BROWNSTOWN

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Department is set to hire two deputies to fill positions left open following retirements.

Sheriff Rick Meyer said he expects the officers to be hired during the July 3 merit board meeting.

Each candidate will be interviewed by officers Monday before additional interviews by the five-member merit board.

Meyer said he has a pool of seven people to interview for the two positions. He said those seven were chosen from a previous pool of 17 who attempted the physical and written testing portion of the hiring process.

The positions were created with the retirement of Rob Henley and Jeff Walters. Walters retired due to a knee injury sustained in the line of duty.

The department conducted its physical and written test June 15 at Brownstown Central High School.

All of the candidates received the list of objectives for the physical testing when they applied. Those include 29 sit-ups in under 1 minute they were required to complete.

The department uses the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy’s exit testing requirements to test applicants.

The written test includes general education questions, such as high school-level mathematics and spelling and grammar for commonly used words and phrases found in the law enforcement and legal fields.

The merit board ensures candidates have qualities that are expected from a law enforcement official.

Those selected will go to the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy in Plainfield if they haven’t already attended. There, they will receive six weeks (40 hours per week) of training before returning as law enforcement officers.

The department last added new officers in February when it hired deputies Justin Amos, Zach Elliott and Chris Hubbard.