Editorial Policy

1. Our Editorial Mission

U.S. arrest records, jail rosters, mugshots, and inmate-locator data are public records in most jurisdictions, but accessing them lawfully and using them lawfully are two different problems. Sheriff’s offices and jails publish data with different update cadences, different field names, and different policies on booking-photo display. Federal and state law layers on FCRA constraints, EEOC guidance, ban-the-box laws in 37+ states, and a growing number of state mugshot-publication restrictions. Add the constitutional presumption of innocence — and the real-world harm that aggregated, decontextualized arrest information causes — and the editorial work goes well beyond just listing portal URLs.

Our editorial mission is to publish practical, manually-verified walkthroughs that help legitimate users (defendants, families, defense attorneys, victim advocates, journalists, researchers) reach the official agency portals — without becoming part of the harm caused by aggregated arrest republication. We do not host arrest records, do not republish mugshots, do not aggregate jail-roster data, and do not operate as a Consumer Reporting Agency.

2. Quality Standards Every Page Meets

• The official sheriff or jail portal URL is verified live
• The inmate-search interface is described from the actual on-screen interface, not from a third-party summary
• Update cadence (real-time, daily, weekly) is documented for each roster
• Booking-photo policy is documented (whether mugshots are displayed; any state-law restrictions)
• Visitation, phone, mail, and commissary procedures are documented
• Court-calendar and case-search links are included
• State public-records request procedure is documented for the relevant state
• Sealing/expungement procedure is summarized at a high level (with referral to a licensed attorney)
• FCRA non-CRA notice is reachable from every page
• Presumption-of-innocence language appears on every page that describes arrest records
• “Last reviewed” date appears on every page

3. Source Hierarchy — Six Tiers

Full hierarchy with named sources, URLs, and how each is used is on the Sources & Methodology page.

4. Verification — Our Seven-Step Process

1. Identify the right authoritative source. We start with the official sheriff’s office or jail website, cross-checked against state corrections-department directories.
2. Verify the URL is current. Sheriff and jail portals get redesigned and migrated. We click through every link before publication and confirm the destination is the actual roster or inmate-search page.
3. Test the search interface. Where the agency has an inmate-search tool, we run a sample search and document the on-screen fields and result format — using publicly-known recent bookings rather than real names of private individuals in our walkthroughs.
4. Document the steps from the actual interface. Field names and button text are quoted verbatim where we describe them.
5. Cross-check the legal framework. We cite the state public-records statute, FOIA at 5 U.S.C. § 552 for federal records, FCRA reporting limits at 15 U.S.C. § 1681c, and any state-specific mugshot-publication restrictions.
6. Note current procedural details, fees, sealing/expungement options. Captured with a “last reviewed” date and re-verified each quarter.
7. Editor sign-off. A second editor reviews the page end-to-end before it goes live, including FCRA framing, presumption-of-innocence language, and absence of identifying information about private individuals.

5. Update Cycles

6. Corrections Process

1. You report it. Email info@recentarrests.org with subject “Correction” and the page URL.
2. We acknowledge. Response within seven business days confirms receipt.
3. We verify. An editor goes back to the official source.
4. We correct. If confirmed, the page is updated. Substantive corrections trigger a published correction note dated and described in plain English.
5. We tell you. The reporter is notified once the correction is live.

7. FCRA Editorial Policy

8. Presumption-of-Innocence Policy

Every page that describes arrest records, jail rosters, or mugshots includes presumption-of-innocence framing. We do not characterize people listed on jail rosters as “criminals,” “offenders,” or any equivalent term that presumes guilt. We use neutral language — “person arrested,” “person in custody,” “defendant” (after charges are filed) — consistent with media-ethics guidance from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Associated Press Stylebook.

9. Minors and Juvenile-Records Policy

We do not publish, aggregate, or feature information about minors. Juvenile arrest and adjudication records are confidential in most states under state juvenile-justice statutes. We do not republish identifying information about minors from any source — including from sheriff’s portals that may have inadvertently posted it. We support the work of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and report exploitation concerns to NCMEC’s CyberTipline at 1-800-843-5678.

10. Sealed and Expunged Records Policy

11. Pay-for-Removal Schemes — We Condemn Them

Operations that publish mugshots or aggregated arrest records and then charge fees ($100–$1,000+) to remove them have caused enormous harm and have been the subject of FTC enforcement actions, state prosecutions, and bipartisan state legislation. Florida, Illinois, California, Colorado, Georgia, Oregon, Utah, and a growing list of other states have enacted laws targeting these practices, generally prohibiting fees for removal after expungement and creating civil penalties.

recentarrests.org/ does not engage in pay-for-removal practices. We do not host mugshots, do not aggregate arrest data, and do not charge for removal of any reference. We do not accept advertising from operations that engage in these practices. If you are a victim of pay-for-removal extortion, contact the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov and your state attorney general’s office.

12. AI Tools and Authorship

• AI tools may be used for first drafts, formatting consistency, and language polish
• Every county walkthrough is run against the live portal by a human editor before publication — AI cannot substitute for live verification
• Portal URLs, sheriff names, statute citations, and procedural details are confirmed against the official page by a human
• AI-generated text that turns out to misstate a procedure is corrected through the standard corrections process
• We do not allow AI to invent county-specific procedures, fabricate statute citations, or generate identifying information about real individuals

13. Editorial Independence

We do not take payment from any sheriff’s office, county jail, state corrections department, federal agency, court, prosecutor’s office, defense bar, victim-advocacy organization, bail bond agent, commercial background-check service, or mugshot-aggregator in exchange for editorial coverage. The site is funded by display advertising on the principle that advertising and editorial are separate functions.

14. Advertising and FTC §255

• Display advertisements are visually distinct from editorial content and labeled where required
• Where any commercial relationship exists, it is disclosed in context per the FTC’s Endorsement Guides at 16 C.F.R. Part 255
• Sponsored content, if it ever appears, is clearly identified as paid-for
• We do not accept advertising from pay-for-removal mugshot operations
• We do not insert commercial links above the verified sheriff or jail portal links on a page; the official source always comes first

FTC endorsement guidance: ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/ftcs-endorsement-guides-what-people-are-asking.

15. Sensitive Topics

U.S. arrest-record content intersects with several sensitive areas. We try to handle them with care:

• Active warrants and fugitive information. We do not publish information that could help anyone evade arrest, and we direct readers with information about wanted persons to the U.S. Marshals Service or the FBI tip line.
• Victim and witness safety. We point victims to the federal VNS and state-level VINE notification systems rather than asking them to monitor jail rosters manually. We do not publish information that could enable retaliation.
• Domestic violence and stalking. Our pages do not characterize alleged victims, do not publish identifying information about victims, and direct readers in danger to the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or local emergency services.
• Mental health and substance use. Many arrests involve underlying mental-health or substance-use issues. We do not stigmatize defendants in our editorial language.
• Race and disparate impact. Arrest data reflects enforcement choices that have well-documented racial disparities. We do not present aggregated arrest data in ways that reinforce stereotypes.
• Immigration enforcement. ICE detainers and immigration custody are politically contested and high-stakes. We point readers to the ICE Online Detainee Locator and immigration-attorney referral resources without taking sides on enforcement policy.
• Suicide-prevention. Jail and prison contexts have elevated suicide risk. Pages that discuss in-custody experience include the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline number.

16. Reader Feedback

Substantive feedback — corrections, suggestions, broken-link reports, sealing/expungement removal requests — is logged and addressed within seven business days. Feedback that is abusive, threatening, or harassing is not engaged with and may be reported under our Terms of Service. We do not engage with requests to publish information about specific named individuals, to identify victims or witnesses, or to assist in fugitive evasion.