Important Information About How to Use This Site
usa-arrests.org/ is an independent informational guide to public arrest, jail, court, and criminal-history records in the United States. We are not a law enforcement agency, court, the FBI, the BOP, the U.S. Marshals Service, a state agency, or a Consumer Reporting Agency. Read the points below before relying on anything published here.
What’s on this page
- FCRA — full position
- We are independent
- What we are not
- Not legal advice
- Records and timeliness
- Presumption of innocence
- Mugshot use restrictions
- Expungement & sealing
- What records contain
- External links
- Advertising & affiliates
- Limitation of liability
- Prohibited uses (stalking, harassment)
- Names and trademarks
- If something is wrong
1. FCRA — Full Position
The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), 15 U.S.C. §1681 et seq., is administered jointly by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). It tightly regulates the assembly and use of “consumer reports” for “permissible purposes,” including employment, tenant screening, credit, insurance, and licensure decisions. Information accessed through the public-records portals we link to is NOT a consumer report. It is raw public-records data, often incomplete, sometimes inaccurate, and not subject to the FCRA’s accuracy and dispute-resolution requirements.
You may NOT use information accessed through this site or its linked sources for any of the following:
- To determine whether to hire, retain, promote, reassign, or terminate any employee or independent contractor
- To screen tenants, evaluate housing applicants, or make any decision under a residential lease
- To extend, deny, or set the terms of credit to any consumer
- To underwrite, price, or deny insurance
- To grant, deny, or set the terms of any professional or occupational license
- To grant, deny, or set the terms of any government benefit (where the agency is required to use an FCRA-compliant report)
- To make any other decision that is a “permissible purpose” under 15 U.S.C. §1681b
For any of these uses, you must engage an FCRA-compliant Consumer Reporting Agency that follows the FCRA’s accuracy, notice, dispute, and adverse-action rules. The FTC publishes guidance for users of consumer reports at ftc.gov/business-guidance/credit-reporting. The CFPB administers FCRA enforcement at consumerfinance.gov.
2. We Are Independent
usa-arrests.org/ is an editorial reference site run independently. We are not commissioned by, endorsed by, partnered with, or accountable to any law enforcement agency, court, the FBI, the BOP, the U.S. Marshals Service, any state Department of Corrections, any state Department of Public Safety, or any other government body. The information we publish is gathered from public sources — primarily the official portals run by those agencies — and presented in a consistent, practical, step-by-step format.
3. What We Are Not
If you arrived expecting an official records system or a Consumer Reporting Agency — you’re in the wrong place. We point you to the right place; we are not it.
- A Consumer Reporting Agency under the FCRA
- A law enforcement agency, sheriff’s office, police department, state police, or state Bureau of Investigation
- A court, court clerk, or court-records system
- The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), or U.S. Marshals Service
- Any state Department of Corrections or state Department of Public Safety
- A repository of arrest records, mugshots, jail rosters, or court files — we don’t host them
- A people-search service, background-check service, or commercial records aggregator
- A licensed attorney or law firm — we don’t provide legal advice
- An expungement service, record-sealing service, or post-conviction-relief firm
For anything that requires action by an official body, you must use the official channel. Every state page on this site links straight to those official channels.
4. Not Legal, Tax, or Compliance Advice
Content on this site is general information about U.S. arrest, court, and corrections records procedures. It is not legal advice. In particular:
- If you are facing criminal charges, contact a licensed criminal defense attorney in your state — most state and county bar associations have lawyer referral services
- If you are seeking expungement, record sealing, set-aside, certificate of relief, or pardon, the procedure is state-specific and time-sensitive — counsel is strongly advised, particularly for federal expungement (which is extremely limited)
- If your record contains a mistake, the dispute process runs through the state criminal-history repository (your state DPS / State Police / BOI) or the FBI for federal records — not through us
- If you are a victim of an inaccurate background check used for employment or tenancy, you have FCRA rights against the Consumer Reporting Agency — contact a consumer-rights attorney
- If you are a journalist working on a story involving sealed records, court orders, or sensitive identifying information, consult a media-law attorney
5. Records and Timeliness
Government records reflect what’s been processed by the agency. There is always a lag between when an event occurs and when it appears in a public portal:
- Arrests typically appear in jail rosters within hours of booking, but processing varies by agency
- Court filings appear in e-court systems within a few business days of filing
- State criminal-history records may take weeks to update after disposition
- FBI Identity History Summaries reflect what arresting agencies have reported to NCIC — gaps and missing dispositions are common
- Expungements and sealing orders take time to propagate across all the agencies that hold copies of the underlying record
If a recent arrest or filing isn’t appearing, that may simply mean it hasn’t been processed yet. Always treat the issuing agency’s own portal as the authoritative source — we are an editorial guide pointing to those records.
6. Presumption of Innocence
An arrest record reflects that someone was taken into custody by a law enforcement officer who believed there was probable cause. It is not a conviction, an admission of guilt, or a finding by any court. Many arrests do not result in charges. Many charges are dismissed, reduced, or end in acquittal. A booking photo or jail-roster entry is not evidence of wrongdoing under U.S. law. Treat people listed in any arrest, booking, or jail record with the presumption of innocence guaranteed by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.
7. Mugshot Use Restrictions Vary by State
Several U.S. states regulate the commercial republication, sale, or fee-charged removal of booking photos:
| State | Statute / framework |
|---|---|
| California | Civ. Code §1798.91.1 — restrictions on publication of booking photos for fee-based removal services |
| Florida | F.S. §943.0585 et al. — restrictions on commercial mugshot websites; expungement procedures |
| Georgia | O.C.G.A. §35-1-19 — restrictions on publishing booking photos with a fee for removal |
| Texas | Bus. & Com. Code §109.005 — restrictions on commercial mugshot publication and pay-for-removal |
| Illinois | 50 ILCS 205/4b — restrictions on publication of booking photos with a fee for removal |
| Utah, Oregon, Missouri, Virginia, Colorado, and others | State statutes specifically targeting “mugshot extortion” practices |
usa-arrests.org/ does not publish booking photos and does not charge fees for removal of any record. Concerns about the appearance of a booking photo on a third-party site should be directed to the site that published it and, where applicable, to the relevant state Attorney General’s consumer-protection unit.
8. Expungement, Record Sealing, and Removal
If a court has expunged, sealed, or set aside a record, the order applies to the agency holding the official record. We do not host those records, so we have nothing to remove. The court order needs to be served on the agencies that do hold the record (state DPS, FBI, court clerk, arresting agency). Many states publish a self-help page on their state court website explaining the procedure; the actual filing is for you or your attorney.
Expungement procedures vary enormously by state. Federal expungement is extremely limited — for federal arrests and convictions, the path is typically a presidential pardon (different process than expungement) or, for very narrow categories, a court-ordered expungement under specific statutes. Consult a criminal-defense or post-conviction-relief attorney for advice on your specific case.
9. What Public Records Contain — and Don’t
| What’s typically IN public records | What’s typically NOT |
|---|---|
| Name as recorded by the booking agency, plus aliases | Social Security number — restricted under federal and state privacy law |
| Date of birth (year typically; sometimes full DOB) | Home address (often redacted to city/state in most jurisdictions) |
| Arresting agency, date and time of arrest | Sealed, expunged, or juvenile records (varies by state) |
| Charge(s) at booking — these are not always the charges that get filed | Investigative materials still under active investigation |
| Booking photo (in most states) | Crime victim and witness information (typically redacted) |
| Bond amount, court date, custody status | Confidential informant information |
| Court disposition (if reached) | Sealed indictments before unsealing |
10. External Links
We link extensively to state Departments of Corrections, state DPS, state court systems, county sheriff offices, the FBI, BOP, U.S. Marshals, PACER, and other authoritative sources. We have no control over those sites and cannot guarantee:
- That they will remain online or at the same URL
- That their content is current at the moment you click through
- That their security and privacy practices match ours
- That their accessibility meets the standard we apply to our own pages
11. Advertising and Affiliate Disclosure (FTC §255)
usa-arrests.org/ is funded by display advertising and may include affiliate referrals to commercial people-search and background-check services. This means if you click certain links and sign up with the linked service, we may receive a referral fee at no additional cost to you. This relationship is disclosed consistent with the FTC’s Endorsement Guides at 16 C.F.R. Part 255 and the FTC guidance at ftc.gov.
Commercial people-search services (TruthFinder, BeenVerified, Spokeo, Intelius, and similar) are not Consumer Reporting Agencies under the FCRA. Their results may not be used for employment, tenant screening, credit, or any other FCRA-covered purpose. Their own terms of service generally restate this prohibition. Read their disclosures carefully before signing up, and never use their results for FCRA-covered purposes.
Editorial content — verified official links to government portals, the step-by-step walkthroughs, and state procedure descriptions — is never altered to favor a paid placement. Government portals always come first on every state page. Affiliate placements, where they appear, are clearly labeled.
12. Limitation of Liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law:
- The site and all content on it are provided “as is” and “as available.” We make no warranty that content is complete, accurate, current, fit for any particular purpose, or free from error.
- We are not liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, or special loss or damage arising from your use of, or reliance on, this site — including hiring, tenancy, credit, insurance, licensure, or other adverse decisions made by anyone in violation of the FCRA.
- Nothing in this disclaimer excludes or limits liability for fraud, fraudulent misrepresentation, or any other liability that cannot be excluded under applicable law.
The full liability framework is set out in our Terms of Service.
13. Prohibited Uses — Stalking, Harassment, Doxing
Do not use this site or the official sources we link to for any of the following — these are crimes under federal and state law and are prohibited under our Terms of Service:
- Stalking (18 U.S.C. §2261A federal interstate stalking; state stalking statutes)
- Harassment, intimidation, or threats
- Doxing — publishing personal information to enable harassment
- Identity theft (18 U.S.C. §1028)
- Unauthorized access to computer systems (Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, 18 U.S.C. §1030)
- Witness tampering, obstruction of justice, or evasion of court process
- Unauthorized commercial republication of booking photos in states that prohibit it
14. Agency Names and Trademarks
State names, agency names (“Texas Department of Public Safety,” “California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation,” “Florida Department of Law Enforcement”), seals, and logos belong to the relevant body. We use those names to identify the agency each page covers. We do not claim sponsorship, endorsement, or affiliation with any government agency, the FBI, BOP, U.S. Marshals, or any state agency, and we do not reproduce official seals or logos.
If a state agency, federal body, or other organization believes our use of its name on a page is misleading or improper, please contact us and we will respond promptly.
15. If Something on This Site Is Wrong
We treat reader corrections as a priority. If you find an error — a wrong portal URL, an outdated procedure, a fee number that’s been raised — please email us with the page URL and what you believe is incorrect. Where possible, include the link from the agency’s official site that supports the correction.
usa-arrests.org/ does not host arrest records, mugshots, or court files. We are an editorial guide that points to official sources. To dispute, correct, or seal a specific record, contact the issuing agency directly: the arresting agency for the arrest report, the state DPS / State Police / Bureau of Investigation for state criminal history, the FBI CJIS Division for the federal Identity History Summary, or the court clerk for court records. For expungement or sealing, consult a licensed attorney in your state.
Always Verify With the Official Source
This site is a starting point. The agency that issued the record is the source of truth. Click through to their portal from any state page to confirm current information.
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