The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office recently brought back its public-facing mugshots webpage.
The page was suspended in September 2024 in response to a federal appeals court ruling that found it unconstitutional.
Brian Houston had claimed that his rights were violated by the Sheriff’s Office practice of posting mugshots and personal information about pretrial detainees online. A trial court dismissed his arguments, but an appeals court ruled partly in his favor upon review.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Houston’s right to be free from punishment before a finding of guilt was violated.
“The result is public exposure and humiliation of pretrial detainees, who are presumed innocent and may not be punished before an adjudication of guilt,” wrote Judge Marsha Berzon in the circuit court’s opinion.
Phoenix police arrested Houston in January 2022 on assault charges. His photo and personal information, including his birth date, sex, height, weight, hair color and eye color, as well as the charges on which he was arrested, were posted online by the Sheriff’s Office for three days.
But the charges against Houston were dropped, and he never went to trial.
Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office mugshot page returns with changes
The new mugshots page features some key differences from the previous version, including a line at the top of the page that says, “All individuals are innocent until proven guilty.”
Each mugshot now features over a dozen watermarks of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office logo and physical descriptors of individuals, such as height, weight, nationality, eye color and hair color — an issue the appeals court raised in last year’s ruling — are no longer listed.
“What is the public interest, for example, in publicly disclosing Houston’s weight?” the appeals court asked after finding such information did not promote public safety.
In addition to a mugshot, the page includes a person’s first and last name, their booking number, the charges they face and the arresting agency. The arresting agency was not listed on the previous mugshot page, raising a critique from the appeals court.
“But the ‘Mugshot Lookup’ page did not contain the names of the arresting officers, the … police department responsible for the arrest, whether charges were pursued or dismissed, or the jail in which Houston was held,” Berzon wrote. “The ‘Mugshot Lookup’ posts thus shed light only on arrestees, not on the operations of the Sheriff’s Office or … law enforcement.”
A Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said the agency believed the mugshot page’s current form complied with the law.
“The changes made to the mugshot page are in accordance with the opinion of the appellate court,” William Jinks said.
Other Arizona county sheriff’s offices have not yet brought back mugshots
Three other sheriff’s offices in Arizona — in Cochise, Gila and Yuma counties — also suspended posting mugshots after the appeals court ruling. Cochise confirmed it had not resumed the practice.
“Not at this time,” spokesperson Carol Capas said in a statement. “However, we make appropriate reviews with our legal advisors and will make any adjustments as directed.”
Sheriff’s offices for Gila and Yuma counties did not respond to requests for comment on Aug. 25.
Reach the reporter Perry Vandell at perry.vandell@gannett.com or 602-444-2474. Follow him on X @PerryVandell.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office publishing mugshots again