No need to log on, and no password is necessary. After a week of review with the Utah County Attorney's office, the Utah County Sheriff's Office has opened the jail's Web site to the public.

Utah County Sheriff Jim Tracy said for the most part users of the site are using it for a legitimate purpose -- and the information is part of a public record.

"If you were to file a GRAMA request, we would give it to you anyway," Tracy said.

Utah County Attorney Jeff Buhman said two prosecutors reviewed the Government Records Access Management Act policy with the Sheriff's Office this week. The pictures were posted Thursday and can be accessed without a password.

So, if you are arrested, be sure to smile. You'll be on the Internet.

"It wasn't so much a legal decision as much as a policy decision to put it back on," Buhman said.

On May 29, the Sheriff's Office removed the mugs from the jail's Web site, citing "password abuse."

Tracy said the Sheriff's Office planned to review the policy, and the posting of the pictures is the conclusion of the review.

Before this week, the Web site was password-protected but still generated 26,000 hits per day. Intended users for the site include media and other law enforcement agencies.

"We don't have 26,000 police officers or reporters in the county," Tracy said June 1.

He said the password usually was disseminated outside its intended circle within an hour of its quarterly change.

The dissemination may have been password abuse, but it also showed Tracy that the public wanted the password. Whyfi He could see that maybe the public cared about staying a little safer.

Photos are identifiers, and Web site creator and programmer Boyd Loveless, of the Utah County Sheriff's Office, worried about that when the photos were pulled from the site. He said that the Sheriff's Office and other law enforcement agencies use them for identification, and he didn't see any reason why the public couldn't as well.

The site has gone through several changes over the years, from launching without a password in 1999 to having a password, and later a username and login, to various combinations of security, Loveless said.

Tracy said site programmers will still watch for abuse of the Web site. It has happened. Several years ago it was possible to download the mugs en masse, and Tracy said someone grabbed a bunch from the Web site and used them as part of another Web site, adding derogatory sexual and racial terms to the photos.

They fixed that problem by making the photos available only one at a time.

"If we have abusers, we will address them specifically as they come along," Tracy said.

One change, to address the growing danger of identity theft, is that the day on the date of birth is removed from the inmates' information. Viewers can see month and year.

Some still worry about having a public photo displayed. One of the original complaints was that the jail records don't expire. One must request that the record be expunged.

So if you spent the night in jail 20 years ago and don't want the world to know, visit the 4th District Courthouse at 125 N. 100 West in Provo to get a certificate of eligibility.

Information is also available online at www.utcourts.gov.

Natalie Andrews can be reached at 344-2548 or nandrews@heraldextra.com.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.