Guide

The mugshot removal request, state by state

Checked 2026-08-25

Most valid claims fail on procedure, not on merit. The statutes specify how the request must be delivered and what it must contain, and a request sent the wrong way never starts the clock.

The delivery method is part of the law

Florida requires a written request by registered mail to the publisher's registered agent, with proof of identity and identification of the specific photograph. Ten calendar days run from receipt.

Georgia requires certified mail or statutory overnight delivery, and the request must state your name, date of birth, date of arrest and the arresting agency. Thirty days.

South Carolina requires certified mail. Thirty days, and where charges were reduced rather than dropped, a free revision rather than removal.

Illinois requires a certified-mail demand, after which errors must be corrected within five business days.

Texas works differently: the publisher must publish a dispute contact and verify a disputed record free of charge, completing the investigation within 45 business days and giving written notice of the result within five business days after that.

Utah runs two tracks — 30 days with a fee capped at $50 in the ordinary case, seven days and no fee at all where the case was dismissed, you were acquitted, or the record was expunged.

What to include

Identify yourself and the specific listing by URL. Attach proof of identity. Attach a certified copy of the disposition — dismissal, acquittal, expungement order — where the statute's duty depends on it, which in Georgia, South Carolina and Utah it does.

State the statute by citation and the deadline it imposes. Publishers handle volume; a request that names the section and the date the clock expires is treated differently from one that does not.

Keep the delivery receipt. The deadline runs from delivery, and if you later need an injunction the receipt is the evidence that it started.

If the deadline passes

The remedies differ more than people expect. Florida escalates through an injunction to $1,000 per day, and $5,000 per day if the photograph is republished after removal, with attorney fees and costs awarded to a prevailing requester. Arizona's penalties escalate on their own schedule — at least $100 per day for the first 30 days, $200 for the next 30, $500 per day thereafter — which means patience increases the number. South Carolina's provision is criminal, with each record and each payment a separate violation. Virginia gives a civil action for the greater of $500 or actual damages, plus fees.

Fee-shifting is the practical point. Where the statute awards attorney fees, a claim that would not justify hiring a lawyer on its own becomes one that might.

The problem is usually finding someone to serve

Statutory demands run to a registered agent, a principal place of business, or an operator's primary residence. That is where these letters most often fail, and the reason has nothing to do with the law.

Of the seventeen publishers we examined, most name no company, no officer and no address anywhere on the site, sitting behind a registrar's privacy shield with an email address as the only contact. One names a Nevada company in its terms while its registry record lists a residence in Bulgaria, and the two do not reconcile. Where an operator is identifiable it is usually because a court filing or a press investigation named them, not because the site did. So identifying who to serve is the first piece of work, not the last, and any quote that does not address it is a quote for sending an email into a contact form.

One caution before you send anything. At least one site in this category warns in its own terms that legal threats it considers frivolous may be met by publishing additional public records about the sender. Read the specific site's terms first.

Common questions

Can I send it by email?

Not if you want the statutory clock to start. Florida specifies registered mail to the registered agent; Georgia, South Carolina and Illinois specify certified mail. Email may work as a courtesy; it does not satisfy the statute.

Do I need a lawyer to send it?

No. These are requests you can make yourself, and where a statute gives you a free removal right we would rather you used it. A lawyer becomes useful when the deadline passes and you need an injunction — and several statutes shift fees to the publisher if you prevail.

What if my state has no statute?

Then there is no deadline to enforce, and the route is the site's own policy, a search-engine request where the site charges for removal, or an expungement order. Our state pages say plainly which states have nothing on point.

Try the free route first

If the page is already down and the search result has not caught up, this is the fix, and it is free. The part almost nobody knows: you must NOT own the page to use it. That is what it is for. It is refused while the text is still on the live page, so wait until the page is genuinely gone.

Open Google’s Refresh Outdated Content tool

Sources

Every claim on this page traces to the sources above, checked on 2026-08-25. Rules in this area change — several of the ones on this page changed in the last three years. If you find something here that is out of date, tell us and we will fix it.