Correctional Officers and Jailers
Guard inmates in penal or rehabilitative institutions in accordance with established regulations and procedures. May guard prisoners in transit between jail, courtroom, prison, or other point. Includes deputy sheriffs and police who spend the majority of their time guarding prisoners in correctional institutions.
Most important skills
- Active Listening
- Monitoring
- Social Perceptiveness
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Reading Comprehension
- Coordination
- Persuasion
Key knowledge
- Public Safety and Security
- English Language
- Law and Government
- Customer and Personal Service
- Administration and Management
- Computers and Electronics
- Psychology
- Administrative
What the work involves
- Guard facility entrances to screen visitors.
- Inspect mail for the presence of contraband.
- Take prisoners into custody and escort to locations within and outside of facility, such as visiting room, courtroom, or airport.
- Use weapons, handcuffs, and physical force to maintain discipline and order among prisoners.
- Conduct fire, safety, and sanitation inspections.
- Provide to supervisors oral and written reports of the quality and quantity of work performed by inmates, inmate disturbances and rule violations, and unusual occurrences.
- Settle disputes between inmates.
- Drive passenger vehicles and trucks used to transport inmates to other institutions, courtrooms, hospitals, and work sites.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Social.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (92.4% of respondents)
- Related experience
- None (51.3%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months (40.6%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Correctional Officers and Jailers is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | High | Higher on contact with others than 74% of occupations compared | 87% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | High | Higher on dealing with the public than 79% of occupations compared | 57% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | High | Higher on teamwork than 77% of occupations compared | 74% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Moderate | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 59% of occupations compared | 50% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very high | Higher on time pressure than 89% of occupations compared | 62% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very high | Higher on conflict situations than 98% of occupations compared | 70% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 99% of occupations compared | 84% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Consequence of error | Very high | Higher on consequence of error than 82% of occupations compared | 41% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very high
- Conflict situations: very high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
- Consequence of error: very high
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 6.46%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0%
- Contact with others most of the time: 7.03%
- Constant contact with others: 86.51%
n = 28, Incumbent 08/2023
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 6.46%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 20.21%
- Very important: 16.79%
- Extremely important: 56.54%
n = 28, Incumbent 08/2023
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 16.29%
- Very important: 10.13%
- Extremely important: 73.58%
n = 28, Incumbent 08/2023
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 1.1%
- Very little freedom: 1.92%
- Limited freedom: 21.13%
- Some freedom: 25.95%
- A lot of freedom: 49.9%
n = 28, Incumbent 08/2023
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 6.28%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 5.17%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 26.17%
- Every day: 62.38%
n = 27, Incumbent 08/2023
Conflict situations
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 13.49%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 6.21%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 10.56%
- Every day: 69.73%
n = 28, Incumbent 08/2023
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 1.92%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 5.11%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 8.66%
- Every day: 84.31%
n = 28, Incumbent 08/2023
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 13.49%
- Fairly serious: 7.48%
- Serious: 6.46%
- Very serious: 31.74%
- Extremely serious: 40.84%
n = 28, Incumbent 08/2023
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O*NET-SOC 33-3012.00 · SOC 33-3012 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8