SMITH COUNTY, Texas — If you are in the market for a new career, you may want to take a look at the Smith County Jail's 39 open positions.
"You don't have to have any prior experience," said William Phariss, captain of operations at the Smith County Jail. "What we are looking for is somebody that has a clean background, somebody who has a high school diploma, other than that everything else is taught on the job."
Smith County is searching for motivated people who are ready to work inside the jail as detention officers.
"Detention officers are the backbone of the jail," Phariss said.
Phariss said detention officers are responsible for inmates during their shift. The job description says the job "requires close interaction with inmates under normal and potentially volatile circumstances."
Other qualifications include:
- Citizen of the United States of America
- Earned a high school diploma or a GED
- Have never been convicted, pled guilty, nor have been on court-ordered community service/probation or deferred adjudication for a Class A misdemeanor or a felony.
- During the last 10 years, have not been convicted, pled guilty, been on community service/probation or deferred adjudication for a Class B misdemeanor in this state, another state, or while serving in the military.
- Have never had a military court-martial that resulted in a dishonorable or bad conduct discharge.
- Must possess a valid Texas Driver’s License at the time of hiring for the position.
- Minimum age of 18.
The officers work to help the inmates inside the jail, whether it's checking on their welfare, taking them to the clinic or helping with their laundry.
Smith County Jail Administrator John Shoemaker says it's a great job for those looking to get experience in law enforcement.
"You're supervising inmates, so your work environment isn't always going to be great," Shoemaker said. "You have inmates that are not going to be cooperative with stuff that we are doing, but most of the time you'll have the fellow jailors that you'll be working with. They are there to help you, they are there to assist you and we are always trying to work and have it like a family atmosphere to where your coworkers are more your family than they are your coworkers."
Has this job piqued your interest? The starting salary is $33,620 a year and Chief Shoemaker says there will be plenty of opportunities to make more with overtime pay.
"Don't be afraid, I think Hollywood has glamorized the jails and prisons, and every day there are fights and running nonstop," Captain Phariss said. "It's not like that a lot of these individuals are friends, neighbors, community members that at some point in their life made bad decisions and made mistakes and they are just human beings just like the rest of us."
If you are interested in submitting an application, you can visit the Smith County Sheriff's Office's website.