The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office will be hiring 15 new patrol deputies, along with civilian detention officers and detectives beginning in October.

The hiring comes just after the Commissioner’s Court held its annual budget meetings in July. Sheriff Tommy Gage had requested additional patrol deputies. Pct. 2 Commissioner Craig Doyal said the county had a budget increase allowing the court to grant Gage’s wish.

The county’s 2010-11 budget was about $236 million, while the 2011-12 budget will be $249 million.

Currently the Sheriff’s Office has about 200 patrol deputies. Public Information Officer Lt. Dan Norris said Gage has always tried to maximize his assets within the county.

“The Sheriff works very hard to get the most out of what is available,” Norris added.

Norris said this will be a substantial increase for the department. The Sheriff’s Office operates in all of the unincorporated areas of the county which is about 82 percent of the county.

“I don’t think we will ever catch up,” Norris said. “But this will be a substantial assistance to us.”

The Sheriff’s Office is unsure which districts the new patrol deputies will be working in, according to Norris. He explained that once patrol deputies are hired, Gage will move deputies as he sees fit.

The department will also hire detectives, Norris said. These positions will likely be promoted from within the department, he explained.

“So in theory, we will be hiring more than 15 (patrol deputies),” Norris added.

The Sheriff’s Office will be opening an additional 48 beds at its jail facility in Conroe. For the additional beds, the Sheriff’s Office will be hiring several civilian detention officers.

Norris said the recruiting office is consistently looking for qualified employees.

“The hiring process tends to be continuous with selected openings at any given time,” he said.

However, this will be the largest in about three years.

The Sheriff’s Office will not have funding for the positions until October, when the new fiscal year begins.

Norris said jobs are already posted on the county’s website. He added that interviews and testing have already begun.

For more information about job openings and qualifications, visit mctx.org.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed