Employment

The Labette County Sheriff’s Office places a priority interest in the selection and placement of personnel and considers many factors, including, but not limited to applicant qualifications and budgetary constraints. This agency strives to meet and exceed state standards on officer qualifications for employment while maintaining an equal employment opportunity and discrimination-free environment. 

Guidelines for Filling a Position:

Whenever a vacant position is to be filled within the Labette County Sheriff’s Office, a number of guidelines must be maintained to ensure all applicants are treated equally to include the following: 

• A position vacancy notice will be posted within the agency and on the agency website.
• The appropriate division supervisor will evaluate applications, including: a. Any applicant nominated by the Sheriff, b. Qualified persons already employed by the agency or governing body of Labette County, Kansas, & c.  Any other qualified persons; & d. After screening, applicants will submit to written, physical, mental, and performance based testing. 

Acceptance of Applications:

Employment applications are accepted at any time, even if all positions are filled, for future evaluation.  The completion of a regular application form will ensure that each candidate be considered for all positions within the agency for which he or she is qualified.  Applications are kept on file for at least twelve months, after which the application will be destroyed.  Applications of hired individuals are maintained in their employee file.

Term of Employment: All County Employees are “At Will” employees.  “At Will” employment is not for a specific period of time and employment may be terminated at any time, without notice or liability of any kind (except for wages earned and unpaid) and with or without cause. 

The Labette County Sheriff’s Office employees both, sworn personnel with general or restricted arrest powers and civilian, non-sworn personnel, with no arrest powers.  Specific and detailed job descriptions have been created for each position within the Sheriff’s Office.  Different positions will have different criteria applicants must meet, or be eligible to meet, before they can be considered for the position. 

Specific Requirements – Sworn Deputy Sheriff:

Employment Requirements:

All persons seeking employment with the Labette County Sheriff’s Office, as a law enforcement officer must:

• Be a United States citizen or in the United States legally;
• Be at least twenty-one (21) years of age;
• Possess a valid Driver’s License;
• Be a high school graduate or have passed the General Education Development (GED) Test indicating a high school graduation level.
• Never have been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor involving moral turpitude (defined at bottom of page) or is not currently under indictment for any criminal offense;
• Be free of misdemeanor convictions for the last twenty-four (24) months;
• Never been convicted of any family violence offense (Domestic Violence);
• Not be prohibited by any state or federal law from operating a motor vehicle;
• Not be prohibited by any state or federal law from possessing firearms or ammunition;
• Be subject to personal interviews and background investigations by the division head, or their representative, and the Sheriff, to determine such things as the applicant’s motivation, appearance, demeanor, attitude, and ability to communicate, along with other considerations.
• Have never had a commission or peace officer license denied by final order or revoked;
• Not be currently on suspension, or have a voluntary surrender of a job related license currently in effect;
• Demonstrate reading and comprehension skills in the English language determined through interviews and written testing;
• May be required to demonstrate honesty and integrity, by successfully completing pre-employment polygraph;
• Submit to pre-employment drug testing;
• Free from illegal drug use, or legal drugs that impair mental or physical performance, for the past 10 years, as determined by interview, medical, and / or polygraph testing;
• Demonstrate good general medical health as determined by a medical doctor, who is licensed by the Kansas State Board of Medical Examiners, and physical performance testing;
• Be declared in satisfactory psychological and emotional health by a psychiatrist who is licensed by the Kansas State Board of Medical Examiners or psychologist, who is licensed by the Kansas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists; &
• Be fingerprinted and subjected a search of local, state, and national records and finger print files.
• Must reside within Labette County.

Sheriff’s Office Additional Requirements:

Applicants will not be considered for Sheriff’s Office employment who:

• Have pled guilty, nolo contendere, found or adjudicated guilty, or currently charged or facing charges of a Driving Under the Influence (DUI) offense, either alcohol or drugs, within the past ten (10) years in Kansas or any other jurisdiction.
• Have pled guilty, nolo contendere, found or adjudicated guilty, or currently charged or facing charges of any drug possession, drug paraphernalia possession, or any other drug-related offense, regardless of how specified, in Kansas or any other jurisdiction.
• Have pled guilty, nolo contendere, found or adjudicated guilty, or currently charged or facing charges of any Domestic Battery offense involving physical injury to another person in Kansas or any other jurisdiction.
• Is the respondent in an Ex Parte or Permanent Order of Protection remaining in effect in Kansas or any other jurisdiction.

***Other convictions for a minor misdemeanor offense will not necessarily disqualify the applicant, however the Sheriff will look closely at the circumstances surrounding any criminal arrests or convictions.

Other Testing of Sworn Law Enforcement Officers

Individuals applying for a position as a sworn officer of this agency must continually demonstrate the ability to perform physical and mental tasks under stressful and often confusing circumstances.  At time of application and periodically thereafter, officers may be required to demonstrate these abilities without assistance.  Minimum demonstrations of ability include, but are not limited to:

• Disassembling, reassembling, loading, firing, and performing malfunction drills with a semi-automatic pistol, rifle, and shotgun;
• Handcuffing and restraining resisting suspects;
• Giving loud verbal and hand signal commands that can be understood at 50 yards;
• Using a long baton, and chemical dispensing weapons on command; Accurately and consistently following verbal, written, and hand signal commands, without hesitation, or assistance;

An applicant for a sworn position that cannot perform these minimum tasks will not be accepted. Sworn officers of this agency that cannot demonstrate proficiency in these areas annually may be reassigned to non-sworn duties or dismissed from the agency.

Additionally, sworn officers will be required to obtain certification from the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center and the Kansas Commission on Peace Officers’ Standards and Training. 

Specific Requirements – Non-Sworn Employees

Non-Sworn civilian employees, and sworn employees with restricted arrest powers (such as correctional officers) must normally meet all of the same requirements as sworn employees, with the following exceptions:

• Non-Sworn civilian employees and sworn employees with restricted powers must only be eighteen (18) years of age rather than twenty-one (21) years of age.
• Non-Sworn civilian employees are not required to submit to psychological evaluations.

*** Other potential applicant disqualifiers include, but are not limited to:

• Not possessing the minimum qualifications for the position
• Failing to be punctual in taking prescribed tests or undergoing evaluation;
• Making fraudulent statements during interview, or on any application; or
• Failing to properly complete the application in the manner prescribed.

*** It should also be noted that all employees of the Labette County Sheriff’s Office will be required to work together as a team to accomplish the goals and objectives and fulfill the Mission Statement of the Sheriff.  Irrespective of designated job titles or job descriptions, each Sheriff’s Office employee will be expected to perform any tasks, duties, or assignments, which he or she is qualified for and capable of performing, that are directed by his or her supervisor, even though such duty or assignment may not fall within the specifications of a job description or be part of the normal duties and responsibilities of the position held.

 

DEFINITION:

Moral turpitude – The act of baseness, vileness, or the depravity in private and social duties which man owes to his fellow man or to society in general, contrary to accepted and customary rule of right and duty between man and man.  Act or behavior that gravely violates moral sentiment or accepted moral standards of community and is morally culpable quality held to be present in some criminal offenses as distinguished from others.  The quality of a crime involving grave infringement of the moral sentiment of the community as distinguished from minor laws.

Applications can be downloaded by clicking the PDF link below and can be submitted by faxing to 620-795-4818, by delivering in person or by mail.  

Application for Employment

Employment Application

The Labette County Sheriff's Office is located at:

Labette County Sheriff's Office 

718 5th Street

Oswego, KS 67356