Residence Requirements:

CANDIDATES MUST HAVE BEEN LEGAL RESIDENTS OF ERIE COUNTY FOR AT LEAST ONE MONTH IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE DATE OF THE WRITTEN TEST AND MUST BE LEGAL RESIDENTS OF ERIE COUNTY AT THE TIME OF APPOINTMENT. The eligible list resulting from this examination will be used to fill future Deputy Sheriff – Officer and Correction Officer positions in Erie County Sheriff's Department. Permanent appointment to either title will remove a candidate from this eligible list.

Examples of Duties:

A Correction Officer guards inmates confined to the County Correctional Facility, after sentencing by the courts for the lesser criminal violations;

Supervises and guards inmates sentenced by the courts to confinement in the County Correctional Facility for the lesser violations under Criminal Law;

Guards and escorts inmates to clinics, recreation activities, church services, barber shops, mess halls, etc., and to interviews with relatives and attorneys;

Supervises and guards inmates during work assignments outside the Correctional Facility proper, such as farm and general maintenance work; issues work equipment and supplies as necessary;

Supervises and guards inmates during assigned general laboring work inside the facility such as cleaning, kitchen work or during work assignments in the various shops;

Guards inmates during their transfer to the County Medical Center;

Maintains discipline; enforces rules and regulations; maintains constant alert for attempts to escape, inmate disturbances or other unusual incidents;

Reports any such incident to Sergeant or other officer immediately and initiates corrective action, as appropriate; prepares incident reports for higher authority;

Performs duties related to receiving and discharge of inmates, such as searching inmates upon admittance and collecting information for the preparation of inmate records; delivers inmates' mail; answers phone inquiries;

prepares and maintains records and files.

A Deputy Sheriff-Officer  performs routine security and guard work which involves responsibility for providing for the custody and well-being of inmates while under detention in the County Holding Center, while in State and County courts for trial or hearing; 

Performs guard duties at various locations in the Holding Center, ECMC Lockup, County courts, State courts and Family courts, such as entrance and exits, receiving and detention rooms, court rooms, District Attorneys' offices,
floors and galleries of the Holding Center, the clinic rooms, elevators, jury rooms and other County buildings and offices;

Maintains security and discipline in the Holding Center courts, and ECMC Lockup; makes regular inspections in the Holding Center and courts, including checking locking devices and punching clocks; makes counts and prepares
report sheets; maintains order and settles disturbances; notifies supervisor of all unusual incidents;

Attends to the care and well-being of inmates; secures and delivers sundries; delivers medical supplies; secures medical services and dispenses medicines; escorts inmates for interviews with attorneys, relatives and law
enforcement agencies; directs the serving of meals; directs the maintenance of inmates' sanitation and hygiene; attends inmates' phone calls;

Performs clerical duties connected with the receiving, booking, searching and release of inmates; accepts and records clothing and property; issues uniforms and assigns cell blocks; makes out composite census reports; maintains records on inmates; arranges for clothing and records for transfer of persons to courts, penal institutions and hospitals;

Guards prisoners of the Erie County Holding Center who are transferred to a hospital for treatment during confinement, or to the court lockup for trial or hearing; escorts prisoners to jail and courts; transports prisoners
both in and out of State;

Provides security for charges juries; serves as Court Crier during the Crier's absence; retrieves papers for Court Clerks;

May assist the training instructor in training activities;

Performs duties and successfully completes the training that meets the standards of the New York State Commission of Corrections.

Qualifications:

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: Candidates must meet the following requirements on or before the date of the written test:

Graduation from high school or possession of a high school equivalency diploma.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:

1. Vision - The candidate must have uncorrected vision of no less than 20/40 binocular, with neither eye less than 20/70, and must be correctable to 20/20 binocular. Left and right lateral (horizontal) field of vision shall be no less than 85 degrees in each direction to produce a binocular horizontal field of vision of at least 170 degrees. Peripheral vision determination is to be made without correction.

2. Candidates must have attained their twenty first (21) birthday at the time of original appointment and must have satisfactory hearing.

3. Chapter 134 of New York State Law of 1984, under Section 22-A of the Corrections Law, and Section 217-A of County Law provides that conviction for a felony automatically bars appointment as a Correction Officer or Deputy Sheriff Officer; and that prior conviction of a misdemeanor may be disqualifying for these titles, after a review of the material facts of the individual case.

4. Possession of a valid New York State motor vehicle operator's license.

5. Applicants will be required to successfully complete a Physical Fitness Test prior to appointment.

BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION/PSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATION:
Applicants will be subject to an extensive pre-employment background investigation and psychological evaluation. CONVICTION OF A FELONY WILL BAR AND CONVICTION OF A MISDEMEANOR OR OTHER OFFENSE MAY BAR PARTICIPATION IN EXAMINATION AND APPOINTMENT. Criminal convictions or other offense are subject to evaluation and may result in disqualification pursuant to Section 50 of the New York State Civil Service Law. The psychological evaluation will consist of a combination of psychological tests and interviews. Candidates must pass the psychological evaluation. In addition, a negative report or failing psychological evaluation may result in disqualification pursuant to Section 50 of New York State Civil Service Law. Candidates must be a United States Citizen and an Erie County Resident (See Erie County Policies and Procedures.)

Notes:

1.  Chapter 134 of New York State Law of 1984, under Section 22-A of the Corrections Law, and Section 217-A of County Law provides that conviction for a felony automatically bars appointment as a Correction Officer or Deputy Sheriff Officer; and that prior conviction of a misdemeanor may be disqualifying for these titles, after a review of the material facts of the individual case.

A Guide for the Written Test for Correction Officer is available at the New York State website: https://www.cs.ny.gov/testing/testguides.cfm. Candidates not having access to a computer or the internet may request copy of the test guide from the municipal civil service office conducting this examination using the contact information found elsewhere on this announcement.

Subjects of Examination:

Scopes / Subjects of examination: A test designed to evaluate knowledge, skills and /or abilities in the following areas.

Preparing written material
These questions test for the ability to present information clearly and accurately, and to organize paragraphs logically and comprehensibly. For some questions, you will be given information in two or three sentences followed by four restatements of the information. You must then choose the best version. For other questions, you will be given paragraphs with their sentences out of order. You must then choose, from four suggestions, the best order for the sentences.

Understanding and interpreting written material
These questions test for the ability to understand and interpret written material. You will be presented with brief reading passages and will be asked questions about the passages. You should base your answers to the questions only on what is presented in the passages and not on what you may happen to know about the topic.

Applying written information in a correctional services setting

These questions test for the ability to read, interpret, and apply rules, regulations, directives, written narratives and other related material. You will be required to read a set of information, and to appropriately apply the information to situations similar to those typically experienced in a correctional services setting. All the information needed to answer the questions asked concerning the situations presented is contained in the rules, regulations, etc., which are cited.

Observing and recalling facts and information
These questions test for the ability to observe and recall information presented. You will be presented with information describing or depicting prison scenes or other facts. You will have a
short time to observe and memorize the information before it is collected by the monitor. You
will then be asked to recall specific details about the information presented.

NOTICE TO CANDIDATES: Unless otherwise noted, candidates are permitted to use quiet, hand held, solar or battery powered calculators. Devices with typewriter keyboards, "Spell Checkers", “Personal Digital Assistants", "Address Books", "Language Translators", "Dictionaries", or any similar devices are prohibited. You may not bring books or other reference materials.

**IMPORTANT APPLICATION FEE - READ CAREFULLY**

A $30.00 filing fee is required for this exam. The required fee must accompany your application. Send or bring check or money order made payable to Erie County Personnel Department and write the examination number(s) on your check or money order. Do not send or bring cash, as the County cannot be responsible for cash payment. As no refund will be made, you are urged to compare your qualifications carefully with the requirements for admission and file only for those examinations for which you are clearly qualified.