Clothing Exchange

Pursuant to state regulations, each jail must have a space where inmates are received, searched, showered, and issued clothing (if provided by the facility) prior to assignment to the living quarters. Rules of the Tennessee Corrections Institute, Rule 1400-1-.04(11).

Inmates shall be issued clothing within a reasonable time frame that is properly fitted and suitable for the climate and shall include the following:

1. Clean socks;
2. Clean undergarments;
3. Clean outer garments; and
4. Footwear.

Clean prisoner's personal clothing (if available) may be substituted for institutional clothing at the discretion of the jail administrator. Prisoner clothing, whether personal or institutional, must be exchanged and cleaned at least twice weekly unless work, climatic conditions or illness necessitate more frequent change. Rules of the Tennessee Corrections Institute, Rule 1400-1-.15(2) and Rule 1400-1-.15(8).

In Stanley v. Henson, 337 F.3d 961 (7th Cir. 2003), the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals found that a jail’s clothing-exchange procedure, which required a female arrestee to change into a jail uniform in a small room in the presence of a female officer, was reasonable and did not violate the arrestee's Fourth Amendment search and seizure rights. The court noted that the observed clothing-exchange policy employed by the jail was a rational approach to achieving the objective of preventing the smuggling of weapons or other contraband into the general jail population, a rather substantial concern given the nature of the jail system, and to ensure that a full and complete inventory was accomplished. Id. at 966-967.