A Muslim woman told to remove the veil covering her face to pose for a jail mugshot has prompted the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office to revise its policy regarding religious headwear.

Beginning Friday, a person wearing face-covering religious headwear who is being booked into the jail will have two mugshots — one with the coverings on; the other will be taken with the headwear removed from the person’s face.

The second shot will be taken in the presence only of a same-sex guard, be kept in a confidential file, and opened only through judicial order, said Karla Weikal, sheriff’s office spokeswoman.

The same rule applies at security checkpoints at Justice A.A. Birch Criminal Justice Building, Historic Metro-Nashville Courthouse and Davidson County Juvenile Justice Center. If someone wearing a type of religious headwear sets off a metal detector at the entrance, the person will be taken to a private room by a guard of the same sex. There, the person will remove the headdressing and be screened.

While local civil rights and religious leaders Tuesday applauded the revisions, some Middle Tennessee law enforcement officials said the sheriff’s office might be taking things a bit too far.

“We respect religious rights, but sometimes common sense has to play in here a little bit,” said Wilson County Sheriff Terry Ashe. “I don’t care if it’s Bubba with a cowboy hat or if it’s a religious situation, for everyone’s safety, we’re going to take a mugshot, and when it comes to booking photos, I’m going to have to see who you are.”

The Muslim woman who was told to remove her veils for her booking photo in Davidson County contacted the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee, which started in April negotiating with the sheriff’s office about changes to its religious accommodation policy. That policy took effect in 1998 but is modified each year.

“The staff there immediately understood what happened was wrong,” said Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the ACLU of Tennessee. “This is not to challenge the security responsibilities of the sheriff’s office, but to recognize an individual’s right to religion. It’s an important conversation about finding that balance that happens between the ACLU and government entities all the time.”

Muslim woman calls changes reasonable

Sabina Mohyuddin, a 40-year-old Muslim mother of four and member of the Islamic Center of Nashville, said changes are reasonable. Mohyuddin said she has worn her hijab, veils covering her face, head and neck, since she was 12.

A hijab is worn to please God and to maintain modesty, she said.

“I wouldn’t take mine off in public,” Mohyuddin said. “I would be the kind of person to put up a fight about that. … I would compare asking a Muslim woman to remove her hijab to asking a woman to take off her blouse. That’s really how Muslim women feel about it.”

Rutherford County officials said they have no such policy. Sonya Troutt, administrator of the Sumner County Jail, said the situation has never come up.

“Every person, regardless of their religion, has to take a mugshot without any type of coverings on,” Troutt said. “Those photos could be used later for photo lineups.”