County Run Mugshot Lookup Ruled Unconstitutional

 Posted on June 30, 2025 in Legal

In September of 2024, the Ninth Circuit ended a longstanding practice of many law enforcement agencies in Arizona—posting mugshots online. Previously, many counties posted mugshots online, along with identifying information such as name, height, weight, etc. Often, the mugshots would be posted with the list of charges for which the person was arrested. These posts harm someone’s reputation, affect their ability to get jobs, cause embarrassment and taint the potential jury pool.

The Ninth Circuit has ruled this practice unconstitutional in a recent case, Houston v. Maricopa County of Arizona. In Houston, the Court reviewed Maricopa County’s process of posting mugshots with identifying information and leaving it up for three days after an arrest, even if the person was released before then. In this case, Houston was arrested and never prosecuted, but his image, charges, and more were posted online for 72 hours. That was long enough for at least one third party website to capture and repost the information.

The State argued that they should be allowed to post the information for transparency purposes.  The Court was unconvinced that this practice advanced "transparency" by law enforcement in any way and ruled the practice unconstitutional.

The Mugshot Lookups were especially harmful for people who were never prosecuted following their arrest. The Court focused its ruling on the public exposure and humiliation of people who are presumed innocent.

Following this ruling, the other counties have also stopped posting mugshots on Mugshot Lookups, including Pima County and Cochise County.

By labeling people as criminals prior to a shred of evidence being offered in Court, these counties stripped the citizens of Arizona of a very basic right:  that we are all presumed innocent until proven guilty.  If you or a loved one is charged with a crime, you want an attorney who will fight for your right to be presumed innocent. Contact The Behan Law Group today at 520-220-5047.