A woman who was brought to a Kentucky court without trousers and denied requests for hygiene products prompted a judge to take the case into her own hands.

According to WDRB, the woman was arrested for failing to complete a diversion program on a first-time shoplifting charge in 2014, and had been held for three days without trousers or the hygiene items.

She was sentenced to 75 days and was taken to the court room in Louisville on 29 July.

In the time-stamped video, her lawyer mentioned quietly that her client was not wearing trousers.

"No pants, what?" Judge Amber Wolf responded.

"Excuse me?" she said. "This is outrageous. Is this for real?"

She then phoned Metro corrections director Mark Bolton to ask why there was a female defendant in front of her who was not appropriately dressed.

The judge was also in disbelief over the sentence.

"It’s a shoplifting charge, a first time shoplifting charge," she said. "No. We’re not giving her that."

The judge apologised to the woman, saying she should have only been in custody for a day at the most, when the woman replied that there were other female prisoners in her situation.

Her lawyer added that some women were being denied showers.

Jail officials said the defendant had not been in custody long enough to receive a jump suit.

Mr Bolton also said there was an “abundance” of hygiene products in the women’s dorm.

"This is pretty standard that when individuals are arrested, they remain in the clothing that they’ve been arrested in," said spokesman Steve Durham. "Especially for the first 72 hours."