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Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber is scheduled to sign a bill applying new rules to websites that host mug shots online.

(AP Photo / Don Ryan)

Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber is about to provide anyone who was arrested for a crime, but later exonerated, a little bit of help in getting a job.

Kitzhaber is scheduled to sign

today, which will establish new rules for online sites that compile hundreds of mug shots by automatically scouring jail web sites.

The new law will require the owners of the sites to remove a mug shot for free if the person in the photo can show they were found not guilty or if their charges were dropped or expunged.

Portland criminal defense attorney Ryan Anfuso brought the bill to the Legislature after hearing from clients who had spent hundreds online trying to scour Google searches for their names ahead of job applications. The bill was sponsored by Portland Democrats

and

.

"This is a good bill for Oregonians," Anfuso said. "It balances the public's right to be informed against an individual's right to not be extorted -- It's a good step towards protecting Oregonians from an exploitative practice that we can all agree is wrong."

--Christian Gaston