Applicants must have completed high school, or possess a high school equivalency certificate recognized by the State of Maryland. Applicants must be US Citizens and not less than 21 years of age prior to graduating from the Training Academy. Possession of a valid drivers license is required. Upon selection Deputy Sheriff Candidates must attend and successfully complete the Montgomery County Public Safety Training Academy and Field Training Program. Deputies must also successfully complete a one year probationary period to begin on the date they are fully sworn and have full law enforcement authority.
Examination for this position will consist of a written examination designed to measure general knowledge of elementary legal terms and skills related to comprehension of written materials, forms completion, and map interpretation. Applicants will be rated “Well Qualified,” “Qualified,” or “Not Qualified” based on their performance on the written examination. In addition applicants must successfully complete a comprehensive background investigation conducted by the Sheriff’s Office. Applicants must pass a physical abilities test designed to determine strength, endurance, agility and flexibility. The cut off scores for this test are as follows:
- Corrected visual acuity to 20/20 each eye.
- Uncorrected visual acuity 20/40 each eye for wearers of glasses or hard contact lenses. Soft contact lens wearers are not subject to the uncorrected vision standard if successful long term (6 months) daily use of soft contact lens which corrects vision to 20/20 each eye.
- Color vision adequate to perform essential job task as measured on a Farnsworth D-15 test with no more than one error.
- Pure tone hearing thresholds in the worst ear that exceed 25db without amplification require further evaluation.
- Pushups – 17 continuous pushups on palms and toes.
- Bent Knee Sit-ups – 34 in three minutes.
- Abdominal Stretch – 27 inches measured from chin to wall while bending backwards with hips strapped against wall.
- Lateral Bending – 29 cycles/20 seconds
- Exercising capacity of 9.9 METS (9.1 min.) as measured on an exercise treadmill utilizing Bruce protocol with a target heart rate of 90% maximum heart rate adjusted for age.
The examination process also requires a psychological evaluation, medical exam and a drug screening and polygraph or other deception detection examination. Applicants must have corrected visual acuity to 20/20 binocular. Six months successful use of soft contact lenses is acceptable. Loss of color vision greater than one cross in the Farnsworth D-15 panel test will not be acceptable. The expected duration of the application process is approximately 6-10 months. Applicants who are not selected may reapply six months from the date of the written examination.