WTVM.com and WTVM News Leader 9, Columbus, GA | Muscogee County Sheriff Hiring High School Grads

Muscogee County Sheriff Hiring High School Grads

May 5, 2008

COLUMBUS, Ga. (WTVM) -- If you're graduating high school in the Chattahoochee Valley in the near future, a new career field just became available.

The Muscogee County Sheriff's Office is starting a new program, offering high school grads a position working as corrections officers in the jail. "We feel like we're all recruiting right now from the same pool of people, and this looks beyond that pool and it gives a young person an opportunity to do something different," said Sheriff Ralph Johnson.

Sheriff Johnson says the position is part of a mentoring program, where the corrections officers would work in the jail, doing various jobs ranging from bookkeeping, to monitoring inmate activities.

"So they will be closely supervised and monitored and when they get older and more experienced, and they can prove they can handle more responsibility, we'll give it to them," he said.

But the program is more than a full-time job with benefits.

The sheriff's office is hoping to recruit officers who want to make law enforcement a career, as well as continue their education.

"So we're looking at working with local colleges and universities to see about having a liason who works with them on scheduling, so they can adjust their work schedules with school schedules so they can stay in school," said Major Joe McCrea, with the sheriff's office.

The starting salary for a corrections officer is $27,000 with a $2,000 signing bonus, which is paid out over two years.

Sheriff Johnson says the corrections officers are not armed, and the positions are available to high school graduates across the Chattahoochee Valley.

If you're interested in becoming a corrections officer, contact the Muscogee County Sheriff's Office at 706-653-4225.