THE COOK COUNTY SHERIFF’S MERIT BOARD IS ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR ENTRY LEVEL CORRECTIONAL OFFICER AND LATERAL CORRECTIONAL OFFICER POSITIONS.  APPLICATIONS MUST BE COMPLETED AND SUBMITTED THROUGH THE SHERIFF’S ON-LINE APPLICATION SYSTEM. 

THE COOK COUNTY SHERIFF’S MERIT BOARD WILL CONTINUE TO TAKE CORRECTIONAL OFFICER APPLICATIONS ON AN AS NEEDED BASIS. A NOTICE WILL BE POSTED ON THE MERIT BOARD’S WEBSITE IF THE APPLICATION PROCESS IS SUSPENDED.  INTERESTED APPLICANTS SHOULD CONTINUE TO CHECK THE MERIT BOARD’S WEBSITE FOR APPLICATION AVAILABILITY.

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Correctional Officer Application

ALL APPLICANTS MUST:
A) BE A UNITED STATES CITIZEN
B) BE 21 YEARS of AGE OR OLDER.  APPLICANTS MAY APPLY AT 20 YEARS OF AGE, HOWEVER THE APPLICANT’S FILE WILL NOT BE REVIEWED BY THE MERIT BOARD UNTIL THE APPLICANT HAS TURNED 21 YEARS OF AGE.
C) HAVE A VALID HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA OR G.E.D. ACCEPTABLE TO THE SHERIFF’S MERIT BOARD
D) HAVE A VALID DRIVERS LICENSE OR STATE IDENTIFICATION CARD ACCEPTABLE TO THE SHERIFF’S MERIT BOARD
E) HAVE A VALID FIREARM OWNERS IDENTIFICATION CARD (FOID), OR BE ABLE TO OBTAIN A FOID CARD PRIOR TO CERTIFICATION

Please be advised that the position of Correctional Officer is by definition a “peace officer” under Illinois law.

The Cook County Sheriff’s Office is committed to certification/hiring qualified candidates for the important position of Correctional Officer. Due to the significance of the sworn position, applicants must at all times be truthful in their application responses and during the entire certification/hiring process.

Failure to be truthful during the certification/employment process may disqualify an applicant. Truthfulness and candor in this application process is an important requirement towards becoming a Correctional Officer.

Applicants may be disqualified from consideration for certification/employment as a Correctional Officer if it is determined that the applicant:

• Was untruthful, deliberately omitted, concealed or falsified relevant facts during the certification/employment consideration process;
• Been convicted of a felony;
• Committed serious employment related crimes;
• Sold illegal drugs;
• Used illegal drugs within a specific period of time; OR
• Acquired extensive debt or evidence of extreme financial negligence.

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• Applicants will be notified of the written examination(s), and Physical Ability Test(PAT) by email.  The Physical Ability Test includes running one and one half (1& 1/2) miles in 20:44 minutes, completing ten (10) sit-ups in one (1) minute, and completing (1) bench press equal to 39% of your total body weight.
• Upon successful completion of two (2) written examination(s) and PAT test, Applicants will be required to complete the Personal History Questionnaire(PHQ), provide required documentation and complete fingerprinting, the background investigation and interview process prior to the Applicant file being submitted to the Merit Board for review.
• All Applicants certified by the Cook County Sheriff’s Merit Board will be subject to additional testing by the Cook County Sheriff’s Office Bureau of Human Resources.
• Correctional Officer Lateral Transfers must have a valid basic Correctional Officer certification or basic Law Enforcement certification obtained from an Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board (ILETSB) – certified correctional officer or police academy or equivalent qualifications (e.g. out-of-state correctional certification / training that qualifies for reciprocity from ILETSB), and the ability to obtain a waiver from ILETSB to serve as a full-time correctional officer, and must have served for at least two (2) years of continuous experience as a Correctional Officer or Police Officer with the same law enforcement agency.
• Please note:  All future communication(s) from the Cook County Sheriff’s Merit Board will be via email.  It is YOUR RESPONSIBLITY to ensure your email address is current in your on-line profile and that you check your email, including “Spam” and “Junk” folders to ensure you do not miss any notifications.  In addition to checking your personal email account, you may also check for notifications by logging in to the on-line application system, utilizing your login and password.  Once you have logged in, click on “My Jobpage” and look for your Correctional Officer job submission.  If any email notifications have been sent you will see a heading called “View email Messages”.  Open it up to both view and print the email notification(s) sent to you.
• If you have any questions please send an email to [email protected]

Sheriff’s Merit Board
[email protected]
TELEPHONE: (312) 603-0170
FAX: (312) 603-9865