If you’re wondering what happened to all the mugshots on AugustaCrime.com, here’s the answer:
The mugshots we posted were pulled directly from the jail websites operated by the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office and the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office. Georgia legislators recently passed a law requiring all sheriff’s offices in Georgia to stop posting mugshots by July 1, 2014.
Why? Because there were many predatory websites that would post those mugshots and then charge the people money to take them down. In the meantime, “news” sites like ours (which do not charge or exploit people, but simply report the news of arrests) were caught in the mix. We now lose easy access to mugshots unless we sign a form agreeing not to charge money to take photos down. Then, we have to get them in a format that is not easy to load to the site directly.
So the short answer is this: Georgia legislators killed mugshot websites as they existed before.
Because our website also includes Aiken County mugshots (from South Carolina) we still post those mugshots. And we continue to take them down if someone provides evidence their charges were dismissed or they were found not guilty. (Call 706-814-1359 or email publisher@thejailreport.com).
So, as we work on tweaking our website, we plan to continue to post the names of those arrested in Richmond and Columbia counties, as they are pulled from their websites. And we’ll keep you updated if we figure out a way to post mugshots from Richmond and Columbia counties again.
REMEMBER: All mugshots are still available in each week’s print edition of The Jail Report, sold in Richmond, Columbia, Aiken and Edgefield counties. For subscription information, click here: http://thejailreport.com/where-to-buy/subscribe-home-delivery/