Been arrested? Your mugshot could be online.

I actually came across a high school friend's mugshot on one of these (many) sites a few months ago and emailed the state AG and Department of Commerce inquiring about the legality of these sites.

Received a reply that this was not yet on their radar, but that mugshots are considered public domain. Not sure what to make of this, but it seems a bit extortionary and surely unfair to those people who were ultimately found innocent, yet still have their mugshots appearing on these sites.