SMNEWSNET.COM is currently unable to obtain dozens of requested booking photographs from the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office because the agency says it did not keep local copies of the photos after they were taken.
The issue involves three closed Maryland Public Information Act requests submitted by SMNEWSNET.COM for booking photographs from late May and early June 2026.
Across those three requests, the Sheriff’s Office listed 69 individuals. However, 21 booking photographs were not provided. That means nearly one-third of the requested booking photos were missing.
In a June 16, 2026, response, Lieutenant Brian Fennessey of the Sheriff’s Office Office of Professional Responsibilities stated that the photographs were created through the booking system and transmitted with fingerprints to the State through MAFIS.
However, the Sheriff’s Office says it did not retain a local copy and has no ability to save or download the photos from that system.
That is the problem. These are records created during the local booking process, involving people arrested and processed by a local law enforcement agency. Yet the Sheriff’s Office says those records are not kept locally and are only available if they are returned from the State.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, a technical issue prevented some of the photographs from being returned from the State, and the agency does not expect to ever receive copies for those bookings.
The Sheriff’s Office also stated that no original, copy, screenshot, printed version, RMS record, detention center record, or other alternate version exists in its records.
As a result, the Sheriff’s Office closed the requests as final and complete even though 21 of 69 requested booking photographs were not provided.
SMNEWSNET.COM believes this exposes a serious failure in how booking photographs are being retained and made available to the public. Booking photos are created at intake, are part of the arrest and booking process, and should be readily available public records.
The fault does not appear to be that SMNEWSNET.COM requested the wrong records or failed to follow the MPIA process. The fault is that the Sheriff’s Office is using a system where booking photographs are created, transmitted to the State, and apparently not preserved locally by the agency responsible for the booking.
That leaves the public, the press, and taxpayers without access to records that should never disappear from the local agency’s possession in the first place.
SMNEWSNET.COM will continue pursuing the missing records and seeking answers about why nearly one-third of requested booking photographs were unavailable from the Sheriff’s Office.
