Correctional Officer Job Duties, Job Description and Career Options

Correctional officers oversee individuals detained for legal reasons, be it awaiting trial or being found guilty of a crime. The job is demanding and has a high risk of injury. Correctional officers are hired by many different agencies, and they require at least a high-school diploma to qualify for employment.

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Correctional Officer Job Duties

The primary duty of a correctional officer is to maintain order in a detention facility. This involves learning any and all rules of the facility in which they work and enforcing those regulations to be certain that inmates act in an orderly way. Enforcement procedures include arbitrating disputes between inmates, performing disciplinary action and performing inspections.

Correctional officers inspect inmates, their visitors, their mail and the cells they occupy for any items that violate the rules of the facility, such as drugs or weapons. They also check the facility in its entirety for fire hazards, conditions that don't meet sanitary standards, regulatory infractions and tampering of objects meant to bar entry.

The daily activities of correctional officers are typically recorded in a log. They are asked to give oral or written reports whenever there is a breach of regulations and on the work done by inmates over a period of time. Correctional officers also aid any other law enforcement personnel who must be summoned for a grievous breach of security, such as the escape of an inmate.

Correctional Officer Job Description

A correctional officer works in a detainment center to enforce the rules of order upon the individuals incarcerated there. Correctional officers may oversee people who have been arrested and are awaiting trial, or they may work in a jail where offenders found guilty have been placed. The profession is a stressful and demanding job, and the risk of on-site injury is fairly high. Correctional officers must remain impartial and cannot show favoritism to any inmate. They also keep a record of everyone admitted to or released from the facility in which they work; the population of detainees often changes.

Career Options for Correctional Officers

Correctional officers are employed and trained by many different agencies, such as the American Correctional Association and the American Jail Association. They are necessary for any type of detainment facility, like holding cells, prisons and jails. The various agencies all have different standard training programs, and officers may require extra training based on where they will be working.

With experience, correctional officers could advance to correctional sergeants. Additionally, correctional officers could seek employment as probationary officers or become members of the police force.

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