Department of Corrections and the sheriff’s office, may have to legally post your mugshot online, along with your arrest record, criminal details, and other damaging personal information. There are even inmate locator sites, often associated with state or county Department of Corrections websites, where anyone who is facing criminal charges may appear.
These unflattering images may be part of the mugshot public records. Many law enforcement agencies don’t have a choice about whether or not to post them.
Law enforcement entities, such as your local police department, county courthouse, sheriff’s office, or Department of Corrections, are often required by municipal, county or state laws to make their records public. Along with mugshots, other public records information online includes:
- The name of the person arrested and for what crime
- The bond amount of the arrested person
- Date of birth of the arrested individual
- Location of the sheriff’s office or police station where the individual is being held
On the federal level, the U.S. State Department typically does not post information about those arrested for a crime. In fact, the government often supports initiatives to protect individual privacy.
Still, laws in effect at the state level can allow anyone with web access to search for details on others. This includes criminal records, potentially violating their right to privacy.
3. Laws Vary by State
Every state has its own laws regarding access to mugshots. For example, when it comes to free mugshots, Ohio makes it as easy as possible to find them. You can view and obtain Ohio mugshots for free, but you may need to make your request in writing in other states.
Another government entity that may post this type of information and host or publish mugshots is an agency tasked with managing the state sex offender registry.
Sex offenders typically have a wide range of details available about them on the sex offender registry websites operated by local or state governments. Knowing who is a sex offender in your area is a case of public interest, which is why it can be particularly easy to find sex offender data online.
In this case, many people would agree that having the data accessible and searchable is positive. It helps people keep themselves and their loved ones safe.
How To Find Mugshots Free and Remove Them
After working in content removal for more than 10 years, we have perfected the art of digital content removal. We quickly find both county and state records — including mugshots — and help you remove these images from the web for good.
Here are a few steps you can take on your own, but keep in mind that working with an experienced online reputation management (ORM) company is the best way to ensure negative information gets suppressed so people can’t find criminal records and court records for you any longer.
Contact us today at 844-461-3632 to speak with an expert about how to find past mugshots for free.
1. Start With a Basic Online Search
Are you wondering where you can find your mugshots for free to start the process of cleaning up your online reputation?
Your first step should be to Google your name. If you aren’t able to find your court record or arrest records online in the top results, search for something like “[your name] + arrest” or “[your name] + mugshot” to see if that brings up more targeted results.
Anyone can do this sort of basic mugshot search, and you may be able to find arrest records, court records or mugshots in a matter of seconds this way, especially if your local sheriff’s office or police department has them accessible via online sites.
However, know that it may be difficult to find your criminal record or mugshot with a basic online search if you have a common name. In that case, add the location where the arrest took place, like this: [your name] arrest [city, state]
You can also find criminal records using other identifying information, like the location of the arrest or your birth date. Your local police department will typically include this information with arrest details for law enforcement purposes, and it makes your search easier if you have a common name.
Try Looking Beyond Google
If a simple Google search doesn’t turn up your mugshots, that doesn’t mean they don’t exist anywhere online. Go directly to data broker sites and law enforcement sites to conduct your search.
It’s possible that Google hasn’t indexed those personal records yet, and finding them at their source can prevent them from showing up on search engines in the future.
You can search on Google for data broker sites, particularly mugshot sites, and then search in the databases you find for your personal information.
2. Keep Track of the Results
Once you find a few internet resources featuring your mugshot online and other arrest details, create a spreadsheet to keep track of all the web pages where your information occurs. This will make the process of requesting mugshot removal easier and more streamlined.
Also, remember that requesting removal and completing the opt-out process doesn’t guarantee removal. In some cases, the site may simply not comply. In other cases, the site may remove your data, but when it crawls other data brokers in the future, it could re-add it back to the database.
Word of Warning
What you don’t want to do is continue to search for your personal information online and click the same sites over and over because you didn’t keep a running list. All of that engagement can signal to Google that those results are popular, which will make it more difficult to suppress that negative content when it’s time to.
This is why creating a spreadsheet is so helpful. You’ll limit the number of times you click on the link, which will help prevent your sensitive data from ranking higher in search results.
3. Contact the Owners of the Mugshot Websites to Remove Your Info
Once you create your spreadsheet, get in touch with every website where you were able to find a mugshot. Use a tool like DomainTools or ICANN WHOIS to locate the contact information of each website owner.
This procedure can be extremely time-consuming and frustrating, as these websites are not obligated to remove your mugshots, criminal records, official records or public records. In fact, without a compelling legal reason to do so, many website owners will not even entertain removal requests.
Still, it is imperative that you make a request so that the public doesn’t have access to your criminal investigation records.
Alternatively, you can work with removal experts who will find your mugshots and contact official websites and private websites on your behalf. Call us today at 844-461-3632 to discuss your options, and read more about these services below.
4. Use Online Reputation Management Services to Suppress Negative Content and Mugshot Records
Ultimately, arrest records and inmate records, including mugshots, are part of the free public information that’s available on the web. Anyone can search for this information. A mugshot search takes only seconds and can reveal details that harm your digital reputation.
When you’re unable to have mugshots and other types of records removed, the next best strategy is to suppress those negative results. ORM specialists are able to create online platforms, like websites and social media profiles, where fresh content can be regularly published about you.
Over time, and by using the right SEO and content marketing strategies, you can push those negative results down, including those on local news websites and mugshot websites, so they’re not found nearly as easily as before.
The key is to create neutral and positive SEO content that will rank when someone searches for your name. Search engine optimization can be a full-time job on its own, though. You can speak with an SEO expert about content suppression by calling us at 844-461-3632 today.
When To Seek Professional Help To Remove Your Criminal Records
Want to save time and remove your booking photos from search engines? You may need professional help, especially when it comes to complex cases.
For example, some sites continue to provide mugshots and other records regardless of how many times you’ve asked to have them taken down. This could be because:
- Your request was never received
- It was received and ignored
- The site scrapes data from other sites and re-adds your information to its database
- Your personal information is a matter of public interest
Another reason you may want a removal company to work on your behalf is if you can view mugshots of yourself on several websites. Even if you search by name or date of birth on a site and your info no longer shows up there, it could be available on several other sites without you realizing it.
Also, if you’ve had recent arrests, you may be able to view mugshots that are up to date online, even if the basic information that accompanies them is incorrect.
For example, if you were arrested due to mistaken identity, having your arrest record show up when someone does a search by name for you could be misleading. It could look like you committed a criminal act that you actually weren’t involved in.
There are many ways that your private information can show up online and damage your reputation. When the situation feels out of your control, contact NetReputation at 844-461-3632 to discuss a solution.
FAQ About How To Find Past Mugshots for Free
Is publishing arrest records and my criminal record legal?
Unfortunately, yes. There aren’t laws that prevent websites from publishing your arrest information or helping people find your criminal record online. This allows anyone to find your mugshots online for no cost. While some local and state governments have outlawed the practice for private website owners, these laws are rare.
In most cases, the government in your town, city or state has a legal obligation to post public records. Many mugshot sites are organized by county or town records, too. This makes it even easier to search an online database containing mugshots and many other public pieces of information.
Do employers look for arrest records and public records?
Most employers search for publicly available information during the hiring process.
Why? Because searching for a mugshot on a website is a completely free and quick method to get information about anyone. It means that employers can find the information they want without waiting for background checks to clear.
Most formal criminal checks cost money and may take days or weeks to be completed. And though most sites have disclaimers that the records can’t be used during the hiring process, that doesn’t stop employers from doing exactly that.
This is comparable to a potential employer looking you up on Facebook or other social media platforms. If information about you is out there, whether it’s on a legitimate sheriff’s office portal or a low-quality people search site, you can be assured that a potential employer will find it.
It’s hard to defend yourself once an employer finds arrest information or your mugshots online. This is exactly the type of situation in which your past mistakes can come back to haunt you and negatively impact your future.
Are mugshots ever deleted?
Unless you actively seek to have mugshots removed from online databases, sheriff’s office sites, and similar websites, they’re likely to stay up and accessible online indefinitely. People search websites host an enormous amount of personal data. The people who run those sites don’t necessarily remove information and mugshots once they’re posted, even if the data is outdated or incorrect.
How do I remove mugshots from Google Search?
You can request that Google remove a mugshot if there’s a privacy issue. However, it’s not common for Google to take down information that’s part of the public domain. The best way to have your mugshots removed from Google Search is to have them removed from the source.
That means contacting the people-search websites that post the information and asking that they remove it. Once the information is taken down, you can contact Google to ask that they update search results to match what’s actually available online.
It’s helpful to keep records of your communications with the people search websites you contact. Showing Google that the website owner agreed to remove your info may be compelling enough for Google to take action, too.
How To Find Past Mugshots for Free With NetReputation
NetReputation has removed or suppressed online criminal records for over a decade, delivering satisfying results for thousands of clients. We also offer a 100% money-back guarantee in case we’re not able to deliver the results you’re after.
Are all mugshots public record indefinitely? Not necessarily, especially with expert content removal and content suppression services.
The experts at NetReputation use a reliable process to get rid of unwanted online content. That way, nobody will be able to find your arrest records again. We’re here to help you restore the reputation that means so much to you and your business prospects.
Contact us today at 844-461-3632 or fill out the form below for a free consultation about how to find past mugshots for free.
Request a Free Consultation
by Net Reputation
NetReputation was founded in 2014 by Adam Petrilli, a results-driven leader dedicated to empowering individual and business success on the web. Our award-winning process and team of online reputation management specialists allow us to remove, suppress, repair, and monitor your online presence. Within our first two years, we were recognized by some of the world’s leading business publications for our company growth. Today, NetReputation operates offices in Sarasota, Florida; and Kansas City.