Civilian personnel serve throughout the Department performing critical tasks in a wide variety of positions. Most of these employees will enter county service classified as a Clerk III. From this beginning the clerk may progress through five steps to Clerk I. Each step brings additional responsibility and pay. The clerk may then be promoted to a division secretary, bureau secretary, Chief’s secretary and Sheriff’s secretary. There is little turn over in the upper levels of the secretarial staff and most of these Secretaries serving on the division level and above have many years of service with the Department. This high level of experience and longevity provides stability in offices where captains and majors may be frequently moved.

Typically, an entry level clerk may be assigned to Inmate Records, Bonding, Inmate Processing, etc. The clerk will file records, data entry, process bonds, book prisoners and perform numerous other tasks. As the clerks advance they may serve in the various bureaus and divisions preparing reports, dispensing supplies, approving vendor payments, taking statements, maintaining personnel records, etc.

Once the clerk is promoted to the level of division secretary they will generally be working directly for a captain or a civilian supervisor of similar rank. Likewise, the bureau secretary will be working under the supervision of a bureau major and the Chief Deputy’s and Sheriff’s secretary will work directly under them. As in most organizations, the smooth efficiency of the Department depends on the clerical and secretarial Staff.

Besides clerical staff, civilians serve as communications officers, Nurses, medical technicians, dental assistants and other important positions. Communications officers work in the high stress world of the 9-1-1 operator and radio patrol dispatcher. Licensed vocational nurses, registered nurses, medical technicians and dental assistants strive to bring quality health care to a not so healthful inmate population. It has often been said that the civilian employees of the Department do everything deputies do and more, except arrest people.