Florida Mugshot Removal

Florida mugshot removal is getting easier by leveraging Florida’s mugshot law. Enforcement of the law does not seem to be a priority for law enforcement officials in Florida.

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In fact, the Flagler County sheriff keeps the image of anyone they arrest public on their New Order system. Lee County Sherriff officials publicly state on their website that photos (mug shots) and arrest information are public records and can only be removed by F.S.S. 119 exemption, court order, or expunction. This is regardless of your case outcome. To file for an expunction, you will need to contact the Lee County Clerk of Court. Once the record is sealed or expunged, please allow two to four weeks for the Lee County Sheriff’s Office to be notified, and the record will be removed. Website arrest information reflects publicly available arrest information and does not reflect the disposition of a criminal case. For the disposition of a criminal case, please contact the Lee County Clerk of Court. This creates the need for a balance between public safety and a need to know.

Every year, hundreds of people in Florida are arrested for various crimes. Unfortunately, the information about their arrest is often
published online, sometimes even on a mugshot gallery page. This can lead to many negative consequences down the line, including being refused employment or housing. Luckily, it is possible to have these posts removed by filing a petition under Florida’s “Unlawful Posting of Personal Information” statute. The law states: A person commits unlawful posting if he knowingly publishes personal information on any website accessible via a computer network without first obtaining consent from each individual whose image appears in such publication. In other words, you must get permission before publishing someone else’s picture and/or name. If your case goes to court, there are two ways that this could be proven. First, you would need to show that they posted the photo themselves. Second, you can prove it was done with their knowledge or consent. This is not an easy task because most people do not realize how much damage can occur when photos are published online.

In Florida or other states with strong public record laws, anyone can come along and publish a mugshot and leave it online. This simple search of your name can result in pages of personal information on people arrested, people charged with a crime, and those who have been taken into custody. Many people are unaware that a mugshot is technically a crime scene photo and can be accessed by anyone with an internet connection and a desire to search online for public arrest records.

Florida Mugshot Removal Law

We imagine that eventually all states or at least a federal statute will abolish this savage practice of publishing a booking photo in the hopes of a person finding it and eventually paying a fee for its removal. Of all the ways to make money, this is one of the easiest ways to make enemies. We have always stood by the position that this type of blackmail errors on the side of illegal in the sense that no one can profit or make money from your image other than yourself or individuals that you grant that permission. One can only hope that this is a sign of the times to come as our lawmakers finally put an end to this unethical nonsense. Google and the payment processors have done their part after the Wired expose piece that was published on the industry.

Criminal History Records; Prohibiting a person or entity engaged in publishing or disseminating arrest booking photographs from soliciting or accepting a fee or other payment to remove a photograph; authorizing a person whose arrest booking photograph is published to request in writing that it be removed; requiring the Criminal Justice Information Program to administratively seal the criminal history records of an adult or a minor upon notification by the clerk of the court under specified circumstances, etc.

Florida Representative Jason Fischer (R -Duval) proposed a new bill that would force mugshot websites and other booking sites to remove booking photos upon request by the person in the photograph. Any publisher that fails to comply with a written removal request within ten days is subject to a civil penalty. Failure to comply with the request would result in a $1000 daily penalty until the mugshot is taken down. To develop the bill, Fischer collaborated with Aaron Bean, a Florida State Representative, and Blake Mathesie (a Florida law student).

This bill will offer a second chance for thousands of people whose lives and reputations have been damaged by websites that publish arrest photos. This bill requires such publications to remove mugshots within ten days of receiving a sanctioned request.

What happens if the sites refuse to remove the mugshot within 10 days?

The website can be sued for an injunction requiring it to remove your mugshot. If it does not comply, the judge who is presiding over the case can fine the company up to $1,000 per day.

In some cases, the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act allows you to sue a website. Some mugshot websites have changed their policies to not accept payments for the removal of mugshots. Some site records can be deleted by simply giving dismissal or expungement documentation granted by a Judge. RemoveMyMugshot.org can convince websites in many cases to remove mugshots with help from our legal team. Predatory websites search public archives, news sites, and databases of arrest records from law enforcement for mugshot images, then publish them online. These images remain online if nothing is done to remove them.

On October 2021, Florida’s mugshot removal law allowed individuals to request that their booking and arrest photos be removed from public and private databases. In order to make a request under the law, you need to:

• Submit a written request
• The request must be sent by registered mail and include “sufficient proof of identification of the person whose arrest booking photograph was published or otherwise disseminated and specific information identifying the arrest booking photograph that the written request is seeking to remove.”
• Within 10 calendar days after receipt of the request for removal, the publisher must remove the mugshot for free and cannot republish it.
• The law states “if the arrest record and photograph is not removed within 10 calendar days after receipt of the written request for removal. The court may impose a civil penalty of $1,000 per day for noncompliance”.

How Can Mugshots Be Removed From The Internet In Florida?

In general, mugshots can be removed from the internet in Florida with a court order. If a person has a mugshot online and needs to have it removed, they should contact a local attorney to help them obtain the proper legal paperwork. The attorney will advise them on how to proceed and what they need to do. The attorney will also likely charge a fee for this service.

Other Methods To Remove A Mugshot In Florida

Mugshot removal in Florida is governed by state law. Anyone can petition to have mugshots removed in cases where the charges were dismissed, the case was adjudicated without judgment, or upon a reversal from an appellate court. The Miami-Dade County Clerk’s office has a mugshot removal process on its website. In order to remove your mugshot, you must fill out and submit a form with all of the necessary details about why you want it taken down. If approved, they will send you a letter stating that your mugshot has been deleted.

To do this, you need to take a picture of yourself, post it on a variety of different social media websites, and share it with your friends. These photo-based sites include Facebook, Pinterest, WordPress, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Instagram, and other websites. It is important to replace the content of your mugshot with more relevant content. Use alt tags on your images to ensure that you do not lose these elements if the content changes. Don’t forget to add your name to the photos. Wait for a few months and the tags and name will replace the content. The most important tip for avoiding a mugshot is to begin a website, using your own name and a photo. This will create new information about you, pushing up the old mugshots and bringing them If they keep doing the same things, they get lower and lower in the rankings.

Does An Expungement Delete An Online Mugshot?

A mugshot will not be deleted online if you have an expungement. Your mugshot will not be deleted if you plead not guilty. Even if you are cleared of criminal charges, your mugshot will remain on the internet. Expungement paperwork can help expedite the removal process and tilt the process in your favor. However, an expungement is not necessary for the removal of booking information published on third party mugshot websites.

Florida law makes it clear that sealed and expunged cases are confidential. Therefore, any individual or company, including search engines, must remove all traces of your arrest online. We guarantee that the company, agency, and search engines comply with requests to remove your arrest.

If you don’t take action, even after an expungement, your mugshot may still appear in a search online. This can have a negative impact on future employment, relationships, and housing.

Are Third-Party Mugshot Sites Reliable?

Mugshot websites are not trustworthy. Mugshot publishers are often extortionate companies that charge a lot of money to remove the same image that they published online.

Hiring a reputation management company that specializes in content removal to remove your mugshots on the internet gives you a level of confidence that is not possible with unlicensed or unregulated websites or lawyers who do not practice IP or copyright law. Contact us about removing your mugshot from the internet if you want peace of mind. We offer free consultations to people who want to remove their online mugshots.

Can An Attorney Remove My Online Mugshot?

A lawyer can certainly help you remove your mugshot from the Internet, but it is like using an axe when you need a scalpel. A lawyer is best used for websites that refuse to comply with the law and remove harmful images from the internet. Sites like YakBatFox, the Montgomery Police Reporter, STLMugshots, and the Georgia Gazette may require the threat of legal council to remove an image online. But in every instance where we have relied on in-house counsel the mere threat of legal action has yielded results without actually having to ever rely on the courts.

Demand letters are very effective in removing your mugshot and your criminal defense lawyer may not know how to properly draft a letter for the removal of a mugshot. Intellectual Property Law does not overlap with criminal law in any way and an improper demand letter can make you look foolish and result in the recipient ignoring your letter.

Can A Mugshot Be Removed From The Internet?

A mugshot may be removed from the Internet. You should seek professional help to remove an online mugshot. The process can be complex and difficult. A recent Florida Law gives Floridians the legal right to ask for mugshots removed from websites. This law is mostly aimed at sites that only publish mugshots.

A mugshot removal request is subject to certain rules and parameters according to state law. A company may be held responsible for retaining your mugshot after receiving the removal request. The company is not allowed to republish a mugshot once the photo has been removed. A website or agency that does not follow the rules could face civil penalties. A reputable company like RemoveMyMugshot.org can help you remove your mugshot and ensure that your rights are being protected.

Criminal Defense Attorney Mugshot Scare Tactics

A criminal arrest can be stressful and embarrassing. It can also affect your future employment prospects. You’re probably worried about the impact of an arrest on your future, as well as how you will navigate through your criminal arrest.

Finding your booking photo in jail online can worsen the situation. The mugshot remains online even if criminal charges are dropped. Your mugshot remains online even if you are found not guilty. If you’ve been arrested in Florida for a misdemeanor charge or a felony, your mugshot can most likely be found online.

Once your mugshot has been posted online, it can remain there, regardless of whether you were arrested wrongfully, found innocent, or criminal charges have been dropped. If you don’t take steps to remove mugshots, they can remain online for an indefinite period of time.

Many Florida Criminal Defense Attorneys claim to be able to help you remove your mugshot. Photos of mugshots and the information they contain are public records. Even if a person is released or has been bonded out of prison, mugshots may still be posted online.

Criminal defense lawyers in Florida generally will not talk to you unless you have an ongoing case with them and plan on retaining their services. They will scare you into thinking that you need a lawyer to remove mugshots published online. They do this in an attempt to increase their caseload and increase their bottom line. In most instances, lawyers simply reach out to reputation management companies like us for assistance in the removal for their clients.

You Don’t Need Florida Criminal Defense Lawyers to Remove Mugshots

If you were to use a lawyer to remove a mughot online a criminal defense lawyer would be impractical and could cause you more harm than good as they may exacerbate the situation by not knowing the proper tactics for the removal of booking information from a third party website. In 97% of removals, we never have to use our in-house legal team for the removal of booking information appearing on the internet.

We have helped many people in Florida and around the country remove their mugshots from the Internet. We will fight to ensure that you get the best results.

Alex Adekola and the team at RemoveMyMugshot.org are available for a no-cost consultation today. We offer global solutions in a dynamic world. We will review your arrest and your online mugshot to help you decide the best way to remove it. Even if charges are dropped, it can be stressful to see your mugshot on the internet. Call us today to set up a no-obligation appointment to discuss the removal of your mugshot.