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Removal guide

How to remove yourself from Mugshots.com

Site
mugshots.com
Category
records (arrest records and booking photographs)
Difficulty
Hard — removal is granted only for "Expungement, Seal, No Information, Record Restriction, Identity Theft or Death"; a not-guilty/dismissed/acquitted outcome is an update, "*not a removal", and the page says no notification is sent when a request is discarded
Time to processup to 10 business days — record-maintenance page: "This process can up to 10 business days", qualified by "fields these requests on a first come first serve basis and does not guarantee the timeliness of the removal"

What they publish

In its own words, "Official Records, specifically booking records, mugshots" republished "in their original form ('as is')" (/about); the record-maintenance page refers to "mugshots/arrest records published within The Mugshots.com Database" and attaches a "Mugshots.com ID" to each record. Favorable or satisfied dispositions are "prominently displayed on all pages relating to your arrest" rather than removed.

Owner / network: Not disclosed on any fetched page — no legal entity, postal address, privacy policy or terms page exists (`/privacy` and `/terms` return 404). The homepage calls the site "A NEWS ORGANIZATION" and `/about` calls it "a search engine for Official Law Enforcement records, specifically arrest records and booking photographs, mugshots". Four operators were criminally charged by the California AG in 2018 over a pay-to-remove scheme . Not in the CPPA data-broker registry — registry.csv fetched 2026-10-10 contains no row referencing mugshots.com (the only "mugshot" registrant is Infomatics LLC's mugshotlook.com, an unrelated site).

Removing yourself, step by step

0 of 7 done
  1. Check which track you qualify for on https://mugshots.com/record-maintenance: "Mugshots/Arrest records are only removed with Expungement, Seal, No Information, Record Restriction, Identity Theft or Death." Any other outcome (not guilty, dismissal, acquittal, pardon, satisfied sentence) can only be added as an update to the page.
  2. Obtain the court document the page demands: an expungement/seal/restriction order or identity-theft finding "signed by a judge and sealed by the court and be legible"; for a deceased relative, a certified death certificate.
  3. Note the "Mugshots.com ID" shown on your own listing and its URL (do this yourself in a normal browser; our tooling never opens listings).
  4. Removal (expungement, seal, no-information, restriction, identity theft, death): email the scan plus the Mugshots.com ID to mugshots.com1@gmail.com. Updates (favorable or satisfied dispositions): email docverify1@gmail.com. Keep the sent email as your evidence.
  5. Do not pay anyone. The site itself states "WE DO NOT ACCEPT PAYMENT FOR REMOVAL OF ARREST INFORMATION AND/OR BOOKING PHOTOGRAPHS" and "If the court saw fit to expunge your record, so will we, free of charge"; any third party offering paid removal has no published relationship with the site.
  6. After 10 business days re-check the listing URL yourself — the page states no notification is sent for discarded requests. Keep the tone neutral: "Death threats and otherwise overly abusive emails or contact forms ... may disqualify you from our Record Maintenance program", and the contact page says they "reserve the right to publish any and all ... communications submitted to us".
  7. If the page stays up, file a Google removal request for the listing URL under Google's policy on mugshot/removal-fee sites and a complaint with the AG of the arrest state if it has a mugshot statute .

Tap a step to tick it off. Progress is saved in this browser only.

How they confirm it

Court paperwork, not identity. Removal requires "court documentation (must be signed by a judge and sealed by the court and be legible)"; death removals need "the certified copy of their Death Certificate (signed by the proper authority and legible)". "Please include your Mugshots.com ID with your request." "Non-legible documents will be discarded and no notification will be provided." No automated confirmation of any kind.

If they ignore you

No CPPA route (not a registrant). State AG of the arrest state; FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov; the California AG has previously prosecuted the site's operators . Search-engine de-indexing is the only lever that does not need the site's cooperation.

Data brokers re-list. Check again in about 60 days.

Re-listing risk for this site: Medium — the page promises removal "from public view free of charge" but says nothing about whether a removed record can be re-ingested from the source agency ; the policy applies only to requests after July 1, 2018

Common questions

How do I remove myself from Mugshots.com?

Use Mugshots.com's opt-out page (mugshots.com/record-maintenance). Or email their privacy address, mugshots.com1@gmail.com. The guide above lists 7 steps, and this page writes the removal request for you to send from your own email.

How long does Mugshots.com take to remove my information?

up to 10 business days — record-maintenance page: "This process can up to 10 business days", qualified by "fields these requests on a first come first serve basis and does not guarantee the timeliness of the removal". That is what our research recorded; the site may take longer.

Will my information come back on Mugshots.com?

Medium — the page promises removal "from public view free of charge" but says nothing about whether a removed record can be re-ingested from the source agency ; the policy applies only to requests after July 1, 2018. Check again in about 60 days.