In almost every jail and prison in the United States, no one will make you cut your dreadlocks. Federal prisons let inmates choose their own hairstyle as long as it stays clean and neat, most state and county facilities have moved the same direction, and if you wear locs for religious reasons, federal law gives you an especially strong shield. A small number of facilities still try to enforce strict grooming rules, and forced haircuts do occasionally happen, but they are the exception and they are usually illegal.
What Happens at Intake
Booking involves a search of your hair, not a haircut. During a frisk, you’ll be told to lean forward and run your fingers through your hair while officers look for contraband. A strip search adds a closer look at your scalp, behind your ears, and your neck. Searching and cutting are two different things, and standard intake procedures involve only the first.
Some jurisdictions have put this in writing. The District of Columbia Department of Corrections, in a policy effective January 2026, states that inmates “will not be required to loosen or cut their dreadlocks, braids, cornrows, hair extensions, weaves (glued or sewn-in) when they are committed to DOC.”1District of Columbia Department of Corrections. Inmate Personal Grooming Policy 4010.2I That language reflects the direction most correctional systems have moved.
The Rule in Federal Prison
The Federal Bureau of Prisons has one of the most permissive grooming policies in the country. Federal regulations state that the warden “may not restrict hair length if the inmate keeps it neat and clean.”2eCFR. 28 CFR 551.4 – Hair Length The BOP’s own policy goes further and confirms that it “permits an inmate to select the hair style of personal choice,” expecting only “personal cleanliness” and grooming consistent with “the security, good order, and discipline of the institution.”3Federal Bureau of Prisons. Federal Bureau of Prisons – Grooming
Dreadlocks are fully permitted. If you work in food service or run machinery, you may have to wear a cap or hair net, but that requirement applies to any long hair, not to locs specifically.2eCFR. 28 CFR 551.4 – Hair Length
Why State and County Rules Vary
Outside the federal system, every state prison system, county jail, and local lockup writes its own grooming rules. Most now allow dreadlocks. A few have historically imposed short-hair requirements or outright bans; Louisiana’s prison system, for one, prohibited dreadlocks entirely until federal courts struck the policy down.
The only reliable way to know what a specific facility requires is to read its inmate handbook or ask the administration directly. The county jail that books you may have different rules from the state prison you transfer to later, so assume nothing based on what you’ve heard about another facility.
The broader trend is unmistakable. As federal courts have repeatedly ruled against blanket dreadlock bans, fewer facilities try to enforce them. Managing dreadlocks through search procedures and hygiene rules is far cheaper than defending a ban in court.
Religious Protection for Locs
If you wear dreadlocks for religious reasons, federal law puts the strongest possible shield around them. The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) prohibits any government-run facility from placing a “substantial burden” on your religious exercise unless it can prove two things: the restriction serves a “compelling governmental interest,” and it is the “least restrictive means” of achieving that interest.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 US Code 2000cc-1 – Protection of Religious Exercise of Institutionalized Persons That is a very high bar for the government.
RLUIPA covers any exercise of religion, whether or not the practice is compelled by or central to a formal belief system. You don’t have to belong to a specific denomination. Rastafarians who keep dreadlocks as part of their Nazarite Vow are the most familiar example, but the law protects anyone whose sincere religious beliefs call for a particular hairstyle.
How Courts Have Applied It
The Supreme Court set the framework in Holt v. Hobbs (2015), striking down an Arkansas policy that banned beards. The Court called the least-restrictive-means test “exceptionally demanding” and said that “if a less restrictive means is available for the Government to achieve its goals, the Government must use it.”5Justia. a href=”https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/574/352/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Holt v Hobbs 574 US 352 The Court pointed out that facilities can search hair, use a comb to check for contraband, and photograph inmates both with and without a hairstyle for identification. Those alternatives make a total ban almost impossible to justify.
Federal appeals courts have applied that reasoning to dreadlocks directly. In Ware v. Louisiana Department of Corrections, the Fifth Circuit ruled that Louisiana’s grooming policy prohibiting dreadlocks violated RLUIPA because the state failed to show that a ban was the least restrictive way to address security concerns.6Justia. Ware v Louisiana Department of Corrections Courts have also noted that most jurisdictions manage any security risk without banning locs, and that blanket prohibitions based on the assumption that all dreadlocks are “unsearchable” do not survive legal scrutiny.
How to Request an Accommodation
To invoke RLUIPA protection, submit a formal religious accommodation request through the facility’s chaplain or religious services coordinator. The facility will evaluate whether your belief is sincere, then decide whether accommodating your hairstyle fits with security. Expect conditions: tying your hair back, wearing a cap, allowing officers to search it. Courts have found those kinds of compromises reasonable. What the facility cannot do, under current law, is simply refuse to engage and order your head shaved.
Keeping Your Locs Clean Inside
Clean, well-kept dreadlocks rarely draw attention. Trouble tends to start when hair becomes visibly matted, develops odor, or shows signs of infestation. At that point staff have a documented reason to intervene, and your best argument for keeping your hair as it is has weakened.
Facilities provide basic soap and shampoo, and the quality and amount vary widely. Many systems claim to help indigent inmates, but supplies can be thin in practice. If you have commissary funds, you can buy products better suited to dreadlock care, such as residue-free shampoos, typically for a few dollars up to around $10.
Wash regularly with whatever you have, tie your hair back or cover it when required, and don’t let maintenance slip. Officers who might otherwise ignore your hairstyle are far more likely to intervene if they can point to a hygiene problem.
If Officials Cut Your Hair Anyway
Forced haircuts still happen. A Rastafarian inmate named Damon Landor was handcuffed to a chair and had his head shaved at a Louisiana facility, even though he carried a copy of the Fifth Circuit’s Ware decision that entitled him to keep his dreadlocks; a guard threw the court decision in the trash.7Supreme Court of the United States. Landor v Louisiana Department of Corrections – Petition for Writ of Certiorari Cases like that are rare, but they show that knowing your rights and enforcing them are two different things.
File a Grievance First
Before any lawsuit, federal law requires you to exhaust the facility’s internal grievance process. The Prison Litigation Reform Act says that “no action shall be brought with respect to prison conditions” until “such administrative remedies as are available are exhausted.”8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 1997e – Suits by Prisoners Skip this step and a court will throw out your case, no matter how strong it is. Let the grievance deadlines pass and you may lose the claim entirely.
Grievance procedures vary, but federal standards call for a simple form, written responses with reasons at each level of review, and resolution within 180 days from start to finish.9eCFR. 28 CFR Part 40 – Standards for Inmate Grievance Procedures Document everything. Write down the officers involved, the date and time, any witnesses, and exactly what happened. Keep copies of every form.
Federal Lawsuits After Exhaustion
Once you’ve exhausted the grievance process, you can bring a federal suit under Section 1983, which allows you to sue any government official who deprives you of rights secured by the Constitution or federal law.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 US Code 1983 – Civil Action for Deprivation of Rights Courts have recognized a liberty interest in personal appearance, and forced haircuts can violate both that interest and RLUIPA when the hair was maintained for religious reasons.
A RLUIPA claim is often the stronger avenue because the burden shifts to the government. You show that your religious exercise was sincere and that the policy substantially burdened it. The facility then has to prove the restriction was the least restrictive means of serving a compelling interest.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 US Code 2000cc-1 – Protection of Religious Exercise of Institutionalized Persons One limit worth knowing: under current circuit court rulings, RLUIPA may not allow money damages against officials in their individual capacity, which is why pairing it with a Section 1983 claim matters.
Steps to Take Before You Surrender
If you know you’re about to enter custody and want to keep your dreadlocks, a few moves ahead of time help. Contact the facility and ask for its grooming policy in writing. If you wear locs for religious reasons, notify the chaplain or religious services coordinator before intake and bring documentation of your practice. Arrive with your hair clean and well-kept; first impressions with booking staff carry more weight than they should. Ask a family member or attorney to hold copies of the written grooming policy and any accommodation paperwork.
If your dreadlocks are ever cut against your will, write down every detail right away. Names, badge numbers, dates, what was said, who was present. That contemporaneous record becomes your most important evidence if you later file a grievance or a lawsuit. Tell your attorney or family the same day, and start the grievance process immediately.