Guide to Careers in Corrections

Sample Facilities and Crimes

Local jail operations differ significantly depending on their size and location. In general, jails often detain offenders who pose a threat to themselves or the community — such as those arrested for DUIs or disturbing the peace. They also house defendants awaiting court appearances who are unable to post bail, convicted offenders usually serving sentences for misdemeanors of one year or less, or those who have violated the conditions of their parole or probation. Jails also hold inmates awaiting transfer to another correctional facility to serve out their terms.

What It’s Like to Work in Local Corrections

Following guidelines provided by the American Correctional Association, law enforcement officers who work in local jails have completed police academy training and possess a basic knowledge of criminal law and instruction in the use of firearms. Corrections officers and jailers must have completed high school, while some employers may require an associate or bachelor’s degree.

The primary role of local corrections workers is to ensure the security of those being held, while also protecting the safety of the jail staff. They handle intake and release procedures and make determinations about an inmate’s potential for violence to self or others while incarcerated. These correctional workers frequently guard prisoners in transit between court and jail or oversee their transport to other correctional facilities.

Sample Facilities and Crimes

County-run facilities fulfill multiple correctional functions. They often hold offenders immediately after their arrest; before their bail hearings; or prior to their trial, conviction, or sentencing. Most convicted detainees in county jails have received relatively short sentences, but the facilities also house offenders found guilty of more serious crimes while they await transfer to a state prison. County facilities sometimes detain material witnesses to ensure they will appear in court to provide critical testimony.

What It’s Like to Work in County Corrections

While each county jurisdiction sets its own requirements and standards for detention and corrections, the duties of these workers generally include maintaining security, defusing disturbances and violent confrontations, preventing escapes, and ensuring inmate accountability.

Unlike law enforcement officers who work in local jails, county detention and corrections officers do not have authorization to perform law enforcement responsibilities outside of the facility where they work. County detention officers guard offenders awaiting trial or transport them to another facility or court. County corrections officers supervise convicted offenders serving sentences.

The work environment in county facilities can be volatile and stressful. Encounters between inmates or between officers and inmates can escalate quickly. In these situations, corrections professionals need to remain calm; control their emotions; and use interpersonal techniques to de-escalate tension, negotiate, and resolve issues quickly.

Sample Facilities and Crimes

Although the terms “prison” and “penitentiary” are often used interchangeably, a state penitentiary usually refers to a high-security facility holding dangerous offenders or those serving long sentences. Maximum security prisons house criminals convicted of murder or other violent crimes. Minimum-security facilities typically hold nonviolent offenders, such as white-collar criminals.

Unlike local or county jails, most state facilities receive inmates from multiple jurisdictions. They also operate with tighter security and employ different levels of specialized staff trained to deal with rehabilitation and security.

What It’s Like to Work in State Corrections

Conditions in state prisons depend on several factors, including the type and size of the inmate population, the amount of funding available for programs and staffing, and the age and maintenance needs of the facilities. Because state prisons may contain thousands of inmates, including dangerous offenders serving long sentences, they use tighter security measures and may restrict movement, confining inmates to cell blocks and providing limited time in exercise yards or other areas outside cells.

Prisons operate as self-contained institutions and rely on the corrections staff and other employees to maintain daily functions. Because these inmates serve longer sentences than those incarcerated in county jails, corrections personnel become better acquainted with individuals within the prison population and can assess the behavioral and security needs of prisoners. This stressful and sometimes dangerous work environment requires good judgement, self-discipline, negotiation skills, and physical strength.

Sample Facilities and Crimes

Local tribal courts prosecute misdemeanor offences. While some tribal courts have authorization to prosecute felony offenses, for most of Indian Country the federal government handles felony crimes by or against American Indians. After defendants have been sentenced by a tribal court, they usually serve their sentences in a local tribal jail or correctional facility, depending on the crimes and their past records. Most inmates in tribal jails have been convicted of misdemeanors, although the number of individuals serving sentences for felonies has increased.

What It’s Like to Work in Tribal Corrections

The work environment in tribal jails is similar to the conditions found in county jails. Corrections officers in these settings must possess cultural awareness and an understanding of the challenges specific to the American Indian prison population. A background in risk assessment also serves as a useful skill. Tribal jails — although historically underfunded and understaffed — have attempted in recent years to provide mental health and suicide prevention services, as well as alcohol and drug prevention programs.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs and many tribes use “Indian preference” for hiring corrections personnel. This policy establishes a legal right for tribal members to receive first consideration for employment, training, contracting, and business opportunities on reservations.

Sample Facilities and Crimes

Federal justice systems operate differently than those on the state and local levels. Offenders found guilty of violating state laws serve time in either local jails or state‐run correctional institutions. In the federal system, Congress enacts laws and federal law enforcement agencies — like the FBI or the Secret Service — enforce these laws. U.S. attorneys prosecute those accused of violating federal crimes in federal courts. Those convicted of federal crimes receive punishment and opportunities for rehabilitation in corrections facilities administered by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Federal crimes include offenses like airline hijacking, credit card and mail fraud, and hate crimes.

What It’s Like to Work in Federal Corrections

The federal prison system houses inmates according to different security levels: minimum, low, medium, high, and administrative. Minimum-security prisons allow inmates much more freedom of movement than higher levels. As security levels increase, inmates experience much more surveillance and restrictions. Federal maximum-security prisons have higher inmate-to-staff ratios, strictly controlled movement of inmates, and reinforced fences or walls surrounding the facility perimeter.

Federal corrections officers working in facilities with higher levels of security encounter frequent occurrences of disciplinary misconduct, gang activity, and racially motivated violence. While federal corrections professionals receive higher compensation than those working in state, county, or local facilities, they must fulfill more rigorous entrance requirements. In addition to a bachelor’s degree, officers must complete 200 hours of specialized training within their first year of employment, including 120 hours at the Federal Bureau of Prisons residential training center.