Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office looks to fill empty jobs with new ‘cadet’ incentive
The Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office, which has struggled to fill job vacancies, has come up with an incentive strategy to try to attract applicants.
The agency will reclassify 30 of its detention officer positions to have the added title of “deputy sheriff cadet.”
People who are hired in these spots will be trained, certified and employed as detention officers until August, when they will go through a basic peace officer training course at TCC. After getting certification, the officers could then be considered for sheriff deputy positions.
The Sheriff’s Office has about 179 vacancies for detention officers, and roughly 30 openings for sheriff’s deputies. County officials say the cadet program should help build an internal pool of candidates for deputy jobs while also filling critical jail vacancies. It could also help to have more officers in the jail who are certified deputies.
The Tarrant County Commissioners Court on Tuesday approved a measure to cover $66,000 for the TCC training, using money from the American Rescue Plan.
The cadet program will be a temporary arrangement, with the Sheriff’s Office tracking whether it helps with recruiting.
