Benzie County Jail Mugshots Overview
Research did not locate an official Benzie County mugshot gallery, recent-bookings page, public jail roster profile, or daily booking report showing booking photos. The Sheriff Kyle Rosa page, Corrections Division page, and sheriff FOIA page provide jail operations, visitation, jail history, FOIA, and sheriff information, but not a current public photo feed. That finding should control the page wording. Do not treat third-party roster or mugshot pages as official county sources.
The local route is records based. Call the Benzie County Jail to ask whether staff can confirm current custody or explain whether a booking photo is releasable. If the photo is not available informally, submit a sheriff FOIA request that identifies the person, date, incident, and record sought. Filed court charges can be checked in MiCOURT, but court dockets normally do not publish booking photos.
Where to Find Benzie Booking Photos
The search path begins with the county jail because Benzie County booking photos, when releasable, originate from jail booking or law-enforcement records. The jail phone is 231-882-4484. The sheriff FOIA page lists email, fax, in-person, and written options, and it says most requests are completed in the five-business-day FOIA timeframe unless more time is needed.
- Call the jail at 231-882-4484 to confirm whether the person is or was in local custody.
- Search MiCOURT for a filed case number if charges have moved from booking to court.
- Submit a sheriff FOIA request to LEvans@Benzieco.Gov or fax 231-882-5814 when a booking photo must be requested in writing.
- Include the full name, date of birth if known, arrest date, incident or case number, and a clear request for the booking photo or booking record.
- Use MDOC OTIS, BOP, or ICE ODLS only when the person is in state, federal, or immigration custody rather than Benzie County Jail.
Benzie County Sheriff FOIA
The sheriff's official FOIA page is the records channel for jail and law-enforcement records that are not published online. The captured source is the Benzie County Sheriff's Office FOIA page.
The screenshot supports the page's main point: booking photo access is handled through the sheriff records process when no official online mugshot gallery is available.
Benzie County Booking Photo Records
A booking photo request should be precise because there is no public Benzie roster profile to open and inspect. The research did not verify public county profile fields such as photo, bond, booking number, housing unit, or release date. Treat those as possible record elements to request, not as fields promised on a website.
| Record Element | How It Applies in Benzie County |
|---|---|
| Booking photo | Request through jail contact or sheriff FOIA; no official public gallery was found. |
| Name and DOB | Use to identify the person in a request or custody call. |
| Booking date | Useful when asking for a specific booking event. |
| Charges or holds | Confirm filed charges in court records because booking allegations can change. |
| Release or transfer status | Ask the jail or use VINE, MiCOURT, OTIS, BOP, or ICE depending on custody type. |
Are Benzie County Mugshots Public
Michigan does not have a single official "mugshot statute" in the research file that makes every booking photo automatically available online. The public-record path is Michigan FOIA, the sheriff's FOIA page, and any applicable exemptions or court orders. That means a Benzie County jail mugshot may be requested as a public record, but release is not the same as a guaranteed public web posting.
Michigan records law:
MCL 15.231 states Michigan's public policy favoring access to information about government affairs and official acts.
MCL 15.233 gives a right to inspect, copy, or receive copies of nonexempt public records.
MCL 15.234 allows public bodies to charge permitted FOIA fees.
How Long Mugshots Stay Public
Benzie County official pages reviewed did not publish a roster-retention window, photo-retention rule, or mugshot-removal policy. Since no official public gallery was found, there is no county web page where a photo was verified to stay visible for a fixed number of hours or days after release. Historical booking photos should be handled as records requests unless a later official source publishes a different process.
What is and is not public: FOIA may allow access to a booking photo, but exemptions, sealing, nonconviction rules, and court orders can limit release. A missing online photo does not prove no booking occurred.
Request Benzie County Booking Photos
Submit a sheriff FOIA request in writing, by email, by fax, or in person. Use LEvans@Benzieco.Gov for the sheriff FOIA email, fax 231-882-5814, or visit 505 S. Michigan Avenue, Beulah, MI. The request should clearly state that it is made under FOIA and should identify the requested booking photo or booking record with the subject's name, DOB if known, arrest date, arresting agency, and case or incident number if available.
Fees may apply. The sheriff FOIA page says some requests require processing fees and that most requests are completed within the allotted five-business-day timeframe, with extensions possible for searches or compilation. For a current in-custody person, call before filing if the immediate question is visitation, bond, or release status rather than a photo copy.
Mugshot Removal and Expungement
Benzie County does not publish a separate mugshot-removal policy in the source set. If charges are dismissed, sealed, set aside, or expunged, address the underlying court and criminal-history record first, then ask the sheriff or FOIA coordinator how the order affects local booking records. MCL 764.26a covers removal or destruction of certain arrest records in nonconviction outcomes.
Commercial mugshot sites are not part of the official record path and should not be used as authority. The records-clearing route runs through courts, criminal-history rules, and the agency that holds the record. Court status can be checked on the Benzie County court records after jail arrest page.
State and Federal Booking Photos
State, federal, and immigration custody do not use Benzie County's jail records process. MDOC OTIS may show state offender information for prisoners, parolees, probationers, and recent discharges, but it is not a Benzie booking-photo file. BOP locator results show identity and custody fields such as name, register number, age, sex, race, release date, and location. BOP and U.S. Marshals systems do not publish routine federal mugshots through the public locator.