A case of mistaken identity?

biggity — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 02:58:24 -0800

Is there a way to obtain the mugshot of a former inmate/current parolee in Franklin County (Columbus,) Ohio? I had an amazing friendship with a classmate in high school, about ten years ago, that I've often regretted letting taper off. I'm going to be back in that city to visit an ill relative soon, and in the process of trying to track down current contact information for my long lost friend, I found that they may or may not have been convicted of a class four felony robbery. I'm shocked and confused, because this would be completely, absolutely out of character for the person I knew. None the less, this person appears to share the same name and birth date, and we /did/ grow up in an area with an usually high rate of drug use, violence, and indeed robberies (the hilltop and the bottoms, if you're familiar.) For reasons of personal safety, I am not interested in making contact if they are indeed one and the same.

Are all mugshots in the public domain?

thewittyname — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 18:46:15 -0800

Does everyone who gets arrested have a mugshot taken of them, and must all mugshots be released to the public? Are there any restrictions on their use? It seems to be "common knowledge" that mugshots are public records (that's what Wikipedia says) but can anyone give me some more detail on the laws that might govern this sort of thing? Are there restrictions on obtaining or using mugshots that don't apply to police reports, or vice versa?

[Yes, this is partially related to DeLay's pending arrest, but I've wondered about the specifics behind this stuff for a while now]

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A case of mistaken identity?

Are all mugshots in the public domain?