Prohibition on Disclosing Booking Photographs.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 1
HOUSE BILL 446

Short Title: Prohibition on Disclosing Booking Photographs. (Public)
Sponsors: Representatives T. Brown, A. Jones, and Reives (Primary Sponsors).
For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
Referred to: Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
March 20, 2025
*H446-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO REGULATE T HE DISSEMINATION AND REMOVAL OR DESTRUCT ION 2
OF BOOKING PHOTOGRAPHS. 3
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 4
SECTION 1. Article 23 of Chapter 15A of the General Statutes is amended by 5
adding a new section to read: 6
"§ 15A-502.01. Prohibition on disclosing a booking photograph. 7
(a) Definitions. – The following definitions apply in this section: 8
(1) Booking photograph. – A photograph or image of an individual who is alleged 9
to have committed a crime that was taken by law enforcement at the initial 10
booking. 11
(2) Publish-for-pay publication. – A publication that requires the payment of a fee 12
or other consideration in order to remove or delete a booking photograph from 13
the publication. 14
(3) Publish-for-pay website. – A website that requires the payment of a fee or 15
other consideration in order to remove or delete a booking photograph from 16
the website. 17
(b) Disclosure. – A law enforc ement agency may not knowingly disclose a co py of a 18
booking photograph of a defendant pretrial to any publish-for-pay publication or publish-for-pay 19
website. However, nothing in this section shall prohibit a law enforcement agency from posting 20
a booking photograph on the agency website or mobile application. 21
(c) Removal. – A publish-for-pay publication or publish -for-pay website shall remove 22
and destroy a booking photograph of any individual who submits a request for removal and 23
destruction, as provided i n G.S. 15A-152(a1). An entity that seeks to condition removal or 24
destruction of a booking photograph, on the payment of any fee or other item of value, may 25
constitute a criminal offense. 26
(d) Civil Liability. – In addition to any other punishment or penalty available under the 27
law, failure of a publish-for-pay publication or publish-for-pay website to remove and destroy a 28
booking photograph in accordance with subsection (c) of this section may result in civil liability 29
as provided in G.S. 15A-152(c)." 30
SECTION 2. G.S. 15A-152 reads as rewritten: 31
"§ 15A -152. Civil liability for dissemination of certain criminal history 32
information.information and booking photographs of defendant pretrial. 33
… 34
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 House Bill 446-First Edition
(a1) Duty to Remove and Destroy Booking Photograph. – A publish-for-pay publication 1
or publish -for-pay website, as defined by G.S. 15A-502.01, shall remove and destroy any 2
booking photograph within seven business days of receiving notice to remove the booking 3
photograph if both of the following conditions are met: 4
(1) There is no criminal conviction related to the arrest that generated the booking 5
photograph. 6
(2) The individual submits with the request written documentation that the 7
criminal charge related to the arrest that generated the booking photograph 8
resulted in a di smissal, acquittal, expunction, o r that the grand jury returned 9
no true bill on a proposed indictment. 10
… 11
(c) Civil Liability. – A private entity subject to the provisions of this section that 12
disseminates information in violation of this section is liable for any damages that are sustained 13
as a result of the violation by the person who is the subject of that information. A person who 14
prevails in an action brought under this section is also entitled to recover court costs and 15
reasonable attorneys' fees. This subsection does not apply to an entity regulated by and subject 16
to the civil liability remedies of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681, et seq., 17
or the Gramm Leach-Bliley Act, 15 U.S.C. 6801-6809, et seq. 18
In addition to any other punis hment or penalty available under the law, a publish -for-pay 19
publication or publish-for-pay website that fails to remove and destroy a booking photograph in 20
accordance with G.S. 15A-502.01 is liable for any damages that are sustained as a result of the 21
violation by the person who is the subject of the booking photograph to include, at a minimum, 22
one hundred dollars ($100.00) per day for each day after the deadline described in subsection 23
(a1) of this section on which the booking photograph is vis ible or publicly accessible in the 24
publish-for-pay publication or the publish -for-pay website. A person who prevails in an action 25
brought under this section is also entitled to recover court costs and reasonable attorneys' fees. 26
…." 27
SECTION 3. This act becomes effective December 1, 2025, and applies to each of 28
the following: 29
(1) Disclosures of booking photographs by a law enforcement agency occurring 30
on or after that date. 31
(2) Requests for removal and destruction submitted on or after that date. 32
(3) The conditioning of removal or destruction of a booking photograph on the 33
payment of any fee or other item of value occurring on or after that date. 34
(4) The failure to remove and destroy a booking photograph in accordance with 35
G.S. 15A-502.01 occurring on or after that date. 36