A Law Enforcement Officer enforces jurisdictional laws, maintains public safety, and protects property and people in the community. Patrols neighborhoods, responds to emergency calls and crime scenes, watches for traffic and driving violations. Authorized to arrest criminals; prepares cases and testifies in court.
APPLICANTS MUST MEET THE MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS TO BE CONSIDERED. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, YOU SHOULD CONTACT HCSO HUMAN RESOURCES AT
423-209-7657 or 423-209-7014. To apply you MUST - provide a complete and thorough employment history, from leaving high school to the present date (both full and part time) - attach to the application a copy of your high school diploma or transcript, drivers license and social security card. If you have military experience, a copy of your DD214. If you have POST certified experience, we will need a copy of the Basic Police Academy graduation certificate and POST certification document.
DEFINITION
Under general supervision, serves legal orders and matters of a civil nature from Hamilton County Courts which are civil (e.g. Chancery, Circuit, Sessions, etc.) serves out of county, out of state and federal court papers sent to Hamilton County; and performs related duties as assigned
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
(Essential functions, as defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act, may include the following tasks, knowledge, skills and other characteristics. This list of tasks is
ILLUSTRATIVE
ONLY and is not a comprehensive listing of all functions and tasks performed by incumbents of this classification.) In compliance with Tennessee Code Annotated, serves legal documents and matters of civil nature from the Hamilton County courts including civil, chancery, circuit and sessions court; serves process on individual matters (i.e. non-criminal in nature); serves all out-of-County, out-of-state, and federal court papers sent to the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office; handles large volumes of process. Records information on each process served to maintain appropriate records; searches for individuals to serve process; serves detinues, summons on personal property, cross actions; levy on autos; real estate; provides information on status of process to be served; locates people to give them the civil process; drives to addresses or places of employment to see if people still live or work there. Serves papers if people are located; uses telephone books for Chattanooga and surrounding areas to assist in locating people to serve; uses the cross reference guide to locate streets; documents actions to support end result of serving process. A high school diploma or GED and one (1) year full time law enforcement or correctional institution experience. Must pass the law enforcement agility test administered by Human Resources and Training and Professional Development Units. You can check out youtube.com for a demonstration of the law enforcement agility test ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0oxtQFB9w0 ). Physical agility testing dates are every other Wednesday at 4:00pm and Saturday at 8:00am ET, with the next PT on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, at 4:00 pm
ET. ALL APPLICANTS WILL NEED TO BE SCHEDULED FOR PHYSICAL AGILITY NO LATER THAN
August 12, 2026 .
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS
The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office promotes a drug/alcohol-free work environment using pre-employment and random drug testing.
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND OTHER CHARACTERISTICS
Knowledge of applicable federal, state, and local laws, ordinances, statutes, rules, regulations, policies and procedures. Knowledge of the principles and practices the criminal justice system. Skill in maintaining one's personal and professional standards. Skill in interacting with people of different social, economic, and ethnic backgrounds. Skill in locating and serving unwilling participants in the civil process. Skill in explaining the civil process to individuals served. Skill in oral and written communications.
