Scott County updates detention SOPs, stops routine release of mugshots to for‑profit sites

Scott County Fiscal Court on Dec. 23 approved updates to the detention center standard operating procedures that include removing routine public posting of inmate mugshots to prevent for-profit websites from republishing images.

The jail official who presented the SOP revisions said the change followed complaints from people whose photos remained on private websites after their court cases were dismissed or records were expunged. "The only way to prevent that from happening...was for us to stop releasing them," the jail official said, explaining that the county's vendor (Jail Tracker) indicated the private sites copy images from the county site.

Court members discussed the balance between transparency and individual harm. The chair confirmed that open-records requests by the media would still be fulfilled: "If a member of the press makes an open records request...we do that," the jail official said. The presenter said charges and other court information remain public; the policy change removed only the routine publication of photographs to the county website to limit exploitation by commercial aggregator sites.

Magistrates asked about regulatory language and whether state agencies or jail associations provide a common SOP template. The jail official said Keiko (a state contact) provides recommended policies but not a full uniform handbook; the presenter described Scott County's SOPs as intentionally strict and thorough.

A motion to accept the SOPs with the noted amendment was made and seconded; the court voted 'aye' and approved the changes. The jailer said future SOPs will be delivered earlier in the year to allow more review time.