Chief Jailer (Sheriff)

Position Summary

Under the administrative direction of the Shelby County Sheriff, the Division Director – Jail Division/Chief Jailer serves as the senior executive responsible for the leadership, administration, security, and overall operation of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office correctional facilities. The Chief Jailer provides executive oversight of two major detention facilities: the Shelby County Main Jail, located at 201 Poplar Avenue in downtown Memphis, and Jail East, the women’s facility located at 6201 Haley Road in East Memphis, as well as any other temporary, contingency, overflow, emergency, or alternative detention sites that may be activated or utilized by the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office as operational needs require. Together, the Main Jail and Jail East provide approximately 3,182 beds and maintain an average daily census of approximately 3,099 incarcerated individuals. The Chief Jailer is responsible for ensuring appropriate operational oversight, staffing, security, compliance, and coordination at all such contingent sites while they are in use. The Main Jail is a large, complex urban detention facility with approximately 2,800 beds. Jail East is a full service, direct supervision facility with a housing capacity of approximately 382. The facilities operate continuously, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and provide detention, security, medical, mental health, food service, programming, classification, intake and release, visitation, transportation coordination, and other essential correctional services. The Chief Jailer serves as the operational chief for the Jail Division and is responsible for ensuring safe, secure, constitutional, efficient, and humane correctional operations. The position provides executive leadership to a large and diverse workforce through subordinate Assistant Chiefs, Administrators, managers, supervisors, correctional personnel, civilian employees, contractors, and professional service providers. The Chief Jailer is a member of the Sheriff’s executive leadership team and serves as a principal advisor to the Sheriff on correctional operations, institutional policy, staffing, security, inmate management, regulatory compliance, accreditation, facility needs, and other matters affecting the Jail Division. The Chief Jailer may act on behalf of the Shelby County Sheriff in correctional matters during the Sheriff’s absence or as otherwise directed.

Pay Grade: 61

Salary Commensurate with Experience and Education

 

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in Criminal Justice, Criminology, Corrections, Public Administration, Business Administration, Organizational Leadership, or a closely related field and a minimum of ten (10) years of progressively responsible administrative, command, or executive leadership experience within a jail, detention center, correctional institution, or comparable correctional environment.
• Experience in correctional operations, personnel management, institutional security, policy development, regulatory compliance, budgeting, organizational leadership, negotiations, and working effectively with labor unions and employee organizations.
• An equivalent combination of related education and/or experience.
• PROOF OF EDUCATION, TRAINING, AND/OR EXPERIENCE IS REQUIRED.
   

Preferred Qualifications

• Senior command or executive-level experience managing a large county jail, metropolitan detention system, correctional institution, or multi-facility correctional operation;
• Demonstrated experience managing a large and diverse correctional workforce;
• Experience overseeing facilities with substantial inmate populations and complex security, medical, mental health, classification, and programming requirements;
• Demonstrated knowledge of federal, state, and local laws and regulations governing correctional institutions;
• Experience with American Correctional Association accreditation or comparable professional correctional standards;
• Demonstrated knowledge of and experience with the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), including compliance, prevention, reporting, investigation, and corrective-action requirements;
• Familiarity with National Commission on Correctional Health Care NCCHC and its application to correctional operations and detention facility standards;
• Demonstrated experience addressing staffing shortages, employee retention, overtime, recruitment, training, and workforce development;
• Experience managing major correctional contracts and operating budgets;
• Experience with correctional facility planning, renovation, construction, or major capital improvement programs;
• Demonstrated experience implementing organizational or operational improvements within a correctional environment;
• Experience working with courts, elected officials, governmental agencies, community organizations, legal counsel, and other criminal justice stakeholders;
• Demonstrated ability to manage critical incidents and communicate effectively during high-profile or sensitive events; and
• Advanced professional education, executive leadership training, or nationally recognized correctional certifications.
   

Duties and Responsibilities

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP AND ADMINISTRATION

• The Chief Jailer plans, organizes, directs, evaluates, and coordinates all correctional operations, institutional programs, personnel, and administrative functions within the Jail Division.
• The position has overall administrative responsibility for institutional effectiveness and provides executive coordination and communication among Jail Division leadership, other divisions of the Sheriff’s Office, Shelby County Government, the courts, law enforcement agencies, correctional partners, contractors, and governmental and community stakeholders.
• The Chief Jailer establishes organizational priorities, performance expectations, accountability measures, and management systems designed to promote operational effectiveness, employee accountability, fiscal responsibility, institutional security, and appropriate treatment of individuals in SCSO custody.
• The position also represents the Sheriff and the Sheriff’s Office in interactions with governmental officials, judicial stakeholders, correctional organizations, community leaders, vendors, professional organizations, and other external partners at the local, state, and national levels.
   

CORRECTIONAL OPERATIONS AND PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION

• Through subordinate managers and staff, the Chief Jailer administers a comprehensive correctional program addressing the custody, housing, security, classification, movement, discipline, grievances and appeals, education, programming, work assignments, and general welfare of incarcerated individuals.
   

The Chief Jailer provides executive oversight of institutional functions that include, but are not limited to:

• Security and correctional operations;
• Intake, booking, classification, housing, and release;
• Inmate movement and transportation coordination;
• Inmate programs, education, and reentry-related activities;
• Food and nutritional services;
• Medical, behavioral health, and allied health services provided through contracted or other professional service providers;
• Facility maintenance, sanitation, environmental health, and safety;
• Emergency preparedness and incident response;
• Inmate property, commissary, visitation, and fiduciary functions;
• Compliance with applicable correctional standards, policies, laws, regulations, and judicial requirements; and
• Coordination with courts, law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, defense counsel, County departments, and other criminal justice partners.

• The Chief Jailer establishes systems to continuously evaluate institutional operations, identify emerging risks and operational deficiencies, and implement appropriate corrective actions.
   

MANAGEMENT AND SUPERVISION

• The Chief Jailer directly supervises Jail Assistant Chiefs, Administrators, and other employees assigned significant institution-wide leadership responsibilities and provides executive oversight of the broader Jail Division workforce.
• The Chief Jailer establishes and maintains an effective system of management accountability to ensure that programs, activities, and employee actions are consistent with applicable federal, state, and local laws; judicial decisions and orders; accreditation requirements; Shelby County Government policies; and Shelby County Sheriff’s Office policies, procedures, rules, and regulations.
   

Responsibilities include:

• Establishing organizational and operational priorities;
• Delegating authority while maintaining appropriate management controls;
• Establishing measurable performance expectations;
• Monitoring staffing levels, deployment, overtime, vacancies, attendance, and workforce needs;
• Participating in the selection and development of subordinate leadership;
• Evaluating the performance of senior managers;
• Identifying training and professional-development requirements for staff;
• Training, coaching, mentoring, and developing staff to strengthen performance, leadership capacity, and succession readiness;
• Promoting succession planning and leadership development;
• Reviewing significant incidents and operational trends; and
• Taking or recommending appropriate corrective or disciplinary action when necessary.

• The Chief Jailer is expected to foster a professional organizational culture characterized by accountability, integrity, communication, teamwork, employee development, constitutional correctional practices, and respect for both employees and individuals in custody.
   

POLICY, COMPLIANCE, ACCREDITATION, AND RISK MANAGEMENT

• As a member of the Sheriff’s executive leadership team, the Chief Jailer participates in the development, interpretation, implementation, and evaluation of policies governing correctional operations.
• The Chief Jailer directs staff and multidisciplinary teams in reviewing institutional policies, procedures, operational practices, significant incidents, performance measures, inspection findings, and emerging correctional issues.
• The position is responsible for maintaining a strong compliance environment and ensuring that Jail Division operations are conducted in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, judicial requirements, professional correctional standards, accreditation requirements, and Sheriff’s Office policies.
• The Chief Jailer works collaboratively with legal counsel, risk management professionals, accreditation personnel, medical and mental health providers, internal investigators, and other appropriate parties to identify and mitigate institutional risk.
• The Chief Jailer also directs or oversees the preparation of operational reports, statistical analyses, corrective-action plans, performance measures, and other information necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of correctional operations and support executive decision-making.
   

FACILITY AND CAPITAL PLANNING

• The Chief Jailer plays a significant leadership role in evaluating the condition, capacity, security, functionality, and long-term needs of SCSO detention facilities.
• Responsibilities include identifying and prioritizing capital, maintenance, security, technology, and infrastructure requirements and working collaboratively with the Sheriff, Shelby County Government, architects, engineers, consultants, contractors, and other stakeholders on correctional facility planning and improvement initiatives.
• The Chief Jailer must be capable of leading correctional operations within an aging and complex institutional environment while simultaneously helping the Sheriff plan for the long-term detention needs of Shelby County.
   

FINANCIAL AND BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

• Through appropriate financial and administrative managers, the Chief Jailer provides executive oversight of the financial and business activities supporting the Jail Division.
• Responsibilities include assisting with the preparation, administration, and monitoring of the Jail Division budget; evaluating staffing and overtime expenditures; monitoring major contracts and vendor performance; identifying operational and capital funding requirements; and ensuring appropriate stewardship of public resources.
• The Chief Jailer also provides executive oversight of the procurement and control of equipment, supplies, uniforms, food service, medical and professional services, facility-related expenditures, and other resources necessary to maintain continuous correctional operations.
• The position is expected to work collaboratively with the Sheriff’s Office Finance and Administration Division and Shelby County Government to develop financially responsible solutions to correctional operational needs.
   

STRATEGIC AND EXTERNAL RELATIONSHIPS

• The Chief Jailer represents the Sheriff in correctional policy and operational matters involving other divisions of the Sheriff’s Office, Shelby County Government, courts, prosecutors, law enforcement agencies, correctional organizations, regulatory and accreditation entities, elected officials, community organizations, contractors, and other stakeholders.
• The successful candidate must possess the executive presence, judgment, communication skills, and credibility necessary to represent a major metropolitan sheriff’s office in complex and occasionally high-profile correctional matters.
   

LEADERSHIP PROFILE

• The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office seeks an experienced correctional executive who combines operational expertise with strategic leadership.
• The successful candidate should be a visible and engaged leader who understands that effective correctional management requires simultaneously maintaining institutional security, protecting employees, ensuring constitutional and humane treatment of individuals in custody, developing the workforce, managing public resources responsibly, and maintaining the confidence of the Sheriff and the community.
• The next Chief Jailer should possess the ability to evaluate existing operations objectively, preserve practices that are working effectively, identify opportunities for improvement, develop strong subordinate leaders, establish accountability, and lead organizational change where necessary.
• The individual selected for this position must demonstrate exceptional integrity, sound judgment, professionalism, emotional intelligence, decisiveness, communication skills, and a commitment to public service.
   

Disclaimer

This position is subject to a background check for any convictions that have a substantial relationship to potential job duties. Only convictions that are substantially related to potential job duties will be considered and will not automatically disqualify the candidate.
 

Shelby County Resident Disclaimer

All employees hired after September 1, 1986, must be residents of Shelby County and shall continue to reside in the County as a condition of their employment.  The residency requirement shall not apply to certain public safety/civil service employees.  This means exemption from this policy is in effect for the following departments and positions: (1) Sheriff Deputy Patrol Officers, Deputy Jailers and Dispatchers, employed by the Sheriff Department, (2) Correction Officers employed by the Division of Corrections, (3) Firefighters, Paramedics and Dispatchers employed by the Shelby County Fire Department.  The residency exemption for public safety/civil service employees does not include Appointed positions with Sheriff’s Office, Division of Corrections or the Fire Department.