Mugshot removal: what the sites must take down, what Google will drop, and what to do about the rest

Mugshot sites scrape booking photos from county jails and rank for your name. Some charge to remove them, which several states now restrict. Here is how removal actually goes.

1. Get your paperwork

Removal almost always turns on documentation: a dismissal, an acquittal, an expungement or sealing order, or a record showing no charges were filed. Get a certified copy from the clerk. If your case qualifies for expungement and you have not done it, do it first; it unlocks nearly everything below.

2. The site itself

Most large mugshot sites have a removal page or email. Send the document and a two-line request. Many states (including Florida, Texas, Georgia, Oregon and others) have laws that require removal on request or prohibit charging for it; cite your state’s statute if it has one. Keep every email. If the site demands payment where your state prohibits it, that is a complaint to the state attorney general and often enough to get it removed anyway.

3. Google

Even if the site refuses, Google can remove the page from results for your name:

• Outdated content if the page has already come down but still shows in search.
• Personal information removal for pages that expose identifying details, and for content on sites with exploitative removal practices, which is how Google classifies pay-to-remove mugshot sites.

Google’s policy explicitly covers sites that charge to remove content; this request is often granted even when the content is otherwise lawful.

4. What stays

Court records on official government sites and legitimate news coverage of an arrest are lawful and generally stay. For those, the route is suppression: make sure the first page about you is your professional presence, your work and your community, so an old record sits on page three where almost nobody looks.

How long

Site removals with documents: days to a few weeks. Google requests: typically one to three weeks. Suppression of a stubborn news story: three to six months.

We do all of this for a fixed per-item price, charged only when the page is gone.