Maricopa County Sheriff's Office will no longer post mug shots on its website

MARICOPA COUNTY, Ariz. - Mug shots of people who were arrested in Maricopa County will no longer be published on the sheriff's office website.

It removed all the booking photos on Monday, Sept. 9, after a ruling on Sept. 5 by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

Judges ruled that mug shots posted online can cause people public exposure and humiliation before they've been convicted of a crime.

"These identified photographs are often gathered by other internet sites and thus remain available after they are removed from the County website, even if the arrestee is never prosecuted, let alone convicted. The result is public exposure and humiliation of pretrial detainees, who are presumed innocent and may not be punished before an adjudication of guilt. Our question is whether Maricopa County’s policy of posting photographs of arrestees is constitutionally permissible. We conclude that it is not," a judge said in the ruling.

The case stems from a man named Brian Houston who is suing the sheriff's office. He was arrested by Phoenix Police, accused of assault, back in 2022.

In his complaint, he says his mug shot on the internet permanently damaged his business and personal reputation.

Mug shots posted on the site were visible for three days and included personal information like people's birth date, height and weight.

The court says Houston was never prosecuted on the charges, which were later dropped.