Jails.

Jails are facilities operated by cities, counties, or a combination thereof, used for housing individuals for time periods ranging from less than 30 days up to one year, and for purposes including temporary housing of adults charged with criminal offenses before trial and housing adults for punishment, correction, and rehabilitation after a criminal conviction. 

Standards for Strip Searches and Body Cavity Searches.

Statutory standards for strip searches and body cavity searches, include the following: 

• Any person conducting a strip search may not touch the person being searched except as reasonably necessary to effectuate the search.
• A body cavity search must be performed under sanitary conditions by a licensed physician, registered nurse, or physician assistant with applicable training.
• A strip search or body cavity search must occur at a private location away from the observation of persons not physically conducting the search, and must be performed or observed only by persons of the same sex as the searched person, except for licensed medical professionals.

Prison Rape Elimination Act. 

The federal Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) provides for the analysis of the incidents and effects of prison rape in federal, state, and local institutions, and information, resources, and recommendations and funding to protect individuals from prison rape.  Under the PREA, national standards have been adopted for eliminating prison rape.  

The PREA and its regulations and guidance contain several standards for prisons and jails, including specified standards for searching transgender or intersex individuals confined in a state or local facility including:

• Facilities may not search or physically examine a transgender or intersex person for the sole purpose of determining genital status.  If a person's genital status is unknown, it may be determined:  (1) during conversation; (2) by review of medical records; or (3) if necessary, by learning that information as part of a broader medical examination.
• An agency must train security staff in how to conduct searches of transgender and intersex persons in a professional and respectful manner, in the least intrusive manner possible, consistent with security needs.
• Facilities must implement policies and procedures that enable persons to shower, perform bodily functions, and change clothing without nonmedical staff of the opposite gender viewing their breasts, buttocks, or genitalia, except in exigent circumstances or when such viewing is incidental to routine cell checks.  Staff of the opposite gender must announce their presence when entering an inmate housing unit.
• Agencies or facilities may not conduct searches based solely on the gender designation of the facility without considering other factors such as the gender identity or expression of the individual's preference regarding the gender of the person conducting the search. 
• Facilities may not conduct cross-gender strip searches or cross-gender visual body cavity searches except in exigent circumstances or when performed by medical practitioners.  

Four options are currently in practice for searches of transgender or intersex individuals:  (1) searches conducted only by medical staff; (2) pat searches of adult persons conducted by female staff only; (3) asking individuals to identify the gender of staff with whom they would feel most comfortable conducting the search; and (4) searches conducted in accordance with the person's gender identity.

Jail Search Standards.

Local jail administrators must develop and implement policies and procedures for conducting searches of confined transgender or intersex individuals, which must minimally comply with the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) and its rules, as well as the search standards described below.  Standards must be adopted and implemented no later than September 1, 2026. 

Search Parameters. 

A search or physical examination of transgender or intersex individuals at a jail may not be conducted for the sole purpose of determining genital status.  If genital status is unknown, it may be determined:  (1) through conversations with the individual; (2) through a review of medical records; or (3) as part of a broader medical examination conducted in private by a medical practitioner.

Training.  

Jails must train security staff in how to conduct cross-gender searches and searches of transgender and intersex individuals in a professional and respectful manner, in the least intrusive manner possible, consistent with security needs. 

Daily Necessities.

Individuals must be able to shower, perform bodily functions, and change clothing without nonmedical staff of the opposite gender viewing their breasts, buttocks, or genitalia, except in exigent circumstances or when viewing is incidental to routine cell checks.  Staff of the opposite gender must announce their presence when entering a housing unit.  A jail's inability to make female correctional staff available who are trained to perform searches of transgender or intersex individuals is not an exigent circumstance justifying cross-gender searches. 

Cross-Gender and Other Search Standards. 

Searches may be conducted by someone of a different gender only when exigent circumstances exist requiring immediate action to respond to a threat to a facility's security or institutional order.

Searches may not be conducted solely based on the gender designation of a facility, without considering factors including, but not limited to, an individual's gender identity, or their expression of a preference regarding the gender of the person conducting the search.  

Standards for Strip Searches and Body Cavity Searches.

Requirements for strip searches and body cavity searches are modified to include that a strip search must be performed or observed only by persons of the same gender as the person being searched.  If a transgender, gender nonconforming, or intersex individual is the subject of a strip search, the individual must be offered the option of having the search conducted by:

• a person whose gender is of the searched person's choosing; 
• a medical professional; 
• female staff; or 
• in accordance with the individual's stated gender identity. 

Strip searches may be conducted by an individual of a different gender only when exigent circumstances require immediate action to a threat to a facility's security or institutional order.