photo by: Douglas County Sheriff's Office

Douglas County Sheriff Jay Armbrister

The Douglas County sheriff says he shares the Lawrence Police Department’s response to a new state law targeting transgender people: Namely, he doesn’t intend to police which bathrooms residents can use.

“DGSO’s principles for deputies, corrections officers and staff is to do what is right by the person involved, which means prioritizing the person’s physical safety and not tolerating any level of harassment towards someone. If that means not enforcing a law that is unjust and cruel, that’s what we will do,” Sheriff Jay Armbrister said in an email to the Journal-World.

Armbrister’s comments come on the heels of statements by Lawrence Police Chief Rich Lockhart at a Lawrence PFLAG meeting last week, as reported by the Journal-World.

Lockhart noted that the new law known as SB 180 has no penalty or enforcement provisions, and he said he intended to be on the “right side” of history in any event. On Friday, the City of Lawrence put out a written statement saying that no one would be arrested “under the guise of SB180.”

SB 180, which goes into effect on July 1, bars transgender people from using restrooms and other public facilities that align with their gender identity. Even though the law contains no enforcement provisions, members of Lawrence’s LGBTQ community have expressed fears that “vigilantes” will take the law into their own hands and harass people who they feel are in the “wrong” place.

Aside from the bathroom issue, the sheriff has an issue that the police chief doesn’t: how to house people in the jail, which has different wings for male and female inmates. Can inmates unilaterally decide which wing they’ll be housed in? No, but their input will be given considerable weight.

Armbrister said that the jail has had policies relating to transgender individuals for a few years, and deputies and employees undergo training to better understand gender identity and expression.

People who are taken into custody at the Douglas County Jail are processed on a case-by-case basis depending on their needs, Armbrister said.

“We do have a policy that deals directly with Transgender Individual Housing and Intake. The purpose is to direct how we receive, process and house individuals who are transgender, transsexual, inter-sex and/or gender-variant,” Armbrister said in the email. “The purpose of this policy is to provide legal and ethical housing of all persons brought to our facility in ‘a safe, secure manner which preserves their confidentiality, human dignity and avoids inmate or staff abuse, humiliation or ridicule.'”

The policy states that when an “individual indicates they may have a gender issue” or “an inmate’s gender identity, appearance, overt expression or behavior causes staff to question whether (there’s) a gender issue” the jail staff “shall inquire of the individual in a discreet, dignified and professional manner to preserve confidentiality regarding their sexual identity, gender identity or gender expression for the purpose of determining sexual orientation.”

Staff questioning an individual are to do so “in a respectful manner to preserve the confidentiality, as well as human dignity, and avoid subjecting the inmate to abuse, humiliation or ridicule,” according to the policy.

Once an individual’s need for special considerations have been identified, the staff is to notify the shift supervisor, who informs the operations captain and Classification Office, and, if necessary, medical staff, if the person is undergoing any type of hormone therapy.

When a person is being booked into the jail, staff have the discretion whether to keep the individual in a cell in booking or to move the person to a single-person cell until the Classification Office and undersheriff make a final determination on where the individual will be housed while in custody.

“The Sheriff’s Office is a reflection of our community, which proudly includes all members of the LGBTQ+ family, and our goal and responsibility is to build bridges and cement bonds between the agency and community. We stand in solidarity with all members of our community, but especially those who face harassment and are unfairly targeted by unfair, unnecessary and discriminatory legislation such as SB180,” Armbrister told the Journal-World.

Armbrister noted that the sheriff’s office has added a new LGBTQ+ liaison position. The current liaison is Officer Kyle Appleby.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story contained a typo that inadvertently misstated the sheriff’s position. He does not intend to police bathroom use.

Douglas County Sheriff’s Office policy on transgender housing and intake:

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