Judge brought to tears as female inmate is brought to court without pants.

A US judge has slammed jail authorities for allowing a woman to appear in court without pants.

Louisville judge Amber Wolf was flabbergasted to discover a female defendant had seemingly been denied access to proper attire.

“Excuse me? Excuse me?” Judge Wolf repeated.

WDRB reported the defendant’s attorney told the Judge the jail “refused to give her pants and any kind of hygiene products that she needed”.

Judge Wolf quickly took things into her own hands and paused the hearing to call the jail herself.

"What the hell is going on?" she said.

Growing increasingly emotional, the judge questioned how a female inmate could have been kept for so long without a basic piece of clothing.

The woman had been jailed for failing to complete a diversion program after being found guilty of a shoplifting charge in 2014.

The defendant alleged she had been kept in Metro Corrections jail without pants for days, despite repeated requests.

Judge Wolf dismissed the proposed 75-day sentence and released the woman with time served and a $100 fine.

“It’s a shoplifting charge – a first-time shoplifting charge. Seventy-five days? No," she said.

Spokesman for Metro Corrections jail Steve Durham told WDRB the woman had not been in custody long enough to be given a jumpsuit.

"This is pretty standard that when individuals are arrested, they remain in the clothing that they’ve been arrested in," he said.

"Especially for the first 72 hours."

Judge Wolf who grew teary as the phone call went on, clearly shocked at how much the woman had been humiliated, called the woman to the bench to offer a sincere apology for her treatment.

"This is not normal," she said.

"I've never seen it happen... This is completely inhumane and unacceptable. I'm sorry you had to go through this."

The woman has since been released.