By Mike Ward
The American-Statesman Staff
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas’ prison guards may get a fashion makeover for the first time in almost 40 years.
Officials confirmed Monday that in coming months, the state’s 25,675 correctional officers could begin wearing navy polo shirts and black, military-style pants as an alternative to the gray, police-style uniforms that have been a prison staple since the late 1960s.
Gone would be one long-standing given of prison life: Guards are “gray shirts,” and convicts are in “prison whites.”
A few things would remain the same: the American flag on one shirt sleeve, prison-system emblem on the other and a State of Texas seal on the front.
The change is subject to the approval of the prison system’s governing board, which will meet Thursday in Austin to consider the switch. The proposed uniforms, similar to styles adopted in most other states, are scheduled to be unveiled at that meeting.
The proposed pants have two pockets and an adjustable waistband.
“The new uniforms are designed to be more comfortable, especially for those officers who have to wear (protective) vests on duty,” said Michelle Lyons, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. “I think people will be excited about them.”
Not everyone, it seems.
“It’s a good move, but there’s been kind of mixed reaction so far because some old-timers like the current uniform that shows their years of service - stripes on the long sleeves, one for every five years of service,” said Brian Olsen, executive director of the union that represents Texas correctional officers. “Inmates know those stripes. They’re less likely to mess with someone who’s been around for a while.”
Lyons and other prison officials said the new uniforms would be optional. Guards could wear the old uniforms or a combination of the two.
Like the old uniforms, the new ones would be made by convicts in prison factories, Lyons said. She said the cost would be about the same.
The last time Texas changed the uniform was about a decade ago, when the basic gray uniform was modified slightly. Before that, the main changes involved allowing female guards to wear slacks instead of skirts and abolishing neckties and hats.
“This has been in the works for a long time, months and months,” Olsen said. “It’s a change. " And the system is very slow to accept change.”
Copyright 2007 Austin American-Statesman