Sheriff: Ninth Circuit rulings limit release of booking photos; office follows court guidance

Sheriff Mark J. Daniels said the Cochise County Sheriff's Office cannot post booking photos of pre‑trial defendants because of federal case law, and that releasing them could expose the county to lawsuits. “Innocent to proven guilty is pretty much the thought behind that,” Daniels said.
Carol Campos, the sheriff’s public information officer, named the specific case discussed on air as Houston v. Maricopa County and described the legal principle in simple terms: photographs of pre‑adjudicated defendants are treated differently because courts have found release can harm due‑process rights. “It's pre adjudicated defendants just like you said. Innocent until actually convicted proven guilty,” Campos said.
Campos and Daniels said the department still posts other public safety information — for example details about arrested suspects when permitted — but that release of booking photos must comply with court rulings and legal counsel. “We have to make sure that we're staying in our lane and doing what we need to do in the letter of the law,” Campos said.
The sheriff emphasized county fiscal prudence as a factor: he called potential litigation “a taxpayer cost” the office seeks to avoid. He said that until higher courts or statutes change, the office will follow existing legal constraints.