Sheriff's Office Careers

• United States Citizen
• At least 21 years of age
• Valid driver's license with the ability to obtain a South Carolina DL upon acceptance of the position
• No criminal convictions carrying a sentence of more than 1 year
• Successful completion of pre-employment testing
• High School diploma from an accredited school or GED
• Must be able to pass SC Criminal Justice Academy and become certified within 1 year of hire

If you have one of the following disqualifiers, you MAY be disqualified from the process. If you have questions, please contact the Recruiter or Human Resources.

Nelson Denny and PAT test

• Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension Test
• Must score at least 33 on the vocabulary and 16 on the reading comprehension test
• Nelson Denny practice tests can be found on a variety of internet search engines
• PAT test must be completed in at least 2 minutes and 6 seconds

Other Testing

• Applicant Questionnaire completed and turned in within a week of receiving it.
• Background investigation
• Polygraph
• Interview
• Psychological
• Pre-employment physical

If you have not already provided the following documents, bring them to the test site. Failure to provide these forms could result in a delay to the application process. Bring a copy of documents except for college transcript.

• Copy of driver's license
• Copy of Social Security card
• Copy of birth certificate
• Copy of high school diploma or GED
• Copy of DD-214 (if applicable)
• Certified copy of driving history
• Official College Transcripts in a sealed envelope from College (if applicable)

All Deputy Sheriff's will be certified and attend the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy where they will study criminal law, self–defense, firearms, driving and physical fitness with a variety of other topics. After basic certification, deputies will return to Charleston County where they will attend Field training. After they are released from field training the deputy is assigned to a Patrol Team.

Field Training will be 6 weeks for certified officers and 12 weeks for uncertified officers.

After your year probation period, you may consider applying for one of the specialized units: K9, Aviation, Marine Patrol, Criminal Investigations Unit, Forensic Services Unit, Selective Traffic Enforcement, Warrants, civil Disturbance, Court Security, Narcotics and Community Affairs.

In addition to specialized units, we also offer collateral duties: Marine Patrol, Aviation, Honor Guard, Underwater Recovery Team, Search and Rescue, SWAT, Crisis Negotiator, Civil Disturbance Team and Bomb Team.

The Charleston County Sheriff's Office offers internship opportunities to college students.

The Intern must be enrolled in an accredited program. The application process for the Program requires completing the application and participating in an Interview.

The Interview Committee will be made up of leadership from both the Training Division and The Community Service Unit that will determine final selections for applicants.

Our Internship Program will expose the participant to as many aspects of law enforcement as feasibly possible. A rough estimation is that 70% of the Interns required hours would be with the Patrol Division, actually riding with Patrol Deputies during their shift. The remaining 30% would be comprised of time spent with Specialized Units, and the Administrative side of the house.

Due to privacy laws and regulations, there are certain units that interns are prohibited from entering, but for those units a presentation will be provided to explain their function. In addition, Interns will attend Community Meetings with a member of the Community Services Unit, this will allow the Intern to observe the community interaction dynamic with The Charleston County Sheriff's Office.