Religious imagery U.S. passport photos allow for religious headwear, provided the person wears it on a daily basis and it does not cover the face. Colorado driver’s license photos also allow for religious headwear, as long as the face is visible. Boulder, Denver and Aurora jails require religious headwear to be removed for booking photos.

A University of Colorado student who started wearing hijab after converting to Islam is fighting the Boulder County Jail’s insistence that she remove her headscarf for a booking photo, saying that to do so would violate her religious beliefs.

Maria Hardman, 19, of Boulder, reported to the jail Wednesday to do the paperwork for a two-day work crew sentence that was supposed to be served this weekend. But when a jail detention officer told her to remove her headscarf for her mug shot, she balked.

“It’s stated in the Koran in two or three places that believing women should wear the veil, except in the company of close family members,” she said.

Hardman said she spent three hours at the jail while her lawyer tried to convince officials to let her take the picture with her scarf. She eventually was allowed to leave the jail without taking a picture at all. She said she was told she would be found in contempt of court for being out of compliance with her sentence.

Division Chief Larry Hank, who oversees the Boulder County Jail, said his officers never threatened Hardman with contempt of court. He said they told her she needs to explain to a judge why she wouldn’t comply, and his office would be filing a motion explaining the jail’s requirements.

Hardman’s attorney is working on a motion explaining her position, though no hearing has been set in the case.

Hank said it’s not his intent to violate anyone’s religious beliefs, but jail booking photos are a law-enforcement tool and need to give a clear image of what the person looks like.

He said he offered to have male officers leave the area and have Hardman take off her headscarf with only a female officer present, but she declined. Hank said that’s been an acceptable compromise to other Muslim women in the jail. Hardman said she doesn’t want a photo of herself without hijab entered into the statewide system, where it would be a public record.

Hardman said that while she was detained, jail officers took her shoes and jewelry, and she worried she would be booked on the spot.

“They told me I could just stay there and skip the work crew,” she said. “I was worried they were going to forcibly remove my headscarf.”

Hardman’s offense is an awkward one for an observant Muslim, whose faith prohibits alcohol consumption, to explain: driving while ability-impaired, the lesser version of a DUI.

“I was given alcohol without my knowledge,” Hardman said.

Hardman said she was drinking punch that she assumed was non-alcoholic at a party in August, and when she realized she wasn’t feeling herself, she asked about the punch. When she learned that it was alcoholic, she freaked out and just wanted to leave the party, Hardman said.

She got on her 49cc scooter to go home but wiped out in the 1600 block of Norwood Avenue. A neighbor called police.

The police report doesn’t indicate that Hardman told police she drank alcohol without realizing it, only that she admitted to drinking. Hardman said she tried to tell the officer the full story, but it wasn’t reflected in the report.

Hardman’s blood-alcohol content after the accident was 0.19, more than two times the legal limit.

She pleaded guilty to driving while ability-impaired and was sentenced to two days in jail, as well as community service.

“I made a mistake. I’m trying to make it better and take responsibility,” Hardman said. “But this is America. Someone in the legal system has every right to have their religious beliefs respected.”

“I was shocked that this happened in Boulder,” added Hardman, a Boulder native who converted to Islam three years ago and started wearing hijab about a year ago.

Officials with the Aurora city jail and the Denver County Jail said they weren’t aware of specific instances of hijab-wearing Muslim inmates in their facilities, but they likely would handle it the same way.

“Law enforcement needs to be able to use the photo to identify the person, even if they’re wearing a disguise,” Denver police Capt. Frank Gale said.

That makes features like ears and jaw lines important, Gale said.

“I’m not trying to disrespect the religion, but if I allow her to wear it, what am I going to do if someone, a traditionalist or whatever, comes in with the full face covering?” Hank said. “Unfortunately, this is how we do it.”

The Colorado Department of Motor Vehicles and the U.S. State Department allow people whose religious beliefs require head-covering to have headwear on in driver’s license and passport photos.

Contact Camera Staff Writer Erica Meltzer at 303-473-1355 or meltzere@dailycamera.com.