Madison County Sheriff Todd Hood and Madison County Board of Supervisors Chairman John M. Becker announced Nov. 17, 2022, that the written examination for corrections officers has been eliminated and replaced with an online questionnaire process.
Madison County has joined a pilot program by the state Civil Service Department that changes correction officer testing from a written, multiple-choice exam that is administered in person, to a training-and-experience questionnaire that is taken online.
“Eliminating the obstacle of a civil service exam requirement is a much-needed change,” Hood said. “Now we can more easily recruit individuals for these positions. Across the state, sheriff’s offices are hurting for staffing, especially in the corrections division. How can we guarantee the safety of our community and our officers if we cannot appropriately staff our jails? Increased regulations by New York state and the inability to hire due to waiting on civil service exam results have truly hurt our staffing levels to the point where we are in a crisis.”
“Thank you to County Administrator Mark Scimone and Personnel Officer Eileen Zehr for working with New York state to add us to this existing pilot program,” Becker said. “We believe that eliminating this obstacle is a step in the right direction. Madison County is looking into other ways to support our current employees and recruit new individuals to the position.”
The application deadline for the written correction officer exam scheduled for December was originally set for Nov. 4, but with the adoption of the new online model, has been extended to Nov. 29. Applicants who meet the minimum requirements will have to complete the training and experience questionnaire between Dec. 15 and Jan. 15.
Those who already applied for the written exam will be notified of the change in testing procedure by the Madison County Personnel/Civil Service Office. The fee for the civil service exam was previously waived, and there is no fee for this training and experience exam. To apply, visit madison-portal.mycivilservice.com/exams or madisoncounty.ny.gov.