Yakima County Jail Mugshots
Yakima County is direct about booking photos. The county jail-records page says the jail roster contains inmate information available for public release, but most other inmate jail records, including booking photos, are confidential and exempt under RCW 70.48.100. That rule makes the public roster the starting point for custody facts, not a promise that a mugshot will be shown to the public.
Yakima City Jail has a separate public roster operated by Yakima Police. The inspected city roster table showed name, booking number, location, booking date, and release fields. It did not show mugshots in the visible table. The city recent-release list also did not show booking photos in the inspected table. No commercial mugshot source belongs in the official search path because the source set here is agency rosters, records portals, statutes, and courts.
The Yakima County Jail Records page is the key source for the county's booking-photo limit.
That county notice should control expectations before any public-records request for a booking photo is filed.
Find Yakima County Booking Photos
The practical search starts with custody, not with photos. A current jail listing can confirm whether the person is in Yakima County DOC or Yakima City Jail. If the photo itself is needed, the request moves from roster search to records access. The county public-records route may still be limited by confidentiality, especially when the requester is not the inmate and does not have a signed release or court order.
- Check the Yakima County Inmate Lookup page for current county custody and roster information.
- Check the Yakima City Jail roster if the arrest may be tied to a City of Yakima misdemeanor case.
- Read the visible roster fields first. The inspected city table did not show a photo column, and the county jail-records page says booking photos are confidential.
- For a legal or records purpose, submit a narrow request through the Yakima County Public Records Center.
- If requesting for the inmate, identify that status. If requesting for someone else, include the signed inmate release or be prepared to obtain a court order.
- If the image was filed as a court exhibit, request the court file from the court of record instead of asking the jail for the whole booking file.
Yakima County Mugshot Record Fields
Yakima County booking-photo access is shaped by the difference between a public jail register and the confidential booking file. A jail register can show basic confinement and discharge information. A booking file can include more sensitive intake material. The city roster sample below is useful because it shows what public jail roster data can look like when photos are not shown in the table.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Booking Photo | Not shown in the inspected Yakima City Jail visible roster table. Yakima County says booking photos are generally confidential jail records. |
| Name | Full name of the person in custody or listed on the recent-release table. |
| Booking # or ID | Local jail booking identifier or city ID number used to distinguish similar names. |
| Location | City jail housing tank such as A Tank through E Tank, when listed. |
| Booking date | Date and time the person was booked into the listed jail system. |
| Release | Release date and time if posted, or blank when no release is listed. |
| Charges | Not visible in the inspected city roster table. Court charges should be checked through court records. |
| Public notice | City roster states it is provided pursuant to RCW 70.48.100 and includes a timestamp. |
Yakima County Mugshot Law
RCW 70.48.100 is the central Washington statute for Yakima County jail mugshots and other non-register jail records. Subsection 1 requires a public jail register with basic facts such as name, cause of confinement, and discharge information. Subsection 2 makes records of a person confined in jail confidential except for listed recipients and uses. Subsection 4 allows law enforcement to use booking photographs to assist investigations, but that is not a public mugshot gallery rule.
Statute callout: RCW 70.48.100 keeps the jail register public while making most other inmate jail records confidential. Yakima County applies that rule to booking photos, so a booking photo usually requires inmate access, signed release, or court order.
Washington's Public Records Act still matters because many county records are requested through public-records channels. It does not erase a more specific confidentiality rule for jail records. A request can be accepted, processed, narrowed, denied, or fulfilled in part depending on the record type and the legal basis for release.
Public and Not Public
The public side of a Yakima County jail record is the roster or jail register. It can help confirm the person, custody status, booking timing, release timing, and basic custody routing. It should not be treated as the full jail file. Medical records, detailed classification material, booking photos, and other non-register records are handled under stricter access rules.
What is and is not public: The jail roster or register is the public access point. Yakima County booking photos and most other non-register jail records are confidential under RCW 70.48.100 unless released to the inmate, a third party with signed release, or by court order.
That rule also explains why the public search path should avoid broad claims about mugshot availability. A booking photo may have been taken during intake, but public display is a different question. If the person's case has moved from custody to prosecution, the court file may provide a better source for filed charges, hearings, and disposition. For that route, use Yakima County court records after jail arrest.
Request a Yakima County Booking Photo
A booking-photo request should be narrow, factual, and tied to the access rule. Use the county Public Records Center for county records and name the record precisely. Include the person's full name, date of birth if known, booking date, arresting agency, case number, and whether the request is made by the inmate, by a third party with signed inmate release, or under a court order.
The request should not ask for every jail record unless that is truly needed. Yakima County states that medical records require a separate health-care authorization and will not be released without the completed form or a judge's order. If the issue is a filed criminal case, a court-record request may be more direct than a jail-record request. District Court, Municipal Court, and Superior Court records are separate from the county jail's intake file.
The Yakima County Public Records Center is the county online portal used to submit and track public-records requests.
The portal is a request channel, not a guarantee that a confidential booking photo will be released.
Yakima City Jail Mugshots
Yakima City Jail is a separate city police facility. The city page describes it as a 79-bed jail for male offenders charged with or convicted of misdemeanor crimes in the City of Yakima. The city contracts with Yakima County DOC for female inmates and inmates needing individualized care. That means a city arrest can lead to either the city roster or county DOC depending on the person and custody needs.
The inspected Yakima City Jail roster table did not show mugshots. It listed name, booking number, location, booking date, and release. The recent-release table also did not show photos in the visible fields. Use the city roster for city custody facts, then use the appropriate records request or court path if a photo or filed case record is needed.
Yakima County Mugshot Removal
No Yakima County official page was found that offers public mugshot removal from a county gallery. That result fits the county's stated position that booking photos are generally confidential. If a photo was released through a lawful channel or appears in a court record, the remedy is not a commercial removal link. The practical path is to correct the source record, seek sealing or other court relief when available, or obtain an order that controls access.
Washington court records and jail records follow different rules. Dismissal, amendment, acquittal, or conviction status appears in the court file, not in the jail roster by itself. For custody and roster basics, use Yakima County jail inmate records. For filed charges, sealing questions, and case outcomes after booking, use the court record from the court of record.
State and Federal Photos
Washington DOC uses a statewide incarcerated search for sentenced state custody and DOC reentry residents. Ahtanum View Reentry Center is in Yakima County, but it is a DOC partial-confinement facility, not a county jail. A person at Ahtanum View should be searched through Washington DOC Incarcerated Search and WA VINE rather than the county jail roster.
Federal systems are different again. The BOP Inmate Locator shows federal inmate fields such as name, register number, age, race, sex, release date, and location. It does not publish federal mugshots. ICE ODLS is a detainee locator, not a booking-photo database. If a person has an immigration hold after a Yakima County arrest, local custody and immigration custody may need to be checked separately.
The Yakima County Sheriff's Office app appears on Google Play and the Apple App Store. Store descriptions mention tips, license applications, interactive features, and public-safety information. They do not clearly state that the app publishes inmate roster photos, so it should not be treated as a Yakima County booking-photo source without checking inside the app.
Note: Do not use commercial mugshot sites as official records. Use agency rosters, court records, public-records requests, and statutes.