These rights apply in both local jails and state prisons.

If you feel comfortable, you should identify yourself as trans to staff as soon as you feel safe in doing so, including at intake or reception. That way, jail and prison officials will need to take that into account when deciding where to house you.

Prisons and jails are not allowed to conduct physical examinations of you for the purpose of determining what genitals you have.

You should not be subjected to cross-gender searches unless there are emergency circumstances.

The jail or prison is supposed to give serious consideration to your own views about where you will be safest when determining where you are housed.

You have the right to shower separately from other people.

You should only be housed in involuntary protective custody if there is no other way to keep you safe. It should never be for more than thirty days.

If these rules are not being followed, you should reach out to the PREA Coordinator or the Assistant Deputy Superintendent for PREA for your facility.

In the City jails, you have the right to request gender-aligned housing as soon as you enter custody.  

• Ask officers for a “Special Considerations Housing Form” or call 1010 to ask for a form. This form asks for your gender identity and your pronouns. It also asks whether you want to be housed in (i) a female facility, (ii) the Special Considerations Unit, which is a unit for vulnerable people in the female facility, or (iii) a male facility.  
• The Special Considerations Housing Form also asks whether you prefer to be searched by a woman officer or a man officer.   
• The committee that makes the housing decisions is called the Special Considerations Determination Unit. It is supposed to make a decision within three business days of your request.  
• You are supposed to receive a written determination telling you what they decided. 
• If you are denied the housing you want, you can file a Request for Reconsideration Form within thirty days of getting the denial. 
• You can include support letters or medical or mental health documentation with the reconsideration form. We recommend you provide as much support as you can.  
• You should get a decision from the Review Board within thirteen business days explaining their decision. 

Regardless of where you are housed, you should have: 

• Access to gender-affirming clothing, including undergarments. You can make a request for gender-affirming clothing to DOC’s LGBTQ+ Affairs Unit. 
• The right to not cut your hair. 
• The right to request that a pat frisk or search be conducted by an officer of gender that feels safest for you. 
• Access to gender affirming care. 

Legal Aid is very concerned that the Department of Correction unfairly and unlawfully denies some people transfer to a gender-aligned facility. If this happens to you or a loved one, please reach out to: 

The LGBTQ+ Unit
The Legal Aid Society
49 Thomas Street, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10013 

You can also report the problem to DOC by calling 311 or by emailing the NYC Department of Correction at ConstituentServices@doc.nyc.gov. The person can also file a complaint with the New York City Human Rights Commission by calling 311 or 212-416-0197, Report Discrimination – CCHR, or in person. 

As soon as you know that you will spend time in New York State custody, you should let the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) know that you are trans and are requesting safe housing. You should specify whether you will be safer in a men’s or women’s prison.  

Write to:

Associate Commissioner for PREA Compliance
Sexual Abuse Prevention & Education Office
NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision
The Harriman State Campus
1220 Washington Ave.
Albany, NY 12226 

You can also make the request when you are already in a state prison by telling your assigned Offender Rehabilitation Coordinator or by telling the person who conducts your PREA Risk Screening.  

The decision about where you will be housed will be decided by the Central Office Transgender Placement Review Committee. You will have to participate in a clinical interview as part of your request. You will get a written determination from the Committee when it makes its decision.  

Regardless of where you are housed, you should have: 

• Access to gender-affirming clothing, including undergarments. You can make a request to the Health Unit in your facility for a medical permit to possess gender-affirming clothing. That permit should be permanent, and issued without an expiration date. 
• The right to not cut your hair. 
• The right to request that a pat frisk or search be conducted by an officer of gender that feels safest for you.  
• Access to gender affirming care. 

Legal Aid is very concerned that DOCCS unfairly and unlawfully denies some people transfer to a gender-aligned facility. If this happens to you or a loved one, please reach out to: 

The LGBTQ+ Unit
The Legal Aid Society
49 Thomas Street, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10013 

If someone’s rights have been violated in other ways in the prisons, who to contact depends on the problem. Please review the materials in The Legal Aid Society’s Get Help page on Bail & Incarceration, The Legal Aid Society – Help with Bail and Incarceration 

The information in this document has been prepared by The Legal Aid Society for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. This information is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. You should not act upon any information without retaining professional legal counsel.